In the last two lectures we have introduced the cultural nature of Chinese herbs in many aspects in today's lecture I would like to tell a story to end this unit I want to name the story Fresh Ginger Curing Throat Abscess This is actually a historical story it is recorded in the Yi Jian Zhi written by Hong Mai in the Southern Song Dynasty the story happened to a official in Guangzhou in the Southern Song Dynasty he is an official under county magistrate what kind of official is that actually now it is very similar to secretory of the Commission for Discipline Inspection First he is directly appointed by the emperor besides, he could report to the emperor directly rather than through local administrators so he was a powerful man However, Yang Lizhi has a special appetite for a local bird which is called partridge one day he felt uncomfortable in his throat a little painful As an official he had some medical knowledge he took some cool-property herbs but it did not work and it became even worse until it eroded and bled seriously affected his daily life that he couldn't eat or sleep Then he was very anxious and asked for medical help everywhere Most doctors prescribed him herbs that can clear heat and remove toxins with a large dose some herbs are rare and expensive because almost all doctors prescribed him common herbs to clear heat and remove toxins, which didn't work They still assumed his problems was caused by toxic heat so they just prescribed other herbs to clear heat and remove toxins but stil no effect of course, he was very worried because his normal life was greatly affected by this condition So they turned to a famous dorctor named Yang Jilao Doctor Yang questioned in detail about his problem and told him that the illness was very special but very easy to treat "All you need to do is to eat 500g of refresh ginger within one week his relatives were very suspicious and thought Yang's throat pain was so serious that it had eroded with pus and blood. It was surely caused by toxic heat and surely it should be cured by bitter cold herbs to clear heat and remove toxins how can you recommend warm-property fresh ginger You must have given the wrong treatment, but for Yang Lizhi, he was extremely painful and tried so many herbs to clear heat and remove toxins also he had trust in Yang Jilao's medical skill so he would like to have a try He ate a few pieces of ginger as you all know we usually feel spicy when we ate ginger but for him ginger did not seem to be hot at that moment on the contary, it tasted sweet and scented but throat pain was still there and when he ate more, the sweetness got even stronger At that moment his pain neither relieved nor aggravate until he had eaten 250g of fresh ginger his sore throat gradually alleviate and disappeared and then he started to feel hot in eating ginger his pain removed exactly one week after he had eaten 500g of fresh ginger he was full of suspicion of course he was very thankful to Yang Jilao so he went to his home to thank him at the same time he was curious about his treatment he asked Yang Jilao and he was told "you live in Guangzhou and also has high social status "you love eating partridge but you do not know that partridges like eating Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) in the wild and Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) is toxic it does not matter if you eat a little but you has eaten too much and little by little you were poisoned by accumulated amount this has caused you throat abscess so to treat you throat abscess you have to stop eating partridges at the same time, you need to remove toxins of Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) What can remove toxins of Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae)? Fresh ginger and fresh ginger alone can do the job, rare expensive herbs are not necessary yang Lizhi suddenly understood from then on he never ate partridges This is a historical but true story This story can make you think. If you think it over in this story there are many cultural elemenets We could say that it presents with history, culture and literature knowledge We could say Hong Mai is an official but he impresses us not for being an official but a writer in the Southern Song Dynasty he is a historica figure meanwhile the book mainly displays real social life in the Southern Son Dynasty along with religious culture, moral ethics and customs etc In fact it records the historical and local customes and social life so it has much to do with history Also, this book actually is also the masterpiece of mythical stories in The Song Dynasty it is a literature novel so the book itself represents history, culture and literature this is one aspect from the story plot it embodies Chinese ancient philosophy at least we could find these elements First, Concept of correspondence between man and nature you live in Guangzhou the climate and species in Guangzhou has much to do with local people's diet so the same illness vary in different individuals different seasons and different regions that is why it is different when it happened to him Second it shows dialectics we can say throat abscess, as everyone knows, can be cured by heat-clearing and toxin-removing herbs but why these herbs did not work but ginger worked we need to see through the appearance to perceive the essence theoretically Sore and swollen throat can be cured by heat-clearing and toxin-removing herbs but it did not work, why because you did not find the root cause This means that we have to see through the appearance to perceive the essence meanwhile, Often known to change if you have sore throat and throat abscess it is toxic heat, which is normal but it does not mean it applies to everyone not for Yang zhili so you have to be known to change thirdly, philosophically it reprents the doctrine of Zhong Yong (moderation) why Yang Lizhi was asked to eat 500g of fresh ginger in addition, not within a day or at one time but within one week little by little and no more after this This is what we say to stop taking herbs once the disease goes away this shows the doctrine of Zhong Yong (moderation) does it have something to do with philosophy here also it represents food culture Food and herbs share the same source you eat partridges who likes eating Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) and partridges contain ingredients of Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) whose toxins need to be removed by fresh ginger, whch is both medicine and food This is what we say the food and herbs share the same source, same nature and same effect at the same time, it shows us the local customs. Because we all know Guangdong is famous for food, where people love eating they not only love eating but also are quite adventurous in eating We have never heard of partridges But in Guangdong at that time High officials like eathing that kind of food Finally it also manifests some social phenomenon Although Cantonese can eat partridges but not everyone can afford it you have to be wealthy enough to have the opportunity to eat them this actually has reflected a social phenomenon so such a small story can tell us so many cultural elements so from this case he ate partridges which contain Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) which is toxic and toxins accumulates over time and finally broke out , leading to throat abscess then how to treat it if you want to treat it You need to stop eating parridges and then you need to remove toxins of Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) by what fresh ginger so this tells us some knowledge about Chinese herbs Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) is planted in Guangdong Crude Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) is toxic Ginger is warm and can remove herbal toxins Does it tell us the knowledge about Chinese herbs In terms of dosage you have to add graually and you can not use a high dose you need to stop once the disease goes away at the same time it tells us we need to find the root cause of a disease such a small story tells us so many knowledge about Chinese herbs and Chinese culture The purpose I told the story, on the one hand is to prove the fusion between Chinese herbs and cultures on the other hand it tells that the theoretical system of Chinese herbs have greatly been influenced by its cultures and social foundations so in this unit acually we talked about two issues first, what is Chinese herb second, why only in China can we have such a theoretical system So much for this unit Thank you
