Food Therapy Herbal

Author: Shang Zhijun (compilation and annotation)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-09-01
Features: Shi Yao Ben Cao (A Treatise on Food and Medicine) is a Tang Dynasty book specializing in the use of food for treating diseases. The Tang and Song dynasties' official records all attribute it to Meng Xun. Modern scholar Fan Xingzhun believes the original book was Bu Yang Fang (Supplementary Health Methods) by Meng Xun, later supplemented by Zhang Ding and renamed. The original book has long been lost, but fragments have been preserved in various existing copies, with significant variations in the content of the lost sections. In 1907, a fragment of the book was unearthed from Dunhuang, containing 26 medicinal entries. This book categorizes the lost entries from various copies based on their natural properties, totaling 291 entries. Each entry compiles all the preserved fragments to restore the original form of the middle and lower texts. Many medicinal entries are divided into two parts by "An" or "An Jing," with the latter part generally considered to be the supplement by Zhang Ding. Based on the existing fragments, many entries in this book record drugs that are not found in the Tang Ben Cao (Tang Dynasty Materia Medica). For example, buckwheat, mung beans, spinach, lettuce, coriander, pike, Mandarin fish, and stonehead fish are all recorded in this book for the first time. The inclusion of items like Persian rock honey and the white bark of Khokand elm reflects the use of food and medicine in Central Asia. Shi Yao Ben Cao holds significant reference value for studying the history of Materia Medica literature and the development of dietary therapy.