Aisin Gioro. Yuyan's Memoirs

Author: Aisin Gioro. Yushan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: The death of Tan Yuling has been the subject of much speculation, with most theories pointing to her being killed by the Japanese. Even on the Tokyo "International Military Tribunal for the Far East," Puyi loudly accused: "Even she was killed by the Japanese!" However, when pressed for evidence, he had none—speculation alone is not enough. Conversely, if I were to claim that Tan Yuling was not killed by the Japanese, I would also lack evidence. But we can ask the question: If she had not sought treatment from a Japanese doctor, would she have died anyway? The answer is likely yes, in nine out of ten cases. Why is this the case? I can give a simple explanation: If it weren’t for the desperate situation of "treating a dead horse as a living one," Puyi would not have dared to seek treatment from a Japanese doctor.
When discussing the death of Tan Yuling, the difficult part lies in not being able to determine exactly what disease she died from. In his book, Puyi wrote: "According to traditional Chinese medicine, it was diagnosed as typhoid, but it was not considered a terminal illness." If it wasn’t a terminal illness, why did he then seek treatment from a Japanese doctor? Wouldn’t that be suicide? Puyi stated that Tan’s death "remains a mystery to me to this day" (Page 377 of My Half-Life), but what disease did she actually have? In my opinion, it remains a mystery.
According to the wife of Yuqiang, Tan Yuling’s illness was blood in her stool, possibly due to kidney problems. However, Puyi did not seek a Western medical diagnosis—not out of fear, but also because he distrusted Western medicine. The doctors in the Changchun puppet palace’s imperial medical office were all traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, continuing the tradition of the Qing Dynasty’s Imperial Medical College. The imperial physician treating Tan Yuling was Tong Chenghai, known as Kuanquan, a doctor from the Imperial Medical College, who was nicknamed "Tong Yiji" for his ability to cure illnesses with a single dose of medicine. This was because he made accurate diagnoses and dared to prescribe strong medications, leading to quick recoveries.
Tan Yuling took Tong’s medicine, and after a few doses, her blood in the stool stopped. Of course, this was merely an observation and not a cure. In my view, the problem lay with Puyi himself—he frequently altered the prescriptions. When doctors prescribed medicine for him, he would change it before it could be administered. It was said that even when he was in Tianjin, even the renowned doctor Xiao Longyou, whose prescriptions he received, had to be altered—his obsession with changing prescriptions was almost a habit. While minor ailments like headaches were not a big deal, altering prescriptions for a serious condition like Tan’s blood in the stool could have been disastrous. She had only started to feel slightly better when the bleeding stopped, but then a different doctor was assigned to her.
Puyi’s other imperial physician was Xu Siyun, a self-taught doctor from the south, who always prescribed mild, harmless medications with low dosages. Even if someone without illness took them, they would be fine. Puyi trusted him especially because he was cautious. When Xu was assigned to treat Tan Yuling, she took his "harmless" medicine, which Puyi found reassuring, but it did nothing to treat her condition, only delaying it. After some time, the blood in her stool returned, and it was even worse. Puyi then sought Tong’s help again, but Tong’s prescriptions were altered—either ingredients were changed or dosages reduced. Tong knew better but dared not speak up or object.
This back-and-forth between the two doctors left Tan Yuling in a critical condition. When she was seriously ill, two maids could not attend to her, so her student’s family members were called in to help. Now, with her life hanging by a thread, we, the students, were added to the care team. Normally, we were forbidden from seeing Tan Yuling, but now she no longer recognized anyone, could not speak, and had not eaten or drunk for days. Puyi also