Discussion on discipline of herbalism / 中国中药杂志

Since the emergence of the term "materia medica", scholars have proposed different opinions on its concept. This term has been used to refer to traditional Chinese medicines, or medical books, or traditional pharmacology. Due to the differences in the concept of materia medica, scholars also have controversies about the concept of herbalism. Herbalism is usually understood as traditional Chinese pharmacology. After years of evolution, the term "herbalism" has now possessed the characteristics of an independent discipline, which can be defined as an applied basic discipline that comprehensively utilizes traditional and modern technological methods to study the formation, development, and changes of traditional pharmacology and reveal the basic theories and application laws of traditional medicine. At present, the research content of herbalism mainly includes three aspects: materia medica history, materia medica literature, and traditional pharmacology. This study explores the disciplinary concepts and main research content of herbalism based on a systematic review of the literature about the concepts of materia medica and herbalism, with the aim of attracting more attention to promote the establishment and development of the discipline of herbalism.

Herbal textual research on Chinese medicine "Manjingzi"(Viticis Fructus) / 中国中药杂志

To clarify the change and development of original plants of " Manjingzi"( Viticis Fructus),a traditional Chinese medicine,we investigated Vitex species on the ancient Chinese herbal texts. The study concluded that the Vitex trifolia and V. trifolia var.simplicifolia included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia( 2015 edition) are only two sources of ancient medicinal Viticis Fructus. There are many sources of vines used in ancient times,which are not fixed and unified. The early use of Viticis Fructus is likely to be the V. quinate var. quinata,V. negundo var. cannabifolia and V. negundo var. negundo. From the Tang Dynasty,the use of V. trifolia var. simplicifolia has been appeared. Until Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty,the V. trifolia has been used as a source of medicine for the Viticis Fructus,but even so,the source of medicinal plants of Viticis Fructus has not been unified. We suggested V. trifolia var. simplicifolia be used as mainly species for " Manjingzi" due to its widely used in ancient China.

Herbal textual research on triditional Chinese medicine "Baihe"( Lilii Bulbus) / 中国中药杂志

To clarify the species and preparation of " Baihe"( Lilii Bulbus),a traditional Chinese medicine,we investigated the relative ancient Chinese literature on this medicine. The study concluded that Lilium brownii var. viridulum is the authentic lily for medical use. In the Ben Cao Yan Yi and some medical books in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,L. lancifolium( Juandan) was also mistakenly used as genuine lily,but most doctors believe that this variety should not be used for medicinal purposes; L. pumilum( Shandan)began to be used as a medicine from Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao,but mainly for surgery,the effect is also different from L. brownii var. viridulum. We suggested Shandan be used as the species for another medicine as " Hong Bai He( red lily) " due to its red flower. All above three species recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia are not corresponded to the condition of ancient doctors' uses. Therefore,as for developing of traditional classical formula,L. brownii var. viridulum should be chosen and used as Baihe. The birth places for Baihe include Gansu,Hubei,Anhui and Shandong province. The drug preparations of Baihe include crude medicine,roasting and steaming,which preparation should be chosen depends on the formula which contains Baihe.

Methods and examples of literature researching on species and medical parts of Chinese herbs in traditional Chinese medicine classical prescription / 中国中药杂志

The methods of literature researching on species and medical parts of Chinese herbs in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)classical prescription were discussed. The first thing is to get literature by searching, sorting and selecting literature. Then textural research based on the selected literature was performed in several ways of studying descriptions of botanic features of herbs, studying pictures of herbs, studying archaeological founding, field survey, distribution of producing area, etc. A systemic analysis on both horizontal level and longitudinal level was conducted to get the result of the species and medical parts of Chinese herbs in TCM classical prescription.