“但愿世間人無病,哪怕架上藥生塵”是同治年間一位學者寫給同仁堂十一世樂孟繁的一副對聯,盛贊同仁堂濟世養生的高尚醫藥道德與情懷。
“We wish there were no illnesses in the world, even though the drug shelves were covered with dust” is a pair of couplets written by a scholar in Tongzhi era of Qing Dynasty. The couplets highly praise the noble medicine virtues and feelings of “doing good to society and keeping people healthy” practiced by Tongrentang people.
其字面意思是:即使擺在自家藥架上的藥賣不出去,蒙上一層塵土,也不愿意看到百姓生病,而自家生意興隆。是仁者愛人、大愛無疆的仁愛思想和“以義為上”、“重義輕利”的義利觀的生動體現,是“仁”、“德”、“善”美德的有機結合,也是同仁堂創立者樂顯揚提出的“可以養生、可以濟人者, 惟醫藥為最”創業宗旨的最好詮釋,它成為同仁堂“同修仁德,濟世養生”企業精神和企業使命的思想來源之一。
Its literal meaning is that even though the drugs on the shelves are covered with dust because no one buys them, we do not wish any people catch diseases so that our business will be prosperous. This represents the concept of benevolent and boundless love, and the vivid embodiment of justice and benefits including “put righteousness first” and “to value justice above material gains”. It is a perfect integration of “benevolence”, “virtue” and “kind-heartedness”. It is also the best interpretation to the business purposes proposed by Mr. Yue Xianyang, that is “among things which can preserve peoples’ health and do good to society, medicine is the best”. It is the source of Tongrentang’s corporation spirit of “cultivate both noble morality and benevolence to do good to society and to keep people healthy”.