Srief Introduction of Herbal Medicine
2 min readSrief Introduction of Herbal Medicine
Herbal medicine has been a part of the written history of Chinese medicine for over 4 000 years.According to legend，the Chinese medicine started with Shennong，a legendary miracle doctor.It is said that he had tasted a hundred plants in order to find useful medical herbs.Chinese herbal medicine employs roots，bark，flowers，seeds，fruits，leaves，and branches，as well as ingredients from animals and minerals.When herbs are mixed together，their medical effectiveness increases.Moreover，these have a low risk of producing adverse reactions or side effects.Over 3 000 different herbs can be used，but only 300 to 500 of these herbs are commonly used.
Hua Tuo
Hua Tuo’s greatest achievement was in surgery.he invented the anesthetic herb solution，which was a general anaesthetic.The procedure he took was as follow:At first the patient was told to swallow the anesthetic solution along with wine；when the patient lost his sense as a drunken person，he cut open the patient’s abdomen.If he found a tumor he cut it off.If it was an impaired intestine or stomach，he cut off the impaired part，cleaned the part，sewed up the part and applied on the part an ointment.About a week later it would heal up，and about a month later the patient would recover fully.Hua Tuo invented general anesthesia in the second or third century A.D.，earlier by more than 1 600 years than when the Western surgeons used ether or nitrous oxide to effect general anaesthesia.Hewas not only the first surgeon in China but also the first surgeon in the world to perform an abdomen operation with general anesthesia.
Li Shizhen
The great pharmacologist Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty developed the science of materia medica to a new height.In his book Compendium of Materia Medica，he gave a detailed account of the properties，.flavor，origin，shape，way of colecting，process of preparation，pathological study and prescription of each species of herbal medicine.Li corrected many mistakes in the discrimination of drugs，which had appeared in past works.He classified herbal medicines into 16 groups according to their natural origin and properties.Within each of these groups are subdivided into 60 subgroups，making a creative contribution to drug classification.
