History of sickness and medical art ３０ ： China ５

病と医術の歴史　３０：　中国　５

 

 ＜　1.   Soldiers of Sanguo Shidai of China　＞

＜　１．　中国、三国時代の軍人　＞

 

This time, I introduce medicament, cure, and Chinese alchemy.

 今回は、薬剤と養生、錬丹について見ます。

 

Medicament

“Shennong Ben Cao Jing” is fatherless, the oldest book about materia medica, and was compiled during Later Han and Sanguo Shidai( the 2^nd –3rd century).

This book sums up the knowledge and the treatment of the medicament from Zhanguo ( the 4^th century B.C.).

 

薬　剤

「神農本草経」は作者不詳で、後漢から三国時代（２～３世紀）に成立した最古の薬物学書です。

この書は戦国時代（紀元前４世紀）からの用薬の経験と薬物学の知識を系統的にまとめている。

 

 

＜　2. “Shennong Ben Cao Jing”　＞

＜　２．　神農本草経　＞

 

 

＜　3. Ephedra　＞

＜　３．　麻黄　＞

 

In the book, there are 365 kinds of medicament, it is categorized as 252 plants, 67 animals, and 46 minerals, and majority of the efficacy is obvious.

For example, ephedra is antidiarrheal, seaweed is used to treatment of lump, glycyrrhiza is alexipharmic, and rheum is a laxative.  

The medicament is categorized into 3 groups.

It consist of 120 kinds of medicament having harmless but weak effect for recuperation, 120 kinds of medicament having harmless and effect for recuperation and treatment, and the rest is such as medicament for destroying tumors in the stomach but being harmful.

And it mentions the production area of medicament, the collection season, the processing process, the most suitable type (pill, powder, and it saturated in alcohol), the taking time, and the taking method.

 

Books about materia medica after the 3^rd century were based on this “Shennong Ben Cao Jing”.

In plant medicament, it is well known as a certain kinds of hydrangea is suitable for malaria, ginseng is suitable for recovery of energy, and tetradium ruticarpum is suitable for ascariciding.

Some of the medicaments were from Egypt and India, and Southeast Asia.

 

 

薬物は３６５種あり、植物２５２、動物６７、鉱物４６に分類され、大多数は効能が確かである。

例えば麻黄は下痢止め、海藻は瘤の治療、甘草は解毒、大黄は通便など。

薬物を三種類に分け、無毒だが効果が弱く保養用１２０種、有益・無毒の保養と医療作用のある１２０種、残りが有毒で寒熱を除き、胃腸内の腫瘤を破るなどの医療作用があるとした。

また薬物の産地、採集時期、加工製法、適した剤型（丸、散、酒漬など）、服用時期、服用方法にも触れられている。

 

魏・晋代以降（紀元３世紀から）の薬物学の書は、この「神農本草経」を基礎にしている。

植物性薬剤では、ペストにダイフウノキ（高木の種）の油、マラリアにジョウサンアジサイ、精力回復に朝鮮人参、回虫にゴシュユ（低木）が良く知られている。

薬物にはエジプトやインド、東南アジア産のものも見られる。

 

Regimen

The regimen was important means of tonicity, the prevention of disease, and prevent aging.

Many thinkers and medical scientists preached the regimen, and there were two points of view: “Let’s cultivate life with motion” or “Let’s cultivate life with stillness”

” Hundred Schools of Thought” insisted that we have to be according to nature, and do the care of health about eating and drinking, and have the harmony of mind.

Tua Tuo created the exercises borrowing from five animal postures in Qigong。

“ Curing before becoming sickness” had been written in certain medical book.

 

養　生

養生は強壮・疾病予防・老化防止の大切な手段であった。

多くの思想家や医学者が養生法を説き、「静を以って生を養う」「動を以って生を養う」の二つの観点があった。

多くの「諸子百家」は自然に従い、飲食の摂生や精神の調和を主張した。

華陀は気功・導引から五つの動物姿態の模倣体操を編み出した。

「内経」は「未だ病まざるを治す」、すなわち疾病予防が養生上重要であるとした。

 

 

 

＜　4. Chinese alchemy？　＞

＜　４．　錬丹術？　＞

 

 

 

＜　5. Cinnabar　＞　

＜　５．丹砂　＞

 

Chinese alchemy and immortality

On the other hand, “Shennong Ben Cao Jing” included the knowledge of Taoism (thought of immortal), and showed the early state of Chinese alchemy.

In this book, it was written that mercury already had effect on the treatment of scabies and the insecticide of louse.

Chinese alchemy is to made the medicament for immortality by means of mixing and producing chemically change to metals such as mercury sulfide (cinnabar), gold or leaden.

A certain book of Taoism in the 4th century was the first important book about Chinese alchemy, and the chemical knowledge became abundance.

Chinese associated the elixir of immortality with remarkable changing of mercury from red ore of mercury sulfide (fig. 5) and the non-corrosive attribute of gold.

In ancient China, the people attached importance to living in this mortal world than afterworld.

Therefore, the First Qin Emperor had searched the medicament for immortality, in best days, kings of Tang (the 7-9th century) drank the medicament for immortality made by Chinese alchemy, and the many kings died by poisoning.

Before long, Taoism came to cultivate the immortality not by medicament of immortality but by Qi (spirit) of his body.

On the other hand, the abundant knowledge by Chinese alchemy developed the chemistry and the metallurgy, and then the world’s first gunpowder was made in China in the ninth century.

 

 

錬丹と不老不死

一方、「神農本草経」には道教(神仙思想）が根強く、錬丹術の初期の様子が見える。

この書には、すでに水銀が疥癬の治療、虱の殺虫剤に効能ありと書かれていた。

錬丹とは、硫化水銀（丹砂）、金、鉛などの金属を化学変化させ調合し不老不死の薬を作ることです。

4世紀の道教の書「抱朴子」は錬丹術の初期の重要な書で、化学的知識も豊富になっていた。

中国では、硫化水銀の赤い鉱石（図５）から水銀への著しい変化、また金の非腐食性に生命の真髄を仮託した。

古代中国では、人々は死後よりも現世に生きることに重きを置いていた。

それが秦の始皇帝の徐福派遣（仙人探し）に始まり、最盛期、唐の王（７～９世紀）は錬丹家が作る不老不死の薬を飲用し、多くは中毒死した。

やがて道教は不老不死を薬でなく、人体内部の気で養う方向に向かっていった。

一方、錬丹術による豊富な知見は、化学と冶金学を発展させ、9世紀には世界最初の火薬が中国で作られた。