Illustrated Investigation of Plant Names and Realities: Shu

Page Ten

The Classic of Pharmaceutics original: 本草, Běncǎo; the OCR reads 本狀藥, likely a transcription error for the general category of Materia Medica mentions a variety known as Qiligia Shu original: 乞力伽朮, Qǐlìjiā shù; likely a transliteration of a foreign or regional name for a high-quality Atractylodes variety. Those produced near the sea can weigh as much as several pounds. In the deep mountains and great valleys, there must surely be specimens like those found by the sea; it is simply that they have not yet been encountered.

The Supplement to the Biographies of Immortals original: 仙傳拾遺, Xiānchuán Shíyí; a Tang Dynasty collection of Daoist hagiographies records that Liu Shang a Tang Dynasty poet and scholar who reportedly became an immortal obtained the "True Shu" as a spiritual response to his hidden merit and steadfast conduct. This being the case, when one takes Shu and finds it ineffective, could it be that what was obtained was merely a common relative of the Thistle original: 薊屬, jìshǔ; referring to the botanical similarity between Atractylodes and common thistles rather than the "True Shu"?

The Marquis of Jin Duke Jing of Jin, who appears in a famous story from the 6th century BCE regarding incurable illness was attended by a skilled physician, yet the "Two Spirits" original: 二豎, èrshù; personifications of disease had already taken residence in the Gaohuang Gaohuang: the region between the heart and the diaphragm, which ancient Chinese medicine considered unreachable by needles or herbs The character "Yu" (育) is suspected to be a mistake for "Huang" (肓).

The Formulas from a Scholar’s Study original: 本事方, Běnshì Fāng; a medical text by Xu Shuwei from the Song Dynasty records a case where "Cutting Grass" original: 剪草, jiǎncǎo was used to treat a blood disorder, but a ghost overturned the medicine pot. To seek the medicine of the immortals without possessing merit or virtue is truly like "climbing a tree to catch a fish" original: 緣木求魚, yuánmùqiúyú; a classic idiom for a fruitless and impossible approach. For those suffering from the disease of madness and delusion, even if they obtain a brilliant doctor and the true medicine, what benefit would it bring?