ABSTRACT
The achievement of Nongzheng Quanshu in area of herhalogical textual research was illustrated in this paper. Nongzheng Quanshu recorded the information of 159 kinds of cultivated plants and 473 kinds of wild plants. It also quoted many contents from lots of ancient agriculture hooks related in herbalogical literature. Many agriculture researchers were encouraged to have done much work in area of herhalogical textual research It also included the materia medica hook Jiuhuang Bencao and Yecaipu therein and promoted their delivery.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Plants, Medicinal/chemistry , China , History, Ancient , Medicine in Literature , Plants, Medicinal/classificationABSTRACT
A variety of books on the annotation and compilation of Shennong Classic of Materia Medica (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing) appeared in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the period of the Republic of China at the beginning of the last century, a total of eight annotated and compiled books on Shennong Classic of Materia Medica were published. This paper discusses the authors of these books, their contents and their academic features. It was found that the research on Shennong Classic of Materia Medica in the period of the Republic of China was basically divided into two main sections: the continuation of reverence for classical texts with extensive commentary and the 'scientific' transformation of traditional materia medica in the context of Sino-Western medicine integration.
Subject(s)
Materia Medica , Medicine, Chinese Traditional , Materia Medica/history , China , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , Books/history , History, 20th CenturyABSTRACT
The Colloquies on the simples and drugs of India (1563) were conceived and published at a sensitive moment, both in terms of the history of print culture and of European geographical expansion. They represented the culmination of a life-time project for their author Garcia de Orta who had lived for almost thirty years in Portuguese Goa. Although the importance of the work in sixteenth-century natural history and medicine has been generally acknowledged in Portuguese and international historiography, there are very few recent, detailed studies of the book informed by new approaches. This paper presents an integrated analysis of Orta's Colloquies as a literary, medical and cultural text. It aims to reveal not only the rich and subtle dynamics of the work but also to contribute to a better understanding of Orta's legitimation strategies as an author in a sixteenth-century world reconfigured by the new opportunities of the printing press, geographical expansion and increased material and cultural mobility.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Colonialism/history , Materia Medica/history , History, 16th Century , Humans , India , PortugalABSTRACT
For more systematic medical education, Dr. O. R. Avison translated medical textbooks into Korean since he took charge of Jejungwon in 1893. The first book he chose was Anatomy of the Human Body. He, however, failed to see it published after losing its manuscript twice. Instead, Materia Medica Part. I was brought into the world first in 1905, for which he translated Materia Medica and Therapeutics written by John Mitchell Bruce from the U. K. At that time, this book was in widespread use in the English-speaking world as a textbook for pharmacology. It is also assumed that Avison used it as a textbook for his classes in Canada before coming to Korea. For the publication of Materia Medica Part. I, Avison did not translate Bruce's original text in full, but translated only the selected passages. He followed a principle of using Korean alphabets (Hangeul) only, but in combination with Chinese characters, if necessary. He put pharmacological terms into existing Korean equivalents or newly coined words, but also borrowed many from Japanese terms. That's because Japan moved faster to introduce Western medicine than Korea did, so that many pharmacological terms could be defined and arranged more systematically in Japanese. Moreover, Japan took such a favorable stance in the state of international affairs that many of Japanese-style terms could be introduced into Korea in most fields including medicine. By translating Materia Medica Part. I in cooperation with his disciple KIM Pilsoon after Gray's Anatomy of the Human Body, Avison tried to lay groundwork for providing medical education in Korea based on the British-American medicine. It is assumed that he took an independent stance in selecting and translating Western medical textbooks on his own rather than simply accepting the existing Chinese translation of Western medical textbooks. Despite all his efforts, he might find it difficult to translate all the Western medical terms into Korean within a short period of time. Therefore, he seems to have had no choice but to accept Japanese medical terms as a complementary measure.
Subject(s)
Materia Medica/history , Translating , Books/history , Democratic People's Republic of Korea , Education, Medical/history , History, 20th Century , Hospitals , Humans , Republic of KoreaABSTRACT
Heo Jun, who is the main compiler of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine, states to applicate Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica, Rihuazi's annotations and Li Gao and Zhu Zhenheng's opinion to arrange materia medica on the introductory notes of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine. While Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica and Rihuazi's annotations are both conventional texts dealing with materia medica, Li Gao and Zhu Zhenheng are just clinical practitioners. Not only Li Gao has no authorship on materia medica, but also Zhu Zhenheng's Supplement to the Elucidation of Materia Medica is assessed to have no distinctive achievements. Nevertheless, Heo Jun shows positive considerations for their achievements of materia medica. Specifically, on the Decoction Section in Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine, theories of lift, lower, float, sink and Channel Entry, both representative achievements of Yishui school-including Li Gao-are adopted as it is, and Zhu Zhenheng's expressions are frequently utilized for conclusive remarks of medicinal effect. Furthermore, applications of both clinicians can be found within nature & flavour which is one of the principal terms of understanding materia medica. While being based on the conventional materia medica text Classified Emergency Materia Medica, the Decoction section in Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine is not restrained by the intricate traditional compositions and shows a new aspect of depiction by adding clinical information. And I think it is a important meaning of the Decoction section, which is the herbal chapter of Treasured Mirror of Eastern Medicine.
Subject(s)
Materia Medica/history , Terminology as Topic , Books/history , Drugs, Chinese Herbal/history , History, 15th Century , History, 16th Century , History, Medieval , Humans , Plants, MedicinalABSTRACT
According to historical evidence, the abuse of opium has been reported all over the globe-specifically throughout Eastern nations-since the sixteenth century. Before that, opium had mostly been applied as medication. Reference has been made in traditional Persian medical literature to the method of cultivation, properties, side effects and toxicity. In sixteenth century Iran, during the reign of the Safavids, opium abuse began. It was from then that prominent Persian scholars started to think of solutions to this societal problem. One of the most famous scholars was Imad al-Din Mahmud ibn Mas'ud Shirazi, who composed a book concerning addiction-Afyunieh, a comprehensive book on the topic of opium and all issues of opium. Furthermore, he recommended methods for reducing opium dose as well as substitution with other medications that had a narrower range of side effects, in order to eradicate dependency upon opium and opium-derived materials. This is most likely the first book that comprehensively addressed opium and discussed drug rehabilitation methodology, in traditional Persian medical literature. In this historical review, the authors have introduced the book Afyunieh, which presents methods for treating addiction to and giving up opium; the text comprises a synthesis of the author's opinions, professional experience and references to the work of other famous physicians.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Opium Dependence/history , Opium/adverse effects , History, 15th Century , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, Ancient , History, Medieval , Humans , Iran , Medicine in Literature/historyABSTRACT
Like any artist, the paractitioner of the healing art should exactly know his tools, i.e. his medicines and the directions for their application. In addition, he should be able to rely on their genuineness. Regarding the tool "Organon", considerable uncertainty has been expressed by some physicians about the authenticity of Hahnemann's instructions for preparing and applying Q-potencies, as described in the sixth edition of the Organon of Medicine published by Richard Haehl in 1921. Since 1992, however, the first text-critical edition of the sixth edition of the Organonis available. Unlike Haehl's edition this one is exclusively based on Hahnemann's original manuscript and precisely transcribing all its handwriting, vouches for its authenticity. Hence there is no reason left to ignore Hahnemanns instructions concerning Q-potencies. This paper presents the history of the reception of Q-potencies as well as their prerequisites and evolution up to Hahnemann's final modifications of his earlier directions. As it turns out, these late instructions of Hahnemann do not mean complete change of all his previous opinions. Rather they are the logical completion of a course followed by him for ten years already. Q-potencies were Hahnemann's solution of the following therapeutic dilemma: on the one side physicians are inclined to repeat the dose of a high potency as often as possible in order to accelerate the process of healing; on the other side they should refrain from repeating the dose to avoid violent aggravations of the state of the patient.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Homeopathy/history , Publishing/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th CenturyABSTRACT
Yi lin kou pu liu zhi mi shu (A Secret Medical Book of Six Therapies in Rhymes of Medical Professionals) was additionally compiled, supplemented and annotated by Zhou Sheng, a famous doctor of the Qing Dynasty, based on Yi lin kou pu (Rhymes of Medical Professionals) which was composed by Lu Qi. The book contains four volumes in total, dealing mainly with the miscellaneous diseases of internal medicine, as well as external medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics etc. The syndrome differentiation and treatment, prescriptions and medications in this book has its own characteristic with rather high academic value and practical significance. There were 20 drug names were deciphered by the argots, for instance, "you che" was the argot of golden thread, and "wu yue (May)" was the argot of medicinal evodia fruit, etc. In addition, the argots were often used to decipher numerals and quantifiers, for example, "su, qi, zi, qi, man" referring to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 respectively, and "huo, pu, xiang, feng, lai" referring to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 respectively, and "qing",""zhong","xi" referring to qian, liang and fen respectively. Hence, deciphering of these argots could help to understand and apply these prescriptions correctly.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , History, 17th CenturyABSTRACT
Aucklandia lappa Decne was first recorded in the Sheng nong ben cao jing (Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica). Through the textual research of herbal literature, it was found that the costus root in the Sheng nong ben cao jing perhaps was not the plant of Aucklandia lappa Decne of Compositae, but the eaglewood or Lignum Aquilasria Resinatum based on the comprehensive judgment of shape, taste, nature, and function etc. In the Sheng nong ben cao jing, it only includes costus root without the title of eaglewood, and Tao Hongjing recorded both herbs together in his Ming yi bie lu (Supplementary Records of Celebrated Physicians), which became a foreshadow of misunderstanding of the later generations. Beginning from the Tang ben cao (Materia Medica of the Tang Dynasty), the costus root was considered as the plant of Auckiandia lappa Decne from the Compostae with its profound influence until now.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Costus , Materia Medica/history , China , History, Ancient , Plant RootsABSTRACT
Altogether 15 terms for Guang dong xin yu (New Sayings of Guangdong) were used in Ben cao gang mu shi yi (Supplements to Compendium of Materia Medica), including Yue yu (Cantonese sayings), Chong yu (Sayings from Insect Drug), Jie yu (Sayings from Crustacean Drug), Xin yu (New Sayings), Yue hai xiang yu (Fragrant Sayings from Cantonese Region), Yue zhi mu yu (Sayings from Plants in Cantonese Annals), Guang dong suo yu (Trivial Sayings from Guangdong), Yue shan lu (Records of Cantonese Mountains), Yue lu (Cantonese Records), Jiao guang lu (Joint Guangdong Records), Yue cao zhi (Records of Cantonese Grasses), Guang guo lu (Records of Guangdong Fruits), Nan yue suo ji (Trivial Records of Southern Canton), Guang zhi (Guangdong Records), Yue zhi (Cantonese Records) etc. dealing with 57 sorts of drugs (with individual overlapping ones), the author of Xin yu was Qu Dajun, a surviving fogy of the Ming Dynasty actively involved in the activities to restore the old dynasty and resist the Qing Dynasty, and was persecuted in the literary inquisition in which his works were burnt so that Zhao Xuemin, when quoting his texts, had to go in a roundabout way.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , History, Medieval , HumansABSTRACT
The Zhijintang Sanctum version of the re-revised edition of Jinling edition of Ben cao gang mu (Compendium of Materia Medica)collected by Zhao Huiyuan of Baihe, Henan Province in 2008 was opted as one of the third batch of the National Directory of Rare Ancient Worksin 2010. On the second cover page (patent page), it is recorded as"Original Jiangxi version". However, it is investigated to find that most of its paper sheets were reprinted after the original Jinling version, only scores of paper sheets were supplemented block-printed, including the additional block-printed second preface and Li Jianyuan's submitted report of the Jiangxi version, the re-revised time of which should be after the Jiangxi edition, or 1603. The exact time can be determined only by checking it carefully against another Jinling re-revised version (the Sheyuantang Sanctum edition).
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , China , History, 17th CenturyABSTRACT
Jiu huang ben cao (Materia Medica for Relief of Famines) was the first monograph on famines herbal in the history of China, which creates a new research field of edible plants. Around the middle and late 17th century, Jiu huang ben cao was spread to Japan and aroused great attention of famous Japanese herbalists. Thus, all versions of different edition systems were circulated in Japan. Later, some famous Japanese scholar ssuccessively quoted texts of Jiu huang ben cao from the Nong zheng quan shu (Whole book on Agricultural Administration) spread in Japan, and block-printed it as an independent work. As a result, Jiu huang ben cao virtually circulated widely in Japan.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , China , History, 16th Century , History, 17th Century , History, 18th Century , History, 19th Century , Japan , StarvationABSTRACT
Lei gong pao zhi lun (Master Lei's Discourse on Processing of Chinese Materia Medica) collated by Zhang Ji, and printed by Zhang's Yisheng Tang in Chengdu in 1932 was the first collated edition. Its original edition was not Jing shi zheng lei bei ji ben cao (Classified Materia Medica from Historical Classics for Emergency) of the Song Dynasty, but was Xiu shi zhi nan (Instruction for Drug Processing) and Lei gong pao zhi yao xing jie (Explanation on Master Lei's Properties of Drugs Processing) of the Qing Dynasty. The contents of this collated edition was far from Lei gong pao zhi lun with many mistakes, and was not the best edition to study Lei gong pao zhi lun.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , China , History, MedievalABSTRACT
Being called "precursor of pharmacy imported from the west" by Fan Xingzhun, a famous medical historian, Ben cao bu was lost in China. It has been found outside China recently. This article deals with the author, blockprinting edition, contents of the book and makes a comparison with its texts cited in Ben cao gang mu shi yi (Supplemented Compendium of Materia Medica). It also evaluates the practical significance of this book as an early dissemination of pharmacy imported from the west.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Historiography , Materia Medica/history , Printing/history , Western World/history , China , History, Early Modern 1451-1600 , History, Medieval , History, Modern 1601-ABSTRACT
The first blockprinted edition, 5 - volume Hong shi ji yan fang (Hong's Collection of Effective Recipes) in the 6th year of Qiandao reign (1170) and the first blockprinted edition of Shang han yao zhi yao fang (Recipes with Gist on Cold Pathogenic Diseases) in the 7th year of Qiandao reign (1171) are collected in the National Beijing Library. Both are highly treasured by book connoisseurs of the Ming and Qing dynasties who made much textual research. The authors, edition uniqueness and circulating facts of both works are discussed here.
Subject(s)
Books/history , Materia Medica/history , Medicine, Chinese Traditional/history , Printing/history , China , History, Early Modern 1451-1600 , History, Medieval , History, Modern 1601-ABSTRACT
Published in two volumes in 1805, Hahnemann's Latin work Fragmenta de viribus medicamentorum is the first materia medica in the history of homoeopathy. This article examines Hahnemann's use of his own published works in his early medical practice, by focusing on a single patient file from the medical casebooks.