I like Chinese medicine since I was a child. There is a neighbor next door to my house. He is a barefoot doctor. There are many books about Chinese medicine in his family, so I often borrow them from him. These books include Compendium of Materia Medica, which is different from the Compendium of Materia Medica seen on the Internet now. The Compendium of Materia Medica read on the Internet usually omits folklore and folk remedies. Therefore, the printed Compendium of Materia Medica retains the original appearance of Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica.
I remember that there was an article in Compendium of Materia Medica describing the leaves of Platycladus orientalis. First of all, its medicinal properties are promoting qi circulation and promoting blood circulation, and its main function is to treat traumatic injuries. When used, oriental arborvitae leaves should be used. There is a folklore behind it. It is said that there was a man in the pre-Qin period who fled into the mountains because of the war. He ate cacumen Platycladi all day and his hair turned white. However, he lived in the mountains for hundreds of years. When he arrived in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, he was found by people who went into the mountains to cut wood. At this time, he can fly between tall trees, as fast as lightning and as fast as thunder, and his skill is very fast. He often runs in the forest, and neither the tiger nor the leopard will get hurt. Therefore, it is obviously not credible to say in Compendium of Materia Medica that eating cacumen Platycladi can become immortal.
I remember there are many such descriptions in Compendium of Materia Medica. Take thatch as an example. There are thatched roofs everywhere on the ridge of my hometown. It is usually cut and dried in the slack season and used as firewood. It is such a humble thatched roof. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, using Rhizoma Imperatae can cure tuberculosis and relieve cough, but it has no effect at all in real life. That winter, I caught a bad cold and couldn't stop coughing, so I went to the mountain to dig a lot of grass roots, brought them back and cooked them for two days, and drank them for nothing. I think it's better to believe in books than to have no books at all.
First of all, the credible part
Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica is credible in the description of pharmacology, especially in the description of plants, but there are also many descriptions that exaggerate the efficacy of drugs, among which I deeply feel that there are thatched grass, arborvitae leaves, almonds, black beans, dodder seeds, leeks and cowpeas. In Compendium of Materia Medica, there are many vegetables and some common trees. Some even exaggerate the efficacy.
Second, the untrustworthy part.
All kinds of plants, animals, minerals, water and metals in nature are described in Compendium of Materia Medica, and there are many exaggerations. For example, the loess described in it has the efficacy of detoxification, which obviously exaggerates its efficacy. There are some incredible claims that foot washing water can be used as medicine to treat diseases, which is certainly not credible.
Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica is a treasure of traditional medicine in China. Although there are some exaggerated descriptions in it, we should critically inherit and learn, discard its dross and keep its essence!