Manga Shennong's Herbal. Volume 3

Author: Huang Zuwei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-10-01
Features: The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, written during the Han Dynasty, is a comprehensive collection of pharmaceutical knowledge from the Warring States and Qin-Han periods. It is China's earliest specialized pharmacological monograph, also known as Shen Nong Ben Cao and abbreviated as Ben Cao Jing or Ben Jing. The true author cannot be verified, and it is attributed to Shen Nong, one of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, who was revered for tasting hundreds of herbs and saving humanity. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, not only did official institutions dedicated to studying medicine emerge, but folk research was also highly prevalent, laying a solid foundation for the emergence of the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing. The book includes a total of 365 medicinal substances, comprising 252 plants, 67 animals, and 46 minerals. Based on their properties and functions, the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing classifies medicines into three categories: superior, medium, and inferior, marking China's earliest pharmacological classification system. In its preface, the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing outlines the fundamental theories of pharmacology at the time. For example, it introduces the theory of "principal, deputy, assistant, and envoy" in medical prescriptions, the principles of drug preparation, and the "Four Qi and Five Flavors" theory, which states that drugs possess five flavors (sour, salty, sweet, bitter, pungent) and four qi (cold, heat, warm, cool). The book encompasses most of the commonly used traditional Chinese medicines used by modern people, such as ginseng, licorice, and rhubarb, and proposes remedies for over 170 diseases affecting internal medicine, surgery, gynecology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, dentistry, and other fields. The method of using ma huang to treat asthma recorded in the Ben Jing is the earliest documented in the world. These drugs have proven highly effective and are still widely used by traditional Chinese medicine practitioners and the general public today. The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing laid the foundation for ancient pharmacology and had a profound influence on the development of later pharmacological studies. Subsequent physicians built upon this work, leading to the creation of numerous herbal medicine texts.