When the world was still in a very primitive stage, the Chinese were already in possession of advanced and sophisticated knowledge regarding the diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of illness. This medical learning was based in large part on native herbs that covered the land in profusion.
The origins of Chinese herbal medicine are obscure. However, ancient books record the accomplishments of an outstanding personage who later was deified as Shen Nung. Almost 5,000 years ago he took great interest in the herbs and plants of fields and mountains. Tirelessly, he roved and explored, seeking out and trying various plants for both edibility and curative properties. He gathered much information on the medical usefulness of many plants. The materia medica attributed to him is still in use today.
Shen Nung also studied and differentiated various grains. Imparting this knowledge to the people, he started them on the way toward cultivation of the land, thus playing an influential role in effecting the transformation of nomadic hunting tribes into agrarian settlers. For this he is known as the father of husbandry.
A shrine in honor of this legendary figure is located on the Hundred Grain Hill in Ch'ong Teh county, Shansi province. This mountain is believed to be the place where Shen Nung hunted for wild roots and tree bark with remedial properties. Inside the temple stands the figure of a sturdy farmer, holding in one hand a bunch of grain and in the other a bundle of herbs.
Doubtless Shen Nung was only one of those who contributed to origins of Chinese herbal medicine. Farmers and hunters found new herbs and plants, and the more daring tried them. Gradually a fund of knowledge was accumulated. For centuries the Chinese relied solely on the natural growth of plants as their source of drugs.
The discovery of the medicinal value of different herbs may often have been accidental, as in the case of rhubarb's usefulness as a cathartic. Certainly the knowledge of native medicine was not developed as a result of deliberate research and experimentation. Herbal lore was built up gradually and is to be found in old medical records and erudite documents expounding the merits or demerits of medicinal plants. Later, minerals and animals were included.
Herbal medicine is by nature mild and tonic, its curative process slow. The effort is directed toward seeking the seat of the trouble or obstruction; the effect is never drastic and is devoid of complications. Its virtue lies in the fact that nearly all ingredients are native products, hence they are easy and inexpensive to obtain. For maladies that demand immediate surgery or instant cure, however, Chinese herbs cannot do much.
Herbal medicine has been described as a method of practice based on a mixture of empiricism and faith. The value of both are acknowledged by modern medical science.
Conservation Measure
Medical men formerly had to go into the mountains to hunt for curative herbs. A native physician had to be both the medical practitioner and his own apothecary. After examining a patient, he not only diagnosed the malady but also selected and compounded his own prescription.
Beginning in the time of the Six Dynasties, around 900 A.D., it became customary to gather medicinal herbs on the fifth day of the fifth moon or within the fifth lunar month. There is a belief that during the yang or positive years only yang plants should be taken from the ground, and in yin or negative years, the yin roots and barks. In such belief probably lies the necessity of allowing plants a period of growth to avoid exhausting the supply. The fifth lunar month was chosen because in continental China, that time is early summer when vegetation is prolific.
After the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A. D.), people started to cultivate medicinal herbs in their vegetable plots or flower gardens. Planted acreage increased with demand and new varieties were constantly being introduced. The main source of herbs, nevertheless, was still what nature provided.
Chinese medicinal men used to keep their own dispensaries, but professional druggists gradually have taken over. Pharmacists are conversant with the properties of the herbs they carry. They not only can fill the prescriptions that come their way, but also can be consulted for free advice and prescriptions for minor ailments.
Diagnosis By Pulse
The pulse of a patient plays an important part in Chinese diagnosis. By feeling the pulse in both wrists, the physician is said to be able to tell the nature and degree of the indisposition. Legend has it that Bien Chueh, later deified as Yao Wong or the Sage of Medicine and Healing, and whose real name was Chin Yueh-jen, was the first to diagnose a patient's ailment by feeling the pulse, looking at the facial color and studying "disposition and build". This was 400 years before the Christian era.
He was not only skillful in internal medicine and surgery, but also a pioneer in acupuncture and cauterization. Shrines honor his memory. In Cheng Chou and Baoding of Honan province, his alleged birthplace, the 28th of the fourth moon has been established as his birthday.
Colorful celebrations formerly were held, and rural folk from distant villages congregated in the town to participate in the festivities and pay homage to the divine physician. Temple music was heard day and night for two weeks, attracting tourists as well as believers. In the northern outskirts of Cheng Chou stands the Bien Chueh temple where his old home supposedly was located.
Aside from herbs, Chinese medical men long have known other healing substances. Ancient records describe in detail the extraction process for cinnabar and other minerals used in medicine. Additional documents cover the processing of ceruse, mercuric compounds, edible salt, camphor, etc.
Certain animals and insects also are widely used. Deer antlers are especially precious. The soft core of the young antlers of half-grown deer is treasured for treating 'anemia and other blood deficiency diseases. The part most sought after is not the actual antler but the protuberance of young deer. About two to three inches high, it is sliced and dried in the sun. Difficult to obtain and hence prohibitive in price, the deer horn seen on the market usually is the tips of grown antlers.
Famous Surgeon
Tiger bones, cicada shells, frogs and toads and many other strange substances are used to treat diverse illnesses. The juice from the warts of toads is used as an antitoxin against poisons.
Surgery was well known in early times. The most distinguished practitioner was an amateur surgeon, Hwa Tuo, living in the third century. His proficiency with instruments was such that he gained the title of Divine Physician. He was also highly competent in internal medicine, acupuncture, and cauterization.
Seventeen hundred years ago, an herbal anesthetic was available. Taken by mouth before an operation, the concoction caused the patient to lose consciousness. Hwa Tuo closed the wound with an herbal paste. It was said that a patient undergoing a major operation rarely felt pain and could resume his activities after a month.
Cauterization is the application of burning moxa to the skin of the afflicted area. This is, however, only a superficial cure. Acupuncture is the slow insertion of gold or silver needles into the affected part of the body. Both methods relieve pain and stiffness.
Hwa Tuo gave great attention to daily hygiene. He himself lived to a very old age, yet appeared young and vigorous to the end. He made from herbs a tonic that was reputed to prolong youth.
Seahorse is believed efficacious as aphrodisiac (File photo)
He also initiated calisthenics that he called "The Sport of the Five Animals". These exercises were patterned after the movements of the tiger, deer, dragon (snake), cock and falcon. He urged contemporaries to do these simple gymnastics for a few minutes daily to improve health and maintain vigor. He had some brilliant followers to carryon his theories. Unfortunately, his books and records have been lost.
From earliest times, herbal medicines have been kept in pottery containers. Herbs containing tannin or alkaloid often result in precipitation upon contact with metal, losing their potency.
Concoctions are often thick, brownish or black, and usually offensive in smell and extremely bitter to the taste. This led to the familiar saying: efficacious remedies are bitter in the mouth but beneficial to the body.
Lost Knowledge
Although herbal medicine is yet to be tested scientifically (classification is just beginning in Taiwan laboratories), many people still have more confidence in an evil-smelling herbal broth than in alien pills, hypodermic needles or surgical instruments. The curative power of many herbal ingredients may be unscientific but not necessarily too grossly exaggerated. As scientific evaluation begins, it becomes obvious that some of the preparations compare favorably with a number in the Western pharmacopoeia.
Where people lack access to professional doctors or are too poor to pay, it is vital that some in the family have elementary knowledge of nursing and first aid. Generally a member of the distaff side is responsible for the healing arts. A rich stock of medical knowledge accumulated through countless generations is passed on to her. During her rounds and visits to friends and relatives, she may pick up new drugs and methods.
Because rural residents of the past have rarely been literate, most medical recipes go unrecorded. Facts have been handed down verbally. Much useful information has been lost or distorted. Some prescriptions are so efficacious that families have guarded them jealously.
The king of herbs is ginseng. When taken regularly as tonic or tea, it is supposed to promote health, prolong vigor, and assure longevity. Ginseng may be compounded with pao tien-hsiung (a fig-like fruit), orange peel, cinnamon, and ah-jiao (a medical gelatin made of herbs and the skin of black asses). These ingredients are boiled until they become a blackish, gelatinous mass in which the newly dug ginseng roots are immersed. Roots then are dried in the sun. Soaking and drying are alternated five or six times. Finally after steaming, the roots are ready for display in drugstores.
Ginseng tonic stimulates the heart. It also is rich in vitamin B. The coveted part of the ginseng plant is the root, eight or nine inches long and slightly resembling the human form. The best ginseng is found in northeast China in Singkiang Province. Kirin, Liaoning, and Heilungkiang also produce some.
Korean Ginseng
Wild ginseng is preferred. The plants usually are found in isolated mountain valleys and other inaccessible areas. Sometimes searchers come upon young shoots too small to be of any value. These are carefully extracted and taken home for transplantation.
Soil and climate have much to do with quality. Ginseng from Korea is superior because the producing area is rich in minerals. When Korean ginseng is cut open, the core is golden-yellow tinged with brown.
In recent years, herbal drugs have become available in pills or concentrated liquid form. Such preparations are confined to a few standard prescriptions. The dosage is not scientifically measured or controlled.
For the first time in the history of herbal medicine, scientists are analyzing the chemical constituents of herbs so as to classify them. The project is being carried out by Prof. Wen-yah Koo and her assistants at the School of Pharmacy of the National Taiwan University.
There is no literature regarding the hundreds of herbs and crude drugs now on the market. Often one herb is sold under several names.
Turtles for Rabies
Just recently Vinca Rosea has been scientifically proved effective in treatment of leukemia. Chinese long have used the herb for treating blood disease, uterine and intestinal hemorrhages and the vomiting of blood.
What are herbal preparations like and how are they made? A few examples are fairly typical of the whole. One preparation is directed to the tragic ailment (in Chinese eyes) of too many daughters and no sons. To make sure it's a boy, pound into powder one Chinese ounce of high quality realgar and an equal weight of alum. Wrap each separately and place in a small cloth bag. Sew up the opening tightly.
When pregnancy reaches the first month and surely not later than the second month, put the bag next to the mother's navel. The pouch is to be kept there day and night until the time for delivery.
For scalds and burns: There are several remedies, each claiming good results.
1. Procure some top quality pai-kan (Chinese gin) and a few sheets of joss paper (the thin yellow sheets used for sacrificial purposes). Soak the paper in the spirits and spread it over the injured areas. A feeling of coolness will be sensed immediately and the pain will miraculously let up. As soon as the paper dries, dip it in the gin again. Continue applying the saturated paper until the skin appears dry and creased and the pain is gone.
Kerosene Treatment
2. Grind and reduce to ash a little slippery elm bark. Mix in some vegetable oil. Spread the mixture over the injured area, being careful not to open the blisters. Apply fresh salve as soon as the old dries. This prescription helps the burns to heal without a scar.
3. Scoop out the pulp of a pumpkin and place in an earthen jar. Seal the opening with thick oil paper and bury the jar for three months or more. When unearthed, the jar will contain pumpkin reduced to liquid. Strain it through a cloth. Bottle the pumpkin water and throwaway the sediment. When the pumpkin water is poured over burns, pain stops and the swelling vanishes after four or five applications.
4. Immerse the wounded area in kerosene until the pain subsides. The skin will lose its rawness and turn a wrinkled white. The quicker the injured parts are covered, the more effective the cure. The oil preserves the cellular tissue of the skin and prevents gangrene.
5. For severe burns, there is yet another remedial agent easily made by people dwelling in mountain hamlets without access to modern drugs. Snip some fur from a hare and place on a piece of new tile. Reduce the hair to ash by drying over a fire. Grind this residue into a fine powder and mix in sesame oil. Smear the salve over the injured parts and wrap with soft bandages. Change the mixture and dressing every day. After a week, the burns will heal.
Useful Licorice
For cuts and gashes: Shell "dragon eyes" (longans) and dry the nuts over a fire, then pound into fine particles. Keep the powder in a tight container and apply to cuts promptly. The flow of blood will stop at once. Bandage the wound and keep it away from water for two or three days. The cut will heal quickly without a scar.
Gastric ulcers: Boil to a jelly in a clay vessel the skins of scaleless fish. When the skins are about to gelatinize, stir in four ounces of sugar. A half catty of fish paste can be divided into three doses. Avoid stimulants and foods that arc hard to digest. When the patient's stool returns to normal, he is cured.
Another prescription features the humble licorice root, an indispensable item in many herbal medicines. The root has attained the name of kuo lao (grand old man of the nation).
Patients prefer dried herbs, ground and boiled into bitter tasting brew (File photo)
To a Chinese druggist, licorice root is divided into four parts: the body, the joint, the tip, and the head. Each portion has its chief merits and related functions. The head part is said to be especially effective for curing paralytic swelling; the tip is a purgative used to reduce internal inflammation and fever; the joint is efficacious in stopping pain and in lessening swelling; and the body has combined virtues.
Yet, paradoxically, licorice root, if used indiscriminately, has dangerous side-effects, such as hypertension. A medical counter-agent against high blood pressure should be used together with the root.
Appendicitis: The average Chinese has an abhorrence of surgery. In an attack of appendicitis, the patient has great reluctance in submitting to an operation. For a mild or chronic case, the sufferer may prefer two ounces of heng teng (a climber; the cross-section reveals a red dot in the center with seven lines radiating from it) mixed with half a catty of seasoned Shaoshing wine. This is to be drunk several times a day. Relief begins after three doses. The patient feels rested and can sleep. After three days, he will be able to sit up. After a month, the appendix will dry up, as revealed by X-ray, like a shriveled peach. The patient will never have a recurrence.
Such claims are common to herbal medicine. Although there is no scientific validation as yet, hundreds of millions of people continue to place credence in the odoriferous and bitter brews of the herb doctor or pharmacist. The faith may be stronger than the medicine, but the results are forthcoming in a surprisingly large number of cases. When you are sick, and no scientific medical care is readily available, that means quite a lot.