神农尝百草

Chinese Herbal Medicine and Shennong

传说上古时期，原始先民常常过着茹毛饮血，食不果腹的生活。族人的疾苦，作为氏族首领的神农，看在眼里，急在心里。

Legend has it that in ancient times, our primitive ancestors often lived a life of eating raw meat and drinking blood, having far inadequate food supplies.Seeing all the sufferings, Shennong, the clan leader,felt deeply sympathetic to all the sufferings his clansmen were bearing.

为了改善族人的生活，神农走上了寻食采药的旅途。每遇一种植物，他便亲自品尝并记录下它的味道和食后反应，并以此为同族居民果腹治病。In order to improve the lives of his clansmen,Shennong embarked on a journey to f ind food and medicine. Each time he found a plant, he would personally taste it, test it, ascertain its medicinal value,and then use it to help relieve his people of their afflictions and sufferings.

一日，神农所在氏族的族人，在一次狩猎中不慎受伤，待他伤口痊愈后，却一直虚弱无力。

One day, one of his clansmen got hurt in a hunting accident. He, though recovered from his wounds, still remained weak.

在一次采药中，神农发现有一种植物旁边几乎无杂草树木，感觉甚是奇怪，于是便将其挖出，发现其根竟然如同人形。

During his herb collection, Shennong caught sight of a plant with almost no weeds nearby, which was quite unusual. Therefore, he dug it out and surprisingly found that the shape of its root resembled that of a human.

联想到它的生长环境，神农意识到这种植物必然积聚自然之精华，于是便将其给那位受伤后虚弱的族人试服，果不其然该族人恢复了元气。

Associating with the environment in which it grew, Shennong realized that the plant must have accumulated the essence of nature, so he took it and gave it to the patient and, sure enough, the man restored his energy and vitality.

这味药物便是如今闻名的“人参”，恰因其形似“人”而得名。

This herb is now known as “Ren Shen” (Ginseng),which is named for its resemblance to human beings(“Ren” in Chinese).

神农所在族群总有许多人一直苦于无后代，族群的繁衍与发展受到很大的限制，神农为此感到担忧。

Many of Shennong’s clansmen had fertility problems,resulting in the restriction of the clan development.That worried Shennong a lot.

神农在上山寻药过程中，发现每当羊在啃食一种草后，羊和羊总是不断交合。

In the process of searching for medicine on the mountain, Shennong found that sheep always copulated constantly after they had eaten a certain kind of plant.

于是他感觉这味药可能有促进繁衍的作用，便将其采来给族人服下。果然，之后几年族群的人丁日渐兴旺了起来。

Instinctively, Shennong felt that this plant might help fertility, so he collected it and brought it back to his clansmen. As was expected, the population of the ethnic group began to boom over the next few years.

由于这味药因羊发现，羊食后不断交合，便将其命名为“淫羊藿”。

As the discovery of this herb was sheep-associated—sheep continue to copulate after eating, accordingly, it is named “Yin Yang (“Sheep” in English) Huo” (Herba Epimedii).

族群在过去的一年迎来了大丰收，神农与族人一起举办了一场庆功宴，在宴会上神农吃了不少大鱼大肉。

Once the clan had a great harvest. Shennong and his people celebrated it with a banquet. At the banquet,there was abundant f ish and meat, which Shennong took in a lot.

可之后几天，神农却出现了便秘，好几天都没有排便，腹部胀痛甚是痛苦。

However, in the next few days, Shennong became constipated and had no defecation for several days. He felt absolutely bloated.

神农想起以前在采药时吃过的一种草具有通便的作用，于是就采来服下，不久便觉腹痛难忍，不多时即解下大便，人也舒畅了许多。

Shennong recalled that in the past, a kind of herb had the effect of defecation, so he picked it and took it. Soon he felt unbearable abdominal pain and immediately released his stools. And naturally he felt a lot carefree.

这味药其色黄而作用强，故将其命名为“大黄”。

This herb is yellow (“Huang” in Chinese) in color and strong (“Da” in Chinese) in effect, so it is called “Da Huang” (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei).

不幸的是，在一次采药过程中，神农因误尝了剧毒的断肠草而离世。

Unfortunately, in the course of a medicinal collection,Shennong died from mistakenly taking Gelsemium elegans, a highly toxic yellow-flowered shrub known as heartbreak grass.

神农便是后世传颂的炎帝，为了纪念他对人类发展的贡献，中华民族常常以炎黄子孙自称。而后世医家更是托神农之名编撰本草学专著《神农本草经》。

Shennong, also known as the Yan Emperor, was eulogized everywhere in later generations. In order to commemorate his outstanding contribution to human development, the Chinese people often call themselves“descendants of the Yan and Huang Emperors”.Moreover, later generations of medical experts began to compile the pharmacopoeia Shennong’s Herbal Classic in the name of Shennong.

《神农本草经》

Shennong’s Herbal Classic