practice medicine; hang a gourd (as a doctor's sign)
Tone colorsmāmámǎmàma
Meanings
1 sense · 3 examplesverb
to practice medicine; to set up medical practice (from the legend of hanging a gourd as a shop sign)
literaryDerived from the Eastern Han dynasty legend of Fei Changfang, where an old man hung a gourd (hú) as his medical shop sign. Used in formal or literary contexts to describe a doctor establishing practice.
Lǎo老
xiān先
sheng生
xuán悬
hú壶
jì济
shì世
wǔ五
shí十
zài载
，
dé德
gāo高
wàng望
zhòng重
。
The old gentleman practiced medicine to save the world for fifty years, enjoying high prestige and commanding universal respect.
Tā他
bì毕
yè业
yú于
míng名
yī医
mén门
xià下
，
rú如
jīn今
zài在
gù故
xiāng乡
xuán悬
hú壶
wèn问
zhěn诊
。
He graduated under a famous doctor and now practices medicine and sees patients in his hometown.
Show 1 more exampleShow fewer examples
Xuán悬
hú壶
bìng并
fēi非
yì易
shì事
，
xū需
jīng精
tōng通
yī医
shù术
yǔ与
yī医
dé德
。
Hanging out one's shingle is no easy task; it requires mastery of both medical skill and medical ethics.