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Ren Ying-qiu, a Chinese medicine practitioner and educator, dedicated his life to the research of Chinese medicine theory and the education of Chinese medicine, nurturing a large number of Chinese medicine professionals. He achieved remarkable results in the collation and research of Chinese medicine literature and the study of Chinese medicine theory. He pioneered the establishment of the "various schools of traditional Chinese medicine" discipline, made achievements in the research of Neijing, and made outstanding contributions to the advancement of Chinese medicine theory and the development of Chinese medicine.

Ren Ying-qiu, also known as Hongbin, was born on August 5, 1914, in Jiangjin County, Sichuan Province. At the age of four, he began studying in a private school, and later, he entered the Jiangjin County Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute to study classical texts, during which he also studied under the classical master Liao Jiping. At that time, Liao Jiping was already over seventy years old and was very pleased with Ren's intelligence and eagerness to learn, so he provided meticulous guidance and taught him scholarly methods, enabling Ren to build a solid foundation in classical studies, philology, textual research, and bibliography, which laid the literary groundwork for his future research in Chinese medicine.

At the age of seventeen, Ren Ying-qiu graduated from the Jiangjin County Traditional Chinese Medicine Institute and began his medical career. His grandfather also hired the local renowned old Chinese medicine practitioner Liu Youyu to teach him Chinese medicine classics at home and established a free clinic for the local community, where he also accumulated clinical experience. Over the next three years, he completed the study of theoretical works such as Suwen, Lingshu, "Cold-Damage Disease Treatise," Jingui Yaolue, Nan Jing, Shennong Bencao Jing, and "Pulse Decision," and gained practical experience. In 1936, while studying at the Shanghai Chinese Medical College, Ren had the opportunity to meet famous doctors of the time in Shanghai, such as Ding Zhongying, Xie Liheng, Cao Yingfu, Lu Yuanlei, and Chen Wujiu, from whom he humbly sought advice, greatly benefiting and broadening his knowledge and academic horizons, which significantly advanced his studies. The following year, due to the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War and the imminent peril of the nation, Ren had to return to his hometown in Sichuan, where he set up his own clinic to practice medicine. Leveraging his knowledge of literature and history, he also taught at a middle school.

In the 1940s, Ren Ying-qiu served as the editor-in-chief of "West China Medical Journal" while engaging in the collation and research of Chinese medicine literature. As early as 1937, Ren published his first paper. In the same year, to oppose the discriminatory and eliminative policies of the Nanjing National Government against Chinese medicine, he also published an article titled "Why Does the Ministry of Education Not Allow the Establishment of Chinese Medicine Schools?" advocating for the development of Chinese medicine. During his tenure as the editor-in-chief of "West China Medical Journal," he continuously published academic papers and completed his first medical work, "Zhongjing's Pulse Method Case Studies," in 1944. The following year, "Ren's Pestilence Studies" was published, and in 1947, "Essence of Chinese Medicine Disciplines" (Volume 1) was published, gradually making his knowledge and talents known in the medical community.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Ren Ying-qiu received attention and appointments from the government. In 1950, he was appointed as the deputy director of the Jiangjin County Medical Workers Association and was elected as a representative to the first People's Congress of Jiangjin County. In 1952, he was invited to serve as the academic director of the Chongqing Chinese Medicine Advanced School and the secretary-general of the Chongqing Chinese Medicine Association, and was elected as a representative to the Chongqing People's Congress. In 1957, he was transferred to Beijing Chinese Medicine College to teach. He passed away in Beijing on November 17, 1984.

The evolution of academic thought and scholarly attitude.

Ren Ying-qiu has been engaged in Chinese medicine for more than 50 years and has taught for over 30 years. With profound knowledge and extensive writings, he has published 37 monographs, totaling approximately 13 million words. The evolution of his academic thoughts can be roughly divided into two stages. Before 1949, Chinese medicine was consistently in a position of discrimination and exclusion, with the government adopting policies to suppress and abolish it. Many insightful individuals in the Chinese medicine community strived for the survival of Chinese medicine, dedicated themselves to securing its legal status, and worked to develop Chinese medicine techniques and education. During his studies in Shanghai, Ren Ying-qiu was mentored by Mr. Lu Yuanlei, an advocate for the "scientification of Chinese medicine." Ren greatly admired Lu's ideas and adopted his methods, taking on the mission of "scientifying Chinese medicine." His works, such as "Ren's Pestilence Studies," "Zhang Zhongjing's Pulse Studies," "Essence of Chinese Medicine: Internal Medicine Volume 1," and "Essence of Chinese Medicine: Internal Medicine Volume 2," are representative of the "scientification of Chinese medicine" perspective. In the early 1950s, his books "A Brief History of Chinese Medicine" and "Ten Lectures on Pulse Study Criticism" continued to advocate for the "scientification of Chinese medicine," reflecting the main body of Ren Ying-qiu's academic thought before the age of 40.

In 1954, the People's Government proposed the policy of "systematic learning, comprehensive mastery, and organized improvement" for Chinese medicine, emphasizing the importance of Western medicine practitioners learning Chinese medicine. Subsequently, teaching, research, and medical institutions for Chinese medicine were established and improved. Under the new circumstances, Ren Ying-qiu earnestly studied and grasped the essence of the Chinese medicine policy, deeply realizing that "systematic learning and comprehensive mastery" were about inheriting Chinese medicine, while "organized improvement" was about developing it. Only through systematic and comprehensive inheritance could Chinese medicine be promoted and enhanced. From then on, with his profound knowledge and rich experience, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to inheriting and developing the traditional medicine of our country, conducting in-depth research on Chinese medicine techniques.

To draw the attention of the national Chinese medicine community to the importance of inheritance and development, he published the article "How to Correctly Treat the Heritage of Traditional Chinese Medicine" in 1957. In 1958, he published another article in the third issue of the "Chinese Medicine Journal" titled "Start from the Beginning and Fully Inherit, Laying a Solid Foundation for Promoting the Heritage of Traditional Chinese Medicine," advocating for the serious study of Chinese medicine policies and the widespread development of inheritance work within the national Chinese medicine community. He emphasized the importance of studying several classic texts and truly valuing the learning of the basic theory of Chinese medicine. From 1954 to 1966, over these 12 years, he successively authored books such as "Commentary on the Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases," "Commentary on the Essential Prescriptions of the Golden Cabinet," "Yin-Yang and the Five Phases," "Five Circuits and Six Qi," and "Lecture Notes on Various Schools of Traditional Chinese Medicine," making significant contributions to the popularization and enhancement of Chinese medicine.

After the start of the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966, the development of Chinese medicine techniques was hindered. Ren Ying-qiu's collection of tens of thousands of books accumulated over decades was confiscated, and tens of thousands of academic data cards were destroyed. However, he firmly believed that there was no mistake in developing Chinese medicine techniques and that the spring of Chinese medicine development would surely come. After 1976, Chinese medicine work began to return to a normal development track. Ren Ying-qiu worked day and night, striving to write and publish, and successively completed works such as "Ten Lectures on the Inner Canon," "Six Lectures on the Basic Theory of Chinese Medicine," "Various Schools of Traditional Chinese Medicine," "The Theory of Five Movements and Six Climates," and a collection of research papers on the Inner Canon, totaling over a million words. He also proofread and punctuated the out-of-print book "Origin of Medical Studies" by Zhang Yuan-su of the Jin Dynasty. These works are representative of his in-depth exploration and promotion of the theoretical system of Chinese medicine in his later years.

Ren Ying-qiu had a rigorous academic attitude and was diligent in his studies. To build a solid foundation in Chinese medicine, he engaged in teaching, research, and medical work during the day, and read extensively at night to broaden his knowledge, working over ten hours a day for decades without exception, even on holidays. For academic issues, he cited classics and applied them clinically, always tracing back to the origins. His book "Ten Lectures on the Inner Canon" explores the first theoretical monograph of Chinese medicine formed from the Warring States period to the Han Dynasty, discussing the era of its compilation, ancient literature, subsequent research by medical practitioners and their academic thoughts, and the theoretical system. It cites a large amount of ancient literature and draws conclusions, earning praise from researchers of Chinese medicine theory. His article "On the Origins of Medical Schools" starts from a large amount of Chinese medicine literature and historical research, proposing that medical schools originated in the Warring States period, becoming a unique viewpoint in the Chinese medicine community. He was not confined to old theories or stubborn about his previous views. For example, the textbook "Various Schools of Traditional Chinese Medicine" went through four editions. In the first edition, he did not advocate for dividing medical schools; in the second edition, he divided them into four schools; by the third edition, he proposed seven medical schools, continuously enriching, improving, and perfecting the textbook, fully reflecting his rigorous academic spirit.