Foreign medicinal materials in Bencao Tujing

Abstract

Bencao Tujing(, Illustration of Materia Medica) presents the exchange and application of foreign medicine in the middle period of the Northern Song Dynasty. The description Bencao Tujing records foreign medicinal materials from 29 extraterritorial countries, and also recorded some foreign medicinal materials from wide areas such as the Silk Road, the Maritime Silk Road and minority areas. Bencao Tujing systematically recorded foreign varieties before the Song Dynasty which used domestic resources in the Song Dynasty; it also recorded a large number of varieties of domestic and foreign resources, including genuine medicinal materials from abroad. The paintings of some foreign varieties in Bencao Tujing were basically true. However, some figures of foreign medicinal variety have conjecture elements, and some foreign medicinal materials have detailed traits described but no corresponding figures. The book also truthfully recorded that some samples of foreign medicinal materials have not been investigated. Through the Bencao Tujing, it can be deduced that foreign medicinal materials have been integrated into the daily life of the Song Dynasty, and the court of the Song Dynasty paid great attention to the investigation of foreign medicinal materials. Bencao Tujing systematically summarized foreign medicinal materials which were introduced before the Northern Song Dynasty, and provided precious historical materials for studying foreign medicinal materials in the Song Dynasty.