BetaThis search tool is in development. Find out more.
Find thousands of books, manuscripts, visual materials and unpublished archives from our collections, many of them with free online access.
Search for free, downloadable images taken from our library and museum collections, including paintings, illustrations, photos and more.
Digital Images
Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: Winter frost water
- Anonymous
Available online
License
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence.
Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) terms and conditions https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Credit: Chinese Materia Dietetica, Ming: Winter frost water.
Credit: Wellcome Collection.
Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Selected images from this work
About this work
Description
Illustration of 'winter frost water' from Shiwu bencao (Materia dietetica), a dietetic herbal in four volumes dating from the Ming period (1368-1644). The identity of the author and artists is unknown. It contains entries on over 300 medicinal substances and is illustrated by almost 500 paintings in colour.
Frost (shuang), i.e. frozen dew, was collected by brushing it up with chicken feathers, and was then sealed in bottles for later use. The illustration shows a man climbing a ladder to gather frost from a roof.
The text states: Winter frost water is cold in thermostatic character and non-poisonous. It is used to relieve alcoholic heat (jiure), cold damage and heat ailments.
Contributors
Lettering
Winter frost water (Dongshuang shui)
Type/Technique
Permanent link
We’re improving the information on this page. Find out more.