Dunhuang Calligraphy "Therapeutic Materia Medica (食疗本草)"
Fragment of Dunhuang "Diet Therapy Materia Medica (食疗本草)" on paper, scroll. 26.6x240cm, 400-934 AD. Collection of the British Museum.
The fragment of "Diet Therapy Materia Medica" found in Dunhuang, the front is mutilated and the back is missing, and the title of the latter book. Wang Guowei and Tang Lan collated it with "Zheng Lei Materia Medica" and confirmed it as "Diet Therapeutic Materia Medica" written by Meng Xu. The fragment of Meng Xu's "Diet Therapeutic Materia Medica" published by Dunhuang has 137 lines, each line contains more than 20 characters, a total of 2774 characters, contains 26 flavors of medicine, and is divided into Zhumo. The name of the medicine is Zhu Shu at the beginning, and the properties of the medicine (warm, flat, cold, and cold) are indicated in small letters at the bottom right, without the medicine flavor. The following are the indications, efficacy, avoidance of taking the medicine, and single prescriptions. Some medicines also describe the collection, repair and treatment, regional differences, and daily use of the medicine. For example, "Papaya Strips" introduces papaya that is mild in nature, mainly treats cholera, and astringent wind.... It is also said that "subumbilical colic, you can use one papaya, seven mulberry leaves, three jujubes are broken, and the water is two big. , Boil half a large liter, and it will be bad after a short stomach. "Wait. The "Diet Therapy Materia Medica" published by Dunhuang is an important material for the study of medicine in ancient my country, and it is also a rare historical material for the study of Mengxu.
"Diet Therapy Materia Medica" is a monograph on diet and treatment of Materia Medica. It is a systematic summary of diet therapy drugs and prescriptions before Tang Dynasty. Both "Old Tang Book: The Biography of Meng Xu" and "New Tang Book: Art and Literature History" contain this book as written by Meng Xu. It's a pity that his book was lost early. This book is engraved in the book cited in "Jiayu Materia Medica" of the Song Dynasty. The text reads: ""Diet Therapeutic Materia Medica" written by Tang Tongzhou Governor Meng Xu, Zhang Ding made up for the deficiencies of 89 kinds, and the number is 227, where Three juan. Zhang Ding was a Taoist priest of the Kaiyuan Period of Tang Dynasty (713-741), who also mastered medical skills.
