20世纪初以前西方学者对中国冬虫夏草的记载和研究

Western Records and Studies of the Chinese Caterpillar Fungus to the Beginning of the 20th Century

冬虫夏草在中国是一种著名的药材。最早记录它的文献是15世纪的藏医籍《千万舍利》。随着法国传教士巴多明(Parennin)于1723年将冬虫夏草标本从北京寄往法兰西科学院,西方学术界开始了对这种中国药材的认识和研究历程。在1841年英国昆虫学家韦斯特伍德(Westwood)开始鉴定这种真菌以前,西方学者认为冬虫夏草的真菌子实体是植物的根。此后,英国真菌学家贝克莱(Berkeley)分别在1843和1856年将其定名为"Sphaeria Sinensis"和"Cordyceps sinensis"。但是为学界广泛使用并沿用至今的,却是意大利植物学家萨卡多(Saccardo)在其1883年的专著中为冬虫夏草的定名"Cordyceps sinensis(Berk.)Sacc."。在20世纪初以前,西方人对中国冬虫夏草的记录和描述具有多重价值,对于了解中国冬虫夏草的使用历史而言是重要的补充资料。

The caterpillar fungus is a famous medical material in China. The earliest text containing the records of caterpillar fungus is the 15th-century Tibetan medical book Man ngag bye ba ring bsrel. Following the arrival of the specimens of caterpillar fungus in Acadrmie des Sciences, which were sent by Father Parennin from Beijing in 1723, western scholars embarked on getting acquainted with and studying this Chinese medical material. Prior to 1841 ,when the British entomologist West- wood began to identify it, western scholars considered the fruiting body as root. After 1841, the British mycologist Berkeley identified it as ＂Sphaeria Sinensis＂ and ＂Cordyceps sinensis＂ in 1843 and 1856 ,respectively. However, the widely used scientific name of this ~ngus by the Italian botanist Saccardo who identified it as ＂Cordyceps sinensis （Berk.） today was proposed Sacc.＂ in his mono- graph published in 1883. The western records and accounts of the Chinese caterpillar fungus are im- portant supplements which are of great value to the construction of the history of Chinese caterpillar fungususe.