从墓壁画到彩绘图:宋明之际的切药刀具与剂型发展探析

From Tomb Murals to Painted Pictures:Investigation on Development of Medicine-Cutting Tools and Dosage Forms Between Song and Ming Dynasties

陕西韩城盘乐村宋代壁画墓和明万历《补遗雷公炮制便览》存世孤本是国内中医药领域存有详细药物炮制图的2项重要文化遗产。这些药物炮制图直观再现了宋明之际的药物炮制工序、器具等具体细节,可以弥补现有文本文献的薄弱之处。通过考察2项文化遗产可知,古代药物炮制中使用的切药铡刀是随着唐宋煮散剂型盛行,吸收及利用辽金少数民族的铡草工具而来。隋唐时期,切药工具仅有铜刀或竹刀。为了应对煮散流行后大量药材饮片细化的需要,辽金少数民族的铡草工具被引入中原成为切药铡刀。借鉴铡刀的使用手法,北宋末期衍生出仍然使用砧板、竖握、无刀架的简易铡刀;明代专业医家还改良出可以放置在桌上、形制精巧的切药铡刀。然而由于切药铡刀铸造及操作难度较大等原因,其在明中期以前并没有撼动传统切刀的常用工具地位,而是被赋予了更多的文化象征意义。

There are two important cultural heritages in the field of Chinese medicine at home to display detailed drug processing diagrams,seen in the Song murals from Panle Village,Hancheng of Shaanxi Province and the sole existing copy of Buyi Leigong Paozhi Bianlan(Supplementary Notes to Leigong’s Processing Techniques)in Wanli Period of Ming dynasty.These diagrams represent directly the details of drug processing procedures and utensils between Song and Ming dynasties,and thus can serve as supplements to the evidence of existing textual literature.Based on the investigation of the two cultural heritages,it can be seen that the ancient medicine chopper for drug processing has evolved since Tang and Song dynasties when the Decoction and Powder forms were prevalent with absorption and utilization of fodder chopper by ethnic minorities from Liao and Jin Kingdoms.In Sui and Tang dynasties,only copper or bamboo cutters were used.In order to cope with the need to refine a large number of medicine particles due to the popularity of boiling powder,the Liao-Jin fodder choppers were introduced into Central China to become the medicine chopper.By referring to the use of the fodder cutter,at the end of the Northern Song dynasty appeared a simple cutter with vertical grip and cutting board and without knife holder.In the Ming dynasty,medical experts had developed medicine choppers with exquisite designs and placeable on a table.However,due to the difficulty of casting and operating and other reasons,the medicine chopper did not replace traditional cutter as a common tool before the middle Ming dynasty,but was endowed with more cultural symbolic significance.