''Shennong Bencaojing'' (also ''Classic of the Materia Medica'' or ''Shen-nong's Herbal Classics''
and ''Shen-nung Pen-tsao Ching''; ) is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants, traditionally attributed to
Shennong. Researchers believe the text is a compilation of oral traditions, written between about 206 BC and 220 AD.
[Traditional uses, chemical components and pharmacological activities of the genus Ganoderma P. Karst.: a review](_blank)
/ ''Li Wang, Jie-qing Li, Ji Zhang, Zhi-min Li, Hong-gao Liu, Yuan-zhong Wang'' // RSC Advances: Issue 69, 2020. — p. 42087[ ''The first book wholly devoted to the description of herbs and their medicinal value was Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, written in the Eastern Han dynasty of China (25-220 AD). This book is also known as “Classic of the Materia Medica” or “Shen-nong’s Herbal Classics.”''] The original text no longer exists, but is said to have been composed of three volumes containing 365 entries on medicaments and their description.
Content
The first volume of the treatise included 120 drugs harmless to humans, the "stimulating properties":
lingzhi,
,
jujube, the
orange,
Chinese cinnamon,
''Eucommia'' bark,
cannabis, or the root of liquorice (''
Glycyrrhiza uralensis'') . These herbs are described as "noble" or "upper herbs" ().
The second volume is devoted to 120 therapeutic substances intended to treat the sick, but have toxic, or potentially toxic properties of varying degrees. In this category are
ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
,
peonies and
cucumber
Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated Vine#Horticultural climbing plants, creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical Fruit, fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables. . The substances of this group are described as "human", "commoner", or "middle herbs" ().
In the last volume there are 125 entries corresponding to substances which have a strong or violent action on physiological functions and are often poisonous.
Rhubarb
Rhubarb is the fleshy, edible stalks ( petioles) of species and hybrids (culinary rhubarb) of ''Rheum'' in the family Polygonaceae, which are cooked and used for food. The whole plant – a herbaceous perennial growing from short, thick rhizo ...
, different pitted fruits and
peaches are among those featured. These herbs are referred to as "low herbs" ().
See also
*
Shanghan lun, a forerunner text to the ''Ben Cao Jing'' composed by
Zhang Zhongjing
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
{{History of medicine in China
Chinese medical texts
Han dynasty texts
Herbalism
Traditional Chinese medicine
3rd-century books