服药以攻疾——柳宗元服食考辨

Take Medicine Against Disease——Textual Research on the Facts that Liu Zongyuan took food

永贞元年(805),旨在解决政治积弊、打击权宦势力的改革运动失败,当年十一月柳宗元被贬永州。此后的十四年间柳宗元基本一直生活在南方的永州和柳州,从元和三年(808)开始,柳宗元因当地地理环境的影响患上风湿疾病。为减轻疾病的痛苦,柳宗元开始学习医书、种植药草,并依方服食包括石钟乳在内的各种药物。但服食药物是为了治疗自身疾病,而非因服药而导致身患疾病,与道家为追求长生而服食丹药也有所不同。柳宗元身患多种疾病仍能存世十馀载,与其积极服药治疗不无关系。但在这十馀年间柳宗元基本仍是生活在南方暑湿寒冷之地,导致疾病反复发作,最终病亡。

Yongzhen Yuannian(805),a reform movement aimed at solving political problems and cracking down on power officials,which failed.In November of that year,Liu Zongyuan was demoted to Yongzhou.From then on,Liu Zongyuan lived in Yongzhou and Liuzhou for 14 years.From The third year of Yuanhe(808),Liu Zongyuan suffered from rheumatism due to the local geographical environment.To alleviate the pain of his illness,Liu began to learn medical books,plant herbs and take a variety of medicines including stalactites.But taking drugs to treat one's own illness,rather than suffering from it as a result of taking them,is different from taking Dan medicine in pursuit of longevity.Although Liu Zongyuan suffering from a variety of diseases,he could still live for more than a decade,and its active drug treatment is not unrelated.But during these ten years,Liu Zongyuan was still living in the hot,wet and cold land in the south,which led to repeated attacks and eventually death of the disease.