Query: tools for tracing down herb names?

[Guest guest]

Case in point: I'm given a handwritten herbal prescription by a

traditional Chinese doctor - somewhat flowery script, in traditional

format - from top left writing columns downwards, adding columns to the left.

 

With the help of in-laws - my Chinese wife and her parents, who all

were doctors/dentists in the PRC - I've tried to get plain-script

transliterations of the herbal doctor's script, so I could recognize

or be able look up the herbs.

 

The problem: some ingredients are unrecognizable; my

translator/helpers in some instances can't even be sure of the

characters or their PinYin equivalents.

 

The question: Is there a reference tool for finding herbs whose names

contain a certain subset of characters? E.g. all herbs ending in

" hua " (flower), or containing " yun " (rain)?

 

What I currently have is the 1st edition of the Bensky Materia

Medicae, whose multiple indeces are of some help, and John & Tina

Chen's book, whose huge index is also sometimes helpful. Of note,

and particular relevance here, is that Chens' book often cites

alternative names for individual herbs.

 

What I envision is something like an online database, containing all

standard and alternative pinyin herb names, and searchable by any

subset or combination of individual characters/terms.

 

Anyone know of anything like that?

 

(According to Paul Unschuld, the multiple-volume SuWen translation

(of which the 1st, introductory volume has been published) was to

have included a couple of volumes of concordance, not just by

individual characters but also by phrases / character combinations. I

think this is similar to what I need for herb names, and would be

useful across the board for TCM/CCM fields. The last I heard was the

Univ. of Calif. Press is balking at publishing the rest of the

volumes, due to the political/financial problems it is facing. Too

bad. Tools like that would be extremely valuable to many of us who

try to study the classics with some degree of philological sophistication.)

 

 

[Guest guest]

On Wed, 8 Feb 2006, wrote:

 

>

> Case in point: I'm given a handwritten herbal prescription by a

> traditional Chinese doctor - somewhat flowery script, in traditional

> format - from top left writing columns downwards, adding columns to the

> left.

>

> With the help of in-laws - my Chinese wife and her parents, who all

> were doctors/dentists in the PRC - I've tried to get plain-script

> transliterations of the herbal doctor's script, so I could recognize

> or be able look up the herbs.

 

Are you in-laws from the same region as the doctor who made the

prescription? Maybe the herbs you do not recognize are a local variety

not in the standard materia medica.

 

I don't know an answer for you about your other question.

 

Cory

[Guest guest]

I actually intend to take up advocacy for publishing this work, first

with UC Press, then brainstorm with Paul when I see him in Austin,

Texas for the Asian Medicine conference in April.

 

 

On Feb 8, 2006, at 8:39 PM, wrote:

 

> (According to Paul Unschuld, the multiple-volume SuWen translation

> (of which the 1st, introductory volume has been published) was to

> have included a couple of volumes of concordance, not just by

> individual characters but also by phrases / character combinations. I

> think this is similar to what I need for herb names, and would be

> useful across the board for TCM/CCM fields. The last I heard was the

> Univ. of Calif. Press is balking at publishing the rest of the

> volumes, due to the political/financial problems it is facing. Too

> bad. Tools like that would be extremely valuable to many of us who

> try to study the classics with some degree of philological

> sophistication.)

>

>