Bian Que was, according to legend, the earliest known Chinese physician. His real name is said to be Qin Yueren, but his medical skills were so amazing that the people gave him the same name as the legendary doctor Bian Que, from the time of Huang Di.
According to the legend recorded in the Records of the Grand Historian, he was gifted with clairvoyance from a deity when he was working as a noble hostel staff. The legend states that while being an attendant at the hostel, he encountered an old man who stayed there for many years. The old man was thankful of Bian Que's attentive service and politeness, and gave him a packet of medicine which he told Bian Que to boil in water. After taking this medicine, he gained the ability to see through the human body. He thereby became an excellent diagnostician with his X-ray-like ability. He also excelled in pulse taking and acupuncture therapy. He is ascribed the authorship of Bian Que Neijing. Han Dynasty physicians claimed to have studied his works, which have since been lost. Tales state that he was a doctor of many disciplines, conforming to the local needs wherever he went. For example, in one city he was a children's doctor, and in another a female physician.
