Yao medicine history

Due to the policy of national oppression and discrimination implemented by the ruling class in past dynasties, Yao ancestors were forced to enter the mountains for fear of not being high, forced to enter the forest for fear of not being close, frequently migrated, and lived a hard life of wandering and farming. They live in the mountains and forests, and they are neighbors of poisonous snakes and beasts. Before 1949, the vast majority of Yao areas were in a closed and self-controlled economic state, with little influence from other ethnic cultures and no introduction of Chinese medicine or western medicine. Bad geography, living environment and the invasion of diseases are not good for the health of our nation. Reproduction, in the long-term struggle against the harsh natural environment and diseases, they have accumulated rich experience in preventing and treating diseases with herbs by using the rich resources of animal and plant medicines in Yaoshan, and formed a unique Yao medicine. For example, the incidence of traumatic diseases such as steep mountain slopes, cliffs, poisonous snake bites, falls and injuries, and fractures is relatively high. Yao doctor summed up a set of treatment methods of external application, oral administration and external washing with traditional Chinese medicine, with obvious and exact curative effect and short course of treatment. Living in deep forests, with high altitude and cold and humid climate. Rheumatalgia, furuncle, furuncle, poison, etc. It is also a frequently-occurring and endemic disease. Yao doctor also summarized a set of treatment methods for these frequently-occurring and endemic diseases, including oral administration, external washing, medicated bath, external application, cupping, medicated pad, fire attack and cedar thorn. Scraping, finger pinching, egg moxibustion, moxibustion, oil fire lamp moxibustion and other comprehensive treatment methods.

There are no special books about Yao medicine, but sporadic records can be found in ancient books. These very rough records. Although there is a missing point about Yao medicine, we can still learn the long history of Yao medicine from it. Yao medicine is mainly based on vegetation, and the earliest record of Yao people using vegetation in history is the biography of Nan Man at the end of Han Dynasty. As the saying goes, Yao ancestors "dyed grass with wood skin and made five-color clothes". Since they can dye clothes with wood skin and five colors with grass, will they "eat", "apply" and "wash" This is very worth studying.

In the classic works of Song Dynasty, there are many sporadic records about Yao medicine. Su Song's illustrated materia medica said that Amomum villosum "only exists in Lingnan Ze". Yao ancestors took Amomum villosum to clear heat and help digestion. As the treasure of the Yao family, Lingxiang was also recorded in many books in the Song Dynasty. For example, Shen Kuo said in Meng Qian Bi Tan that "Lingxiang was called Lingxiang in the Tang Dynasty, also called Lingzixiang". On the other hand, Zhou Qufei's "Answer to Lingwai" recorded the growth conditions, producing areas, brewing methods and sales of Lingxiang. The book says: "Yaodong, Jingjiang, Rongzhou (now Rongan, Damiao Mountain) and Xiangzhou (now Shilong) can be planted wherever trees in the mountains are shaded." . And the cultivated Lysimachia christinae is "smoked with fireworks" and then transported to the mountains for sale. More than 700 years ago, Yao ancestors mastered the special processing method of LYSIMACHIA, which is still practical and remarkable. Because the smell of raw Lysimachia christinae is not fragrant, it will not smell fragrant when it is exploded and dried in the hot sun. Only "smoke with fireworks, dry in the shade" can be fragrant and used. Vetiveria zizanioides can be used as medicine, which was recorded in Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica, but it was at least later than Yao's planting and utilization of Vetiveria zizanioides 150 ~ 200 years. Yao people first used Lysimachia christinae as perfume to repel insects and mosquitoes, and also used it to treat diseases such as colds, fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache and low back pain, and contraception and sterilization. In the careful History of Dong Qiye, there is such a record: "In Fangcun, there are dozens of Yao women singing in the valley, looking for medicine and picking vegetables." It can be seen that drug abuse by Yao ancestors was quite common in the Song Dynasty. Not only medical students, but also ordinary women can "seek medicine and choose vegetables". This fully shows the long history of Yao medicine.

The life, production and living conditions of Yao nationality are difficult, and falls and fractures occur from time to time. The incidence of snake bites is high, and Yao ancestors have already summed up a set of methods to treat diseases and injuries. In addition to oral and topical drugs, they also mastered some simple and effective surgical methods. For example, as recorded in Zhou Qufei's "A Generation Outside the Ridge", the Yao people "suddenly encountered an arrow of medicine and cut their flesh with a knife without dying". This is the most primitive and effective surgical method. A word "urgent" tells the profound truth of medicine; Can make and use medicine arrows (usually used for hunting), which reflects the understanding of toxic drugs and other medicinal properties. From taking medicine in internal medicine to surgery, there must be anesthetics, which shows that Yao medicine not only existed objectively in history, but also developed to a considerable extent in Song Dynasty.

More than 500 years ago, there lived a primitive "tea eater" in Jinxiu Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi. There are "legends, stories and ballads about planting, making and selling tea". It shows that Yao people have a long history of drinking tea, and the cultivation and production of tea are closely related to the cultivation of medicine. Modern scientific research has proved the medicinal and health care value of tea. The formation and development of tea culture, to some extent, reflects the formation and development of Yao medicine.