The Diagnosis
In yesterday’s translation post, we saw that Dr. Zhang used a prety unusual method for figuring out what was wrong with Qin Keqing.
His diagnosis consisted mostly of testing her pulse on each arm:
於是家下媳婦們捧過大迎枕來，一面給秦氏靠著，一面拉著袖口露出手腕來。這先生方伸手按在右手脈上，調息了至數，凝神細診了半刻工夫，換過左手，亦復如是。診畢了，說道：「我們外邊坐罷。」
With that, some of the maids in the household got a large pillow for Qin Keqing to rest on. They helped her lean against the large pillow, pulled back her sleeve, and exposed her wrist. The doctor extended his fingers and placed them on the veins in her right hand. He quieted down his breathing to count her heartbeats for quite some time, concentrating very hard. He repeated the process on her left wrist.
When his diagnosis was complete he said, “Let’s go outside and discuss.”
Of course, this is pretty confusing for a number of reasons.
