\tThe Shen Nong bencaojing \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349\u7ecf "The Holy Husbandman's classic on roots and herbs", shortly called Shen Nong bencao \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349, Bencaojing \u672c\u8349\u7ecf, or Benjing \u672c\u7ecf, is an old text on medical herbs and other materia media. It is first mentioned in the catalogue Qilu \u4e03\u5f55 by the Liang period \u6881 (502-557) scholar Ruan Xiaoxu \u962e\u5b5d\u7eea. The book went lost during the Tang period \u5510 (618-907), but considerable parts were reconstructed from the Ming period \u660e (1368-1644) on. Fragments of this text were compiled by the Qing period \u6e05 (1644-1911) scholar Sun Xingyan \u5b59\u661f\u884d and his nephew Sun Fengyi \u5b59\u51af\u7ffc. The real author of the book is not known, yet authorship was attributed to the mythical emperor Shen Nong \u795e\u519c, who was seen as the inventor of herbal medicine. The book is rarely attributed to other persons, like Zi Yi \u5b50\u4eea, Yi Yin \u4f0a\u5c39, Zhang Zhongjing \u5f20\u4ef2\u666f, or Hua Tuo \u534e\u4f57. The book must have been compiled during the Han period \u6c49 (206 BCE-220 CE), or probably already during the late Warring States period \u6218\u56fd (5th cent.-221 BCE). It is the oldest, partially, surviving Chinese pharmacopoeia. The original text was often quoted in medical texts like the Zhenglei bencao \u8bc1\u7c7b\u672c\u8349 or the Bencao gangmu \u672c\u8349\u7eb2\u76ee and in encyclopedias like the Taiping yulan \u592a\u5e73\u5fa1\u89c8, so that a considerable part of it has survived. The oldest collection of fragments has been made by the Ming period scholar Lu Fu \u5362\u590d. Other reconstructions were undertaken by the Japanese Mori Tachiyuki \u68ee\u7acb\u4e4b, and by Gu Guanggao \u987e\u89c2\u5149.<\/p>\n
\tThere are different versions of the Shen Nong bencao transmitted, in which the number of recorded herbs and objects is not the same. Tao Hongjing's \u9676\u5f18\u666f revision of the book, the Bencaojing jizhu \u672c\u8349\u7ecf\u96c6\u6ce8 includes 365 objects directly derived from the Shen Nong bencao jing, but most versions in circulation include 367 objects.<\/p>\n
\tThe book begins with a theoretical introduction (Xulie \u5e8f\u4f8b or Xulu \u5e8f\u5f55) into the classification of material medica and the rules of application. The main part of the book included short descriptions of 365 medical objects, among which are 252 plants, 67 animal parts, and 46 anorganic matters. Each object is classified according to its efficiency, into three grades (pin \u54c1), each of them included in one of three juan "scrolls". 120 objects are rated as of superior quality, 120 as of mediocre effects, and 125 as of a inferior usefulness. The title bencao "roots and herbs" refers to those drugs that play the greatest role in medical treatment, although anorganic matters, as well as parts of animals are included among the materia medica, too. The superior material is called the "lord" (jun \u541b), used to care for life. Such drugs are non-poisonous (wu du \u65e0\u6bd2) and can be consumed in great doses over a long period of time. They are applied to nourish vitality that corresponds to Heaven. Good material is called the "ministers" (chen \u81e3), and used to nourish the physical character of a person. Such drugs must be applied with care. Medicine of a mediocre efficiency is called "assistants and runners" (zuoshi \u4f50\u4f7f), and is used to cure everyday illnesses that correspond to the influence of the earth. The "runners" include a lot of "poison" (duo du \u591a\u6bd2; probably "adjacent matters" diminishing the effect of the active component) and must only be applied for a short time and in small doses. All kinds of pharmaceuticals are described as to their character, their effectiveness, and for which kind of illness or disease they are to be used. The methods of preparation are also described, as well as the places of origin and the season and method of collection. The book mentions more than 170 types of illness that can be cured. These "lords", "ministers", "assistants" and "runners" can be applied in combination, with each drug having its own effects. The preface also explains that it is possible to combine Yin and Yang drugs, which can be called "child and mother", "older and younger brother", "root and stalk", "blossom and fruit" or "bone and flesh". Some medicine must be used alone, while others need combined application. It is also stressed that the harvesting conditions are extremely important for the quality of a drug, and that materia medica might be applied in different form, like pills, powder, or paste.<\/p>\n
\tThe rearrangement of the Liang period scholar Tao Hongjing resulted in the modern sequence of pharmaceuticals, geared to the physical nature. Anorganic objects and grasses and herbs are included in the second juan, and animals, fuits, vegetables and grain in the third juan of the book. The particular articles have also been polished by Tao Hongjing. They begin with a description of the character and taste of the pharmaceutical, and then describe its medical use and effectiveness. The articles end with alternative names of the individual drug.<\/p>\n
\tAll material medica has one of "seven affects" (qi qing \u4e03\u60c5) towards others. Medicine has to be applied alone, together with another medicine, supportive, in avoidance of certain others, antagonizing others, "hating" others, or "killing" others. Each medicine has one of five flavours (sour, salty, sweet, bitter, or spicy). Each medicine arouses one of four "energies" (qi \u6c14), namely heat, warmness, coolness, or coldness. The book explains the names of the medicine, character and taste, and efficiency towards certain diseases. A lot of herbs have in fact a great efficiency for the bedridden, like medicine enriching the energy (buqi \u8865\u6c14) like ginseng (renshen \u4eba\u53c2) or Radix astragali (huangqi \u9ec4\u82aa; milk vetch root), medicine enriching the blood like the roots of Chinese angelica (danggui \u5f53\u5f52) and glutinous rehmannia (dihuang \u5730\u9ec4), medicine inducing sweat like the leaves of Chinese ephedra (mahuang \u9ebb\u9ec4) and cassia twigs (guizhi \u6842\u679d), or to cure diarrhoe like Glauber's salt (puxiao \u6734\u785d) and the roots and rhizomes of rhubarb (dahuang \u5927\u9ec4). Quicksilver (shuiyin \u6c34\u94f6) is able to cure scabies, and seaweed or sargassum (haizao\u6d77\u85fb) appeases the goitre.<\/p>\n
\tExcavated fragements, and quotations in the Song period \u5b8b (960-1279) encyclopedia Taiping yulan include information about the places where specific plants grow. These have been added in later reconstructions. The best edition of fragments is that by Sun Xingyan because he was a scholar trained in textual critique. The Bencaojing is therefore included in his own collected writings of the Wenjing Hall \u95ee\u7ecf\u5802. In 1955 the Commercial Press \u5546\u52a1\u5370\u4e66\u9986 published a modern edition of his publication.<\/p>\n
\tA lot of ancient scholars undertook reasearch into the statements of the Shen Nong bencao jing. Their results were to be found in books like the Wu Pu bencao \u5434\u666e\u672c\u8349 (also called Wushi bencao \u5434\u6c0f\u672c\u8349) from the Wei period \u66f9\u9b4f (220-265), Li Dangzhi yaolu \u674e\u5f53\u4e4b\u836f\u5f55 from the Jin period \u664b (265-420), Tao Hongjing's rearrangement of the text, the Bencaojing jizhu, Chen Cangqi's \u9648\u85cf\u5668 Bencao shiyi \u672c\u8349\u62fe\u9057, both from the Liang period, but also the book Shen Nong bencaojing shu \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349\u7ecf\u758f by Miao Xiyong \u7f2a\u5e0c\u5eb8 from the Ming period, and the books Bencao songyuan \u672c\u8349\u5d07\u539f by Zhang Zhicong \u5f20\u5fd7\u806a, Shen Nong bencaojing baizhong lu \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349\u7ecf\u767e\u79cd\u5f55 by Xu Dachun \u5f90\u5927\u693f, and the Benjing shuzheng \u672c\u7ecf\u758f\u8bc1 by Zou Shu \u90b9\u6f8d from the Qing period.<\/p>\n
\tThere were at least 16 collections of fragments from the Bencaojing, the most important of which were Wang Jie's \u738b\u4ecb Bencao zhengjing \u672c\u8349\u6b63\u7ecf from the Southern Song period (today lost), Lu Fu's Shen Nong benjing \u795e\u519c\u672c\u7ecf from the late Ming period (index from the Bencao gangmu, text from the Zhenglei bencao), Guo Mengqi's \u8fc7\u5b5f\u8d77 Bencaojing from 1687 (preserved in fragments), Sun Xingyan's collection Shen Nong bencao jing from 1799 (includes the fragments of the textsWushi bencao and Mingyi bielu \u540d\u533b\u522b\u5f55 "Alternative records of famous physicians", as well as other additional material), Gu Guanguang's text Shen Nong bencao jingfrom 1844 (also with text-critical material), Wang Hong's \u6c6a\u5b8f Shen Nong bencao jingfrom 1885 (said to be based on a Song period original from the Jiayou reign \u5609\u4f51), Wang Kaiyun's \u738b\u95ff\u8fd0 Shen Nong bencao jing from 1885 (also allegedly based on a Song time original). In 1942 Liu Fu \u5218\u590d published a text-critical version that compared the important editions of Sun and Gu. There is also a collection by Jiang Guoyi \u59dc\u56fd\u4f0a from the late 19th century. The modern scholar Shang Zhijun \u5c1a\u5fd7\u94a7 published the Shen Nong bencao jing jiaodian \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349\u7ecf\u6821\u70b9 in 1983 that is based on the most important collections. In 1987 Cao Yuanyu \u66f9\u5143\u5b87 published the bookBencaojing, in 1988 Wang Yunmo \u738b\u7b60\u9ed8 threw his version of the Shen Nong bencao jing on the market. Another modern, annotated edition, the Shen Nong bencao jing jizhu \u795e\u519c\u672c\u8349\u7ecf\u8f91\u6ce8, has been published by Ma Jixing. Mori Tachiyuki's reconstruction is enriched by a preface and a text-critical apparatus. It counts among the best editions of the Bencaojing. The Bencaojing is to be found in the collectanea Congshu jicheng \u4e1b\u4e66\u96c6\u6210, Wenjingtang congshu \u95ee\u7ecf\u5802\u4e1b\u4e66, Sibu beiyao \u56db\u90e8\u5907\u8981, Wuling shanren yishu \u6b66\u9675\u5c71\u4eba\u9057\u4e66, Shouzhongzhengzhai congshu \u5b88\u4e2d\u6b63\u658b\u4e1b\u4e66, Hanxuetang congshu \u6c49\u5b66\u5802\u4e1b\u4e66 and Zishi gouchen \u5b50\u53f2\u94a9\u6c89.
\t <\/p>\n