It is indeed a myth to be poisoned more than 70 times a day without dying, but behind the myth, it reflects the hard course of our ancestors to know drugs. One thing in this myth is consistent with historical facts, that is, most of the drugs used by our ancestors in the early days were grasses, so that pharmacology was always called "materia medica" in ancient China. The Yellow Emperor is regarded as the distant ancestor of our Chinese nation today.
Legend has it that he and his ministers Qi Baishi, Gao Bo, Yu Shao and Lei Gong are all medical experts, and they often discuss and study medical problems together, making contributions to the development of Chinese medicine. Although myths and legends may not be true, Shennong and Huangdi represent an important era when our ancestors entered civilization from ignorance. Therefore, China's early medical works, such as Huangdi Neijing and Shennong Materia Medica Classic, were named after Huangdi and Shennong, and some of them admired the achievements created by their ancestors.
In China, medical records began in Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Shang Dynasty. Among the 6,543,800 Oracle bone inscriptions unearthed in Yin Ruins, 323 are related to diseases, including internal and external diseases, women and children and more than 20 diseases. From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, medical records in ancient literature gradually increased. For example, in the Book of Songs, there are more than 80 kinds of plants used as medicine in later generations; Although Shan Hai Jing was written in the Warring States Period, its information has a long history. Not only the number of drugs recorded in the book has expanded to more than 120, but also they are generally related to the diseases they are attending, indicating their efficacy and usage.
In ancient times, doctors and wizards were inseparable, that is, wizards not only engaged in ghost activities, but also managed the treatment of human diseases. By the Western Zhou Dynasty, witch doctors had begun to separate, full-time doctors appeared, and there was a simple division of disciplines and a medical system was established. At that time, the doctor was in charge of medical affairs. He is not only responsible for the doctor's year-end assessment, but also responsible for collecting medical records and reports. The emergence of full-time doctors and the establishment of medical system have created conditions for the accumulation of medical experience and the improvement of medical level.
From the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty, ancient medicine in China has made great progress, especially for the establishment of basic theories of traditional Chinese medicine, which is a golden age. As early as the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, some famous medical scientists began to systematically sort out and summarize ancient medical experience and knowledge. According to Zuo Zhuan, Dr. Qin attributed the cause to six qi: Yin, Yang, wind, rain, Yin and Ming. The pathogenic theory of six qi is China's earliest etiological theory.
Later, the famous doctor Bian Que (Qin Yueren) used the "Four Diagnoses" in medical activities, which is the basic method and means of TCM diagnosis of diseases in later generations. With the summary and arrangement of medical experience and knowledge, medical monographs began to appear. 1973, a large number of bamboo slips and silk books were unearthed from Mawangdui No.3 tomb in Changsha, including medical books on meridians, pulse diagnosis, medical prescriptions, health preservation and viviparous 14 kinds. These medical books were produced from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Among them, Moxibustion Classics of Eleven Veins in Foot and Arm, Moxibustion Classics of Eleven Veins in Yin and Yang and Fifty-two Prescriptions for Diseases are the earliest medical monographs discovered so far. In addition to the medical books unearthed in Mawangdui, there are many medical works produced in this period.