Collected Illustrations of the Three Powers: Volume 5 of Herbs and Trees

Collected Illustrations of the Three Powers

Volume 5 of Herbs and Trees: Herbaceous Plants

Continued compilation by Wang Siyi, styled Yunming, of Yunjian

Wang Siyi was the son of the primary author, Wang Qi. Yunjian is an archaic name for the region of Songjiang near modern-day Shanghai.


Liu Jinu’s Herb	Subprostrate Sophora Root	Common Carpesium	Chinese Elder	Horsetail	Self-heal
Mender of Shattered Bones	Lanru Herb	Paris Polyphylla	Pipewort	Dandelion	Indian Mallow Seed
Forsythia	Golden Star Fern	Red Ground-Profit	Foreknowledge Seed	Monkshood	Creeping Spurge
Caper Spurge	Japanese Hop	Purple Creeper	Fenugreek	Wood Sorrel	Sea Golden Sand

This table serves as a table of contents for the specific medicinal plants and herbs illustrated and described in this volume. Many of these names reflect the vivid imagery of traditional Chinese medicine:

Liu Jinu's Herb (original: 劉寄奴, Liujinu): Named after the childhood nickname of Emperor Wu of the Southern Song dynasty, who reportedly discovered its wound-healing properties.
Mender of Shattered Bones (original: 骨碎補, Gusuibu): A type of fern (Davallia) used historically to treat fractures.
Foreknowledge Seed (original: 預知子, Yuzhizi): The fruit of the Akebia plant, so named because of its supposed ability to clear the senses and improve mental clarity.
Sea Golden Sand (original: 海金沙, Haijinsha): Actually the tiny spores of a climbing fern, which resemble fine grains of golden sand.