Shen nung pen Ts'ao king (traditional Chinese: 神農本草經; pinyin: Shén nóng běn cǎo jīng) is a Chinese book on agriculture and medicinal plants. Its origin has been attributed to the mythical Chinese emperor Shennong, who was said to have lived around 2800 B.C. If this were true, it would be the oldest known book on agriculture and medicinal plants. In reality, researchers hypothesize that it is a compilation of oral traditions written between about 300 B.C. and 200 A.D. The original text no longer exists and is said to have been composed of three volumes containing representations of medicinal plants and their description.
Contents & themes
The first treatise included 120 drugs harmless to humans, the "stimulating properties": reishi, ginseng, jujube, the orange, cinnamon from China, cirse fields or the liquorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis) ...
The second volume was devoted to 120 therapeutic substances intended to treat the sick, but more or less toxic. In this category, we find the ginger, peonies and cucumber. The substances of this group are described as "human."
Finally, the last volume had 125 entries corresponding to substances which have a violent action on physiological functions and are usually poisonous. Rhubarb, different pitted fruits and peaches are among them.
In the sixteenth century, Li Shizhen (Chinese: 李時珍) relied on the king Ts'ao pen to write his great book Botanic Pen ts'ao kang mu (Chinese: 本草綱目).
References
- Jean-Baptiste Du Halde, Description géographique, historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise, Paris, 1735. Text online: [1]
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