Research On Pharmacological Records In The Notes Of Song Dynasty

Objective:During Song Dynasty, there were plenty of literary forms, among which the note was quite popular. The notes, which were mostly recorded the experience of the writers, or the feelings of reading books, were described in details, and rich in content. The Song literary men were willing to learn medicine at that time, which became a social trend. Under this background, pharmacological content became a source of literary writing. Therefore, pharmacological relevant records could be seen in some notes of Song Dynasty. This study extracted and classified the pharmacological records in the notes of Song Dynasty, deeply studied some typical items, revealed the value of the pharmacological records, analyzed the pharmacology developing situation of Song Dynasty, and provided some references to the research of the pharmacological developing history in Song Dynasty.Methods:This study adopted the literature research methods. On the basis of comprehensively reading the collected materials, it classified the extracted records, deeply analyzed the distribution and content features, and the situation of pharmacological development of Song Dynasty.Results:This study searched 360 notes of Song Dynasty from four series of books-Li Dai Bi Ji Xiao Shuo Ji Cheng-Song Dai Bi Ji Xiao Shuo, Li Dai Bi Ji Xiao Shuo Da Guan-Song Yuan Bi Ji, Quan Song Bi Ji, Tang Song Shi Liao Bi Ji Cong Kan, and some widely recognized and separately published notes.75 notes were found to contain pharmacological records.285 items were extracted, including 50324 words in total. This study mainly adopted literature research methods. On the basis of comprehensively reading the collected materials, it classified the extracted records, deeply analyzed the distribution and content features, and the situation of pharmacological development of Song Dynasty. The distribution features of pharmacological records in the Notes of Song Dynasty are listed as follows. The pharmacological records are widely scattered. The pharmacological records are in different chapters in one note. Some notes put pharmacological records into categories. The records of some medicines appear in different notes. Some notes cite each other. This study put the extracted records into 9 kinds-the name of medicine; the variety, habitat and shape of medicine; textual research of medicine; the processing of medicine; efficacy and prescription of medicine; foreign medicine; medicine shop and market; pharmacy management; others. Through deep analyzing, the characteristics of the content are summarized as follows. The pharmacological records are from the experience of the authors, and most are reliable. The pharmacological records fill the gaps of pharmacology. The pharmacological records demonstrate the development of pharmacology in Song Dynasty. This study analyzed the overall development situation of pharmacology in Song Dynasty via compiling and classification of the extracted records. The pharmacology features of Song Dynasty, reflected from the records, can be analyzed into the following aspects:the importance of source and variety of medicine; the acceptance of powder decoction; the prevalence of spice; the thriving of medicine exchange; the intervention of the government in the medicine production and marketing.Conclusion:The distribution of the pharmacological records are scattered. Some medicines are described more than once, and mutual citations between notes are quite commom. The records in the notes involves different aspects of the development of medicine in Song Dynasty. The records in the notes of Song Dynasty are credible, so some items were cited by the later medicine books. The records in the notes reveals some characteristics of the pharmacological development of Song Dynasty.