On duyao - the poisoning drugs

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In Huangdi neijing ¶À«Ò¤º¸g - Suwen ¯À°Ý, chap. 12 (Yifa fangyi lun

²§ªk¤è©y½× - Discourse on the methods of treating the patients from

different regions) it is written: ¡§¡K ¬G¬rÃĪ̥ç±q¦è¤è¨Ó¡C¡¨ " ¡K

so, the drug therapy is transmitted from the west " .

 

The expression ¬rÃÄ duyao means, literally, " poisoning drugs " .

 

In Huainanzi ²a«n¤l (chap. 19 - Xiuwu ­×°È), we are told that

Shennong ¯«¹A, testing different herbs, ¡§¤@¤é¦Ó¹J ¤C¤Q¬r¡¨ " he

found seventy ¬r poisons in a single day " . In Leijing Ãþ¸g it is

mentioned that, in the expression duyao ¬rÃÄ, the term du ¬r

means " efficient " , and Edouard Biot (Le Tcheou-li ou Rites des

Tcheou, Imprimerie Nationale, Paris, 1851, vol. I, p. 92, note 3)

says that duyao ¬rÃÄ is an expression designating " the bitter

substances used on therapeutically purpose " . According to Shujing

®Ñ¸g - The Book of Documents (i.e. History) (3-rd Part - Shangshu °

 - The Documents of Shang, chap. 8 - Yueming »¡©R - The charge to

Yue, ¡± 1, 8): ¡§­YÃÄ¥±º\¥È, ³Ö¯e¥±êo¡C¡¨ " a drug, if it has not a

bad taste ('distress the patient' - transl. James Legge), it cannot

cure " .

 

Laurentiu Teodorescu