Evidence of Medicines

AnonymousJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

4.0

Word count: 34K words
Chapters: 5

Summary

The Book says: If the drug does not cause vertigo and disorientation, the disease will not be cured. The Rites of Zhou says: The physician oversees the administrative orders of medicine, gathers toxic drugs, and provides for medical affairs. From this we see that drugs are toxic and diseases are toxic too; toxic drugs attack toxic diseases, and that is why vertigo and disorientation occur. Yet when examining materia medica, some are toxic and some are non-toxic, some are nourishing and some are not nourishing. People are therefore greatly confused. The ages are distant, people have passed away, and the classics have been destroyed; even if one wishes to correct this, there is no way to do so. What we rely on today is heaven, earth, and humanity.

Now, where there are heaven and earth, there are the ten thousand things; where there are the ten thousand things, there is the capacity for toxicity; where there are people, there are disease and freedom from disease—this is the same in ancient and modern times. To correct what differs by following what is the same—who could say it cannot be corrected! The method of Bian Que was to test his formulas; when the drug causes vertigo and disorientation, the disease is then cured. As for whether it is nourishing or not, what the materia medica says ultimately has no verification.

Editor's review

This book begins with the ancient saying "If the drug does not cause vertigo and disorientation, the disease will not be cured," and unfolds a discussion around whether drugs are toxic or non-toxic and whether they nourish or not, attempting to reexamine the relationship between medicinal properties and healing against the background of proliferating materia medica records and distant ages with ruined classics. The author is not satisfied with simply listing toxic and non-toxic drugs, but emphasizes clinical verification as the standard, using Bian Que's method of testing formulas to explain that the vertigo and disorientation caused by drugs is precisely the manifestation of attacking pathogenic factors and achieving effects. The book is rather argumentative in tone, carrying a sense of distinguishing scholarship and tracing sources; reading it conveys a scholarly attitude of returning to the classics and rectifying names through verified efficacy. For today's readers, the value of this book lies not in providing ready-made formulas, but in reminding us of the tension between recorded medicinal properties and clinical reality, and of the relative meaning of "toxicity" in the therapeutic context. It is suitable, after reading basic materia medica, for reflecting on the limitations of medicinal property classification and the principle of matching formulas to patterns. The language is concise and archaic, requiring slow reading and careful savoring.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Those with preliminary understanding of classical materia medica and medicinal property theory who wish to think more deeply
Clinical practitioners concerned with the approach of matching formulas to patterns and verifying drug efficacy
Researchers in Chinese medicine literature and medical history examining the argumentative style of Republican-era materia medica
Chinese medicine enthusiasts who enjoy analyzing medical principles from ancient sayings and classics

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking quick reference for specific dosages and formula compositions
Those with no foundation in classical Chinese reading who need line-by-line vernacular translation
Those expecting content on modern toxicology and safety evaluation

Reading tips

First clarify the context of "vertigo and disorientation" and "toxic drugs" in ancient medical texts, then enter the main discussion
When reading each passage of argument, try to summarize its core claim in your own words, avoiding being led astray by elaborate sentences
Read against the physician section of the Rites of Zhou and the three-grade classification of the Shennong Bencao Jing to understand the author's problem consciousness
After reading, write a short note recording your new understanding of the classification of toxic and non-toxic medicinal properties

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

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FAQ

What does the title "Medicinal Verification" mean?

"Verification" means testing and proof. From the book's content, the author emphasizes that records of medicinal properties must be tested by clinical efficacy, rather than blindly following materia medica statements about whether drugs nourish or not. The title reflects a scholarly orientation grounded in actual therapeutic efficacy, rather than a simple drug compilation.

Does the discussion of "toxic drugs" in the book advocate the use of toxic substances?

The author uses ancient sayings to explain that drugs heal precisely by using one-sidedness to correct one-sidedness, and that vertigo and disorientation may be a sign of efficacy. This is not an encouragement to abuse toxic drugs, but a reminder not to judge a drug's value merely by the surface appearance of toxic or non-toxic; one should understand it in light of patterns and verified efficacy.

Can someone without a classical Chinese foundation read this book?

The book's sentences are concise and archaic and often cite classics, so it will be rather difficult without a classical Chinese foundation. It is advisable to first read annotated and vernacular editions of Chinese medical classics to accumulate common medical terms and sentence patterns, then attempt this book, or read and discuss it with teachers and friends.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.