The School of Materia Medica

<article><section data-type="rtext">By SONG Jie-min  Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityTranslated by LIN Jie  Zhejiang Chinese Medical UniversityThe School of Materia Medica is an academic school of traditional medicine mainly active in the area of Zhejiang and is a major branch of the School of Zhe’s TCM.Eight Thousand Years’ Materia Medica in ZhejiangThe history of materia medica in Zhejiang dates back as far back as the 6th millennium B.C. A small corded earthenware unearthed at the site of Kua-Hu Bridge in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang, has been identified by archaeologists as a decoction jar and has become strong evidence of the use of herbs and decoction by Zhejiang herbalists.The earliest representative of the School of Materia Medica was Tong Jun, a pharmacologist in early ancient China who lived in the period of the Yellow Emperor. He built an alchemy hut in Tongjun Mountain, Tonglu City, and later generations respected him as the “ancestor of Chinese Materia Medica”. Tongjun Mountain is known as the “holy land of medicine ancestor”. The earliest extant monograph on the commodity science of Chinese Materia Medica is Fan Zi Ji Ran (《范子计然》), written by Fan Li, a great official of the State of Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, which records 93 kinds of Chinese medicinals. Wei Boyang, a native of Shangyu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, authored Anthology with Reference to ‘The Zhou Dynasty Compilation of Changes’ (Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi,《周易参同契》), a masterpiece of early Chinese alchemy, and is recognized worldwide as the earliest pharmaceutical chemist who has left a book. Other representative figures and works of this school include Chen Cangqi’s Supplement to ‘The Materia Medica’ (Ben Cao Shi Yi,《本草拾遗》) in the Tang Dynasty, Chen Shiwen’s Zeng Guang He Ji Ju Fang Yong Yao Zong Lun (《（增广）和剂局方用药总论》, originally the appendix of Formulas from the Imperial Pharmacy 《和剂局方》) in the Song Dynasty, Wu Rui’s Household Materia Medica (Ri Yong Ben Cao,《日用本草》) in the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Danxi’s Supplement to the ‘Extension of the Materia Medica’ (Ben Cao Yan Yi Bu Yi,《本草衍义补遗》), Lu He’s Food as Materia Medica (Shi Wu Ben Cao,《食物本草》) in the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Zhicong’s Reverence for the Origin of the Materia Medica (Ben Cao Chong Yuan,《本草崇原》) in the Qing Dynasty, Wu Yiluo’s Thoroughly Revised Materia Medica (Ben Cao Cong Xin,《本草从新》), Zhao Xuemin’s Supplement to ‘The Grand Compendium of Materia Medica’ (Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi,《本草纲目拾遗》), and He Lianchen’s Experimental Pharmacology (Shi Yan Yao Wu Xue,《实验药物学》) and Cao Bingzhang’s Additions on the Identification of Forged Medicinal Articles (Zeng Ding Wei Yao Tiao Bian,《增订伪药条辨》) in the modern era. According to preliminary statistics, more than 170 books have been written by the School of Materia Medica in Zhejiang over the ages.Academic Propositions and InfluencesQuestioning and identifying differences, creating new theories. Scholars of the School of Materia Medica are good at independent thinking, questioning and identifying differences, and creating new theories. In the Tang Dynasty, Chen Cangqi pioneered the ten formula types of “dispersing, unblocking, supplementing, purgative, light, heavy, lubricating, astringent, drying, and moistening”, which are still widely used in Chinese medicine today. The method of preparing Qiushi (Prepared Salt), for example, was first described in Fine Formulas of Su and Shen (Su Shen Liang Fang,《苏沈良方》), coedited by Shen Kuo of Qiantang in the Song Dynasty, together with others. The British scholar Joseph Needham listed it as one of the twenty-six inventions of ancient Chinese science and technology. Zhao Xuemin pointed out in Supplement to ‘The Grand Compendium of Materia Medica’, “For example, the Dendrobium (石斛) species, which is now produced in Huoshan, is small in size and tastes sweet; the white atractylodes rhizome (白术), which is now produced in Yuqian, has speckled roots and strong medicinal properties. These are all species that have undergone recent changes in production areas.” This argument shows that Zhao Xuemin was an early observer and proponent of the idea that species evolve. This theory was developed in 1765, 94 years before Darwin published On the Origin of Species.Be practical and take full use of it. The School of Materia Medica values practicality and application, advocating true learning to the best of its usage and a new style of learning that was “based on reality”. Their books on medicine focus mainly on clinical application. In the Ming Dynasty, Ni Zhumo’s Treasury of Words on the Materia Medica (Ben Cao Hui Yan,《本草汇言》) was a collection of the experiences of famous doctors from various regions in the use of medicine, which is of great reference value for clinical medication. According to Wu Yiluo of the Qing dynasty, previous medical practitioners focused too much on generalizations of the main effects of drugs, with less analysis and less practical use. For example, the books only refer to the treatment of phlegm in terms of its removal. However, in his book Thoroughly Revised Materia Medica (Ben Cao Cong Xin,《本草从新》), Wu Yiluo pointed out that pinellia rhizome (半夏) removes dampness and resolves phlegm and is the main remedy for damp-phlegm. Fritillary bulb (贝母) can moisten dryness and dissolve phlegm and is used to treat dryness-phlegm. Typhonium rhizome (白附子) can dispel wind and is used to treat wind-phlegm. They still guide clinical application today. In modern times, Zhang Shanlei’s Orthodox Interpretation of the Materia Medica (Ben Cao Zheng Yi,《本草正义》) emphasized practical effects, even regarding weeds and tree bark found along the roadside and mountain streams as treasures. For example, Tianmingjing (天名精), which grows extensively in rural areas, can relieve phlegm and detoxify, reduce fever and subdue fire, and dissipate masses and facilitate orifices, making it a highly effective and inexpensive medicinal, and Zhang recommended them all. This shows that he attaches importance to clinical application and putting theory into practice.Focusing on inheritance and respecting classics. The School of Materia Medica emphasizes the inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine and advocates “respecting classics”. After fourteen years of research, Lu Fu, a native of Qiantang, finally compiled Shen Nong’s Classic of the Materia Medica (Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing,《神农本草经》), the earliest surviving compilation of this book. During the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Zhicong believed that the prescriptions in some famous formula books before the Tang Dynasty were truly based on the use of Shen Nong’s Classic of the Materia Medica, so he often used ancient prescriptions to teach the theory of medicinal properties. In the late Qing Dynasty, Zhou Yan, a scholar of the “respecting classics”, wrote the book Records of Thoughtful Differentiation of Materia Medica (Ben Cao Si Bian Lu,《本草思辨录》), in which he argued that the drawbacks of traditional Chinese medicine were not in conservatism but in abandoning tradition and advocated the in-depth study of the classics and basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine. He believed that “the identification of the Materia Medica is the foundation of medicine” and proposed that one must begin with the classics and carefully consider and distinguish them.Fresh and clear medicinal use according to local conditions. The School of Materia Medica paid great attention to local adaptation, and in accordance with the geographical characteristics of Zhejiang, which is mountainous, humid and hot, they preferred to use light and clear aromatic herbs, fresh herbal products, raw products, distillate and medicinal juices to treat diseases. They believed that cold herbs are cooler and more moist than dried herbs; pungent herbs are thicker and more powerful than dried herbs; medicinal juices are purer and more moist than dried herbs and are not greasy; and distilled medicinal liquid is the essence of substances and can be absorbed quickly, producing fast results. The use of light and fresh herbs can have a great effect and can achieve the desired result with minimal amounts. For example, during the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Jingyue treated all types of consumption, cough and phlegm with fresh bamboo clothes, fresh bamboo extract, and fresh bamboo leaves, which were boiled and taken orally. In Zhao Xuemin’s Supplement to ‘The Grand Compendium of Materia Medica’, fresh herbal products, raw products, distillate and medicinal juices are recorded in the most extensive way. Twenty-two distillates, such as ginger distillate and loquat leaf distillate, are listed in the book. There are also more than 70 herbal juices, such as reed rhizome juice and lotus root juice. The feature of applying fresh herbs in clinical use is still passed on by practitioners of the School of Zhe’s TCM.Zhejiang has a long line of famous herbalists and writers and has gradually formed an academic school of traditional medicine with characteristics such as innovation, application, respect for the classics and the use of fresh and light medicinal materials, which has made outstanding contributions to the cause of Chinese medicine in China and holds an important position in the history of Chinese medicine.</section></article>

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