Ming herbal (painting): Aspen/white poplar

Painting of the white poplar/aspen (baiyang) in the meticulous (gongbi) style, in colour on silk, from Bencao tupu (Illustrated Herbal). The painted illustrations in Bencao tupu were jointly executed by Zhou Hu and Zhou Xi in 1644 (the final year of the Ming period). The explanatory texts were provided by Zhou Rongqi. The book was not completed: each volume was to have contained 14-15 paintings, but only 29 are extant. Zhou Rongqi writes: The white poplar/aspen, also known as duyao (lit. 'lone swayer'), grows everywhere. It propagates rapidly, and grows extremely tall. It has rounded, pear-shaped leaves and white bark. The wood is fine and smooth, and also hard and solid. When the wind blows through the leaves, they make a sound like rain. The bark and leaves are used in medicine. The bark of the aspen is bitter in sapor, cold in thermostatic character, and non-poisonous. It has the medicinal properties of dispelling wind, moving stagnations, and resolving phlegm. It is used to treat wind-blockage arthralgia (fengbi), beri-beri (jiaoqi), feeble limbs, clots of phlegm, goitres, etc. Aspen leaves can be boiled in water and used as a mouthwash to treat tooth decay. Pounded to a pulp and applied externally, they are a remedy for bone ulcers.

Baiyang (white poplar/aspen)