The Book of Songs, written from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, is China's first collection of poetry. ***305 articles with more than 7,200 lines, mostly reflecting the royal and princes’ celebrations, sacrifices, banquets, weddings, folk farming, people’s pain in life and their desire for a happy life. There are 338 species of animals and plants mentioned in the book, including 178 species of plants and 160 species of animals, including food crops, economic crops, medicinal plants, aromatic grasses, wild vegetables and wild grasses. It has been said that there are 100, 80 or 50 kinds of medicinal plants in the Book of Songs, which is regarded as circumstantial evidence that medicine has developed to a certain extent. But if you look closely at the poem, you can see only its name and no mention of its medicinal uses. Now I will give a few examples from the "Book of Songs" annotated by Jiang Jianyuan and Cheng Junying published by Yuelu Publishing House in 2000.
Example: Xanthium angustifolia, which is now used as a medicine for dispelling wind and dehumidifying. Its fruit is mainly used, and its name is Xanthium vulgare. The whole plant is also used. The poem "Zhou Nan·Juan Er" reads: "When you pick Juan Er, you can't fill the basket. I'm pregnant with someone, so I leave it to travel around the world." It can be translated as: I picked Xanthium sibiricum again, but I am not satisfied with the small shallow basket. Thinking of my sweetheart, I placed the basket by the road. Curly ear is a wild vegetable collected by women. The medicinal use was first recorded in the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Shen Nong's Materia Medica·Zhongpin", which stated that it was mainly used for headache due to wind-cold and rheumatic arthralgia. Sun Simiao included it in the chapter "Qian Jin Yao Prescription·Food Treatment", saying that it was slightly poisonous, indicating that it could still be used as wild vegetables in the Tang Dynasty.
Example 2: papaya, now used as a dehumidifying and paralyzing medicine. The poem "Wei Feng·Papaya" reads: "You give me a papaya, and I repay you with a jade pendant. A bandit repays you, and you always think it's good." It can be translated as: You give me a papaya, and I give you a jade pendant in return. Not only for repayment, but also to show that we will always be friends. The green and yellow papaya, which is playable and edible, is a gift for lovers. The medicinal use was first recorded in the "Famous Doctors" between the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It was named Papaya Shi, and it was said to be responsible for dampness and paralysis, vomiting due to cholera, and unstoppable tendons.
Example 3: Peony, now it is a medicine for nourishing blood and calming liver. There is peony in "Zheng Feng·Qinwei". The poem reads: "The water and the water are flowing along the river. The scholar and the girl are walking beside the water. The woman said: 'Look at it?' The scholar said: 'That's it.' Go and watch! Outside the water, the water is flowing and you are happy." 'The Weishi and his daughter exchanged pleasantries with each other, and gave him peony.' The translation is: The Qin water flows, the water flows smoothly, and the ice melts in March. A young man and woman hold bluegrass in their hands to ward off bad luck. The girl said: "Let's go and have a look?" The boy said: "I've already been there." "Why don't you go with me again! Outside the Jishui River, next to the river bank, it's really fun and spacious." Men and women were by the river, talking to each other. It's so joyful to laugh, don't forget to send peony to each other. Peony is a gift given by lovers when they break up, just like the red rose that symbolizes love today. Its medicinal use was first seen in "Fifty-Two Prescriptions for Diseases" and was later included in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica·Zhongpin". It is said to treat abdominal pain caused by pathogenic Qi and eliminate bloody paralysis.
Example Siwei, now it is motherwort, a blood-activating and menstrual-regulating medicine, and its seeds are also known as 茺伟子. The poem "Wang Feng·Zhonggu Zhizhi" says: "There is a lily in the middle valley, and it's hard to stop it. A woman is divorced, so she sighs. She sighs, and it's difficult to meet people." It can be translated as: There is a flower growing in the valley. Motherwort, drought and no rain, the grass withers and scorches. A woman was abandoned, feeling sad and angry. I feel sad and angry, and regret that I didn’t choose the right person to marry. The withered motherwort is used to metaphor the protagonist’s inner pain and physical haggardness. The medicinal use was first recorded in "Shen Nong's Materia Medica·Shangpin", and its name is Ji Weizi. It is said to improve eyesight and improve essence, and long-term use can lighten the body. The stems are used for rubella and itching, and can be used as bath soup. Motherwort was used as medicine and was first seen in the Song Dynasty's "Ben Cao Tu Jing".
The above four cases were not medicinal plants at the time. In fact, all the plants in the poem are only named, without any mention of their medicinal uses. However, individual plants in the Book of Songs contain certain medicinal values ??known to people and can be regarded as medicinal plants.
Like coriander, commonly known as plantain, it is a diuretic and swelling-reducing drug today. The chapter "Zhounan·Futuo" is now believed to be a short song casually sung by a group of women while collecting Plantago seeds: "Gathering Futuo, brushing it with thin words. Picking Futu, brushing it with thin words." Translated as : After picking plantain again, pick it up quickly. After picking plantains again, wipe out the seeds quickly. It turns out that the purpose of picking plantain is to obtain its seeds, plantain. Plantago is extremely small and can neither be eaten nor played with. It is believed to cure infertility and dystocia. At that time, husbands were often away in the army or doing corvées, and women had a difficult life at home. Infertility and difficult childbirth were two major problems that troubled women.
Some people interpret Futuo as Coix. Zhao Xiaoming, a modern man, conducted detailed research and found out that coix is ??not Plantae, but Coix, a food crop with a cultivation history of 6,000 years. Coix is ??mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions, and it is recorded that it was used to make wine. The ancients also believed that coix was "pleasant to eat", "pleasant to have children", and helpful for fertility.
The daylily and daylily mentioned in "Wei Feng·Bo Xi" are believed to be able to soothe emotions and make people forget their worries. The wormwood in "Zheng Feng·Qinwei" is a kind of fragrant orchid. Used for bathing or wearing, it can fragrantly ward off evil spirits and bring good health and good fortune. In addition, mugwort and mugwort mentioned in many poems in "Wang Feng Picking Ge" were collected, dried and pricked, burned for moxibustion to relieve pain, smoked to make mosquitoes smoke, or burned with ashes and poured with water to extract juice for washing clothes. , were all medicinal plants at that time. But there are probably no more than 20 species of medicinal plants like this. Later, most of these plants were gradually used for medicinal purposes.
Why are there so few medicinal plants involved in the Book of Songs? First, in the era of The Book of Songs, medical theory was still in its infancy, and the use of medicine to treat diseases was also in the early stages of exploration, so the number of medicines used was small; second, the Book of Songs itself is a collection of poems, and it does not deliberately record some medicinal plants.