The recent hit TV drama Old Chinese Medicine enjoyed extensive pre-release publicity — practically everyone in the Chinese medicine community knew about it. Yet since its premiere, its Douban rating has steadily declined, now sitting at a precarious 6.5.
I took a closer look, and here’s what struck me: the people praising the show are overwhelmingly the general public, while those criticizing it are mostly insiders from the Chinese medicine community. Interesting, isn’t it?
As far as I can recall, the only Chinese TV dramas with a distinct TCM theme that truly left an impression are The Grand Mansion Gate and Divine Doctor Xilai Le. Both have enjoyed enduring reputations, and rarely did you hear insiders voice complaints — though to be fair, the internet wasn’t as ubiquitous back then, so elderly practitioners probably had no platform to vent.
In truth, Old Chinese Medicine isn’t a professional medical drama. With its dramatic twists and turns, Chinese medicine is merely a narrative springboard. However, the screenwriter seems intent on promoting TCM, loading the dialogue with long strings of professional terminology. The result feels jarring. After all, this is neither a documentary nor an educational film — it’s a prime-time drama meant for the general public. Without striking a balance between education and entertainment, how can the audience possibly sit through it? It would be strange if the experts didn’t come out jumping.
More critically, the show is widely marketed as telling the story of the Menghe medical school. I wonder whether the producers thought this through: if the reception is poor, not only does the Menghe school suffer — the entire field of Chinese medicine takes the hit. At the very least, it reveals to the public that there isn’t a single competent screenwriter in the Chinese medicine community.
So Old Chinese Medicine — which appears so lofty and mystical on the surface — collapses into fragments the moment it touches the ground. This is the reality the entire Chinese medicine circle least wants to face: the overall standard of the profession is simply not where it should be, yet everyone still enjoys commercial grandstanding.
Bian Que’s triple-question ending…
中文原文 / Chinese Original
近期热播电视剧《老中医》，前期宣传相当到位，圈内可谓无人不知无人不晓，开播以来，豆瓣评分持续下降，目前已经到了6.5分，可以说是很危险了。
当然了，我仔细分析了一下，说这部剧好的基本上都是广大人民群众，说这部剧不好的大部分是中医圈内人士。很有意思对不对。
目前我感觉，在印象中国产的具有鲜明中医题材内容的电视剧只有《大宅门》和《神医喜来乐》，这两部剧口碑向来很好，也很少听见圈内人发声。当然，那时候网络还没有这么盛行，估计老中医们也没有地方发牢骚。
其实，这部剧并不是专业的医疗剧，这么跌宕起伏的剧情，无非是拿中医做个小引子罢了，但是，编剧似乎非常想推广中医，导致演员的台词中包含了大量连续性的专业词汇，这让人们看上去就很不是滋味了，毕竟你这既不是纪录片，也不是教学片，而是面向广大人民群众的黄金档电视剧啊，没有寓教于乐怎么能行，显摆专业怎么能让人受得了，专家不出来跳脚才有鬼。
更关键的是，现在满大街都是这部剧讲述的是孟河医派的故事，制片人不知道想清楚了没有，如果这部剧播出来效果不好，不光孟河医派倒霉，整个中医都跟着倒霉，最起码的，让大家都知道中医界连个合格的编剧都没有。
所以说，《老中医》看上去这么高大上的神乎其神的东西，一旦落地落到实处，竟然成了稀碎，这正是整个中医圈子最不想面对的现实，这个现实说出来也很简单，就是整个中医界整体水平都不行，但是，大家还都喜欢商业胡吹。
扁鹊三联结尾。。。
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