本草考古:出土医药文书的历史文化考察——以植物药为中心

Herbal Archaeology: Historical and Cultural Investigation of Unearthed Medical documents: Focus on Botanical Medicine

中国传统药物学被称为本草学,或与古代药物中植物药较多有较大关系。较早出现的《神农本草经》《名医别录》等传世本草典籍之中,植物药已占据半壁江山。一些出土的简帛文书如《五十二病方》《武威汉简医方》等较《神农本草经》更为原始而古朴,其中植物药亦占有较大比例。对这些植物药物进行考察,对其背后的文化因素进行挖掘、整理、阐释,可以明了古人治病驱疾、布方施药的经验源头,认识和了解古代先民与药物的相互关系,解释中国古代医药文化的发展与进程,对重视和保护中国中医药古典医籍进而开展本草考古工作也大有助益。

Chinese traditional pharmacology,called"materia medica",has much to do with the fact that there were many botanicals in ancient medicine.Plant medicines account for half in herbal classics of Shennong’s Materia Medica Classic and Records of Famous Physicians,which appeared earlier,have been handed down from generation to generation.Some excavated plain and silk documents,such as Fifty-two Disease Prescriptions and Wuwei Han Jian Medical Prescriptions,are more primitive and simpler than Shennong’s Materia Medica Classic,among which plant medicines also account for a large proportion.By examining these plant drugs and interpreting the cultural factors behind,it can be possible to know the origins of the experiences of applying pesticide source,to understand the relationship between knowledge and understanding of the ancient ancestors and drug,to explain the progress of the development of ancient Chinese medical culture,thus attaching importance to the protection of ancient medical books of Chinese medicine and materia medica archaeological work in China.