Chinese drugs personified: Lithograph, 1935

Yaohui tukao (Illustrated Congregation of Drugs), published in 1935 (24th year of the Republic of China), presents the materia medica in dramatic form. It consists of ten scenes, in which various drugs appear as protagonists. This illustration accompanies Scene 4, 'Dendrobium Overcomes the Monsters', in which characters personifying dendrobium (jinshi hu), Cape jasmine (zhizi), Chinese rat snake (wushao she, Zaocys dhumnades (Cantor)), and long-nosed pit viper (baihua she) present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song. Dendrobium nourishes Yin and clears heat, Rangoon creeper (shijunzi, quisqualis indica) loosens phlegm and relieves infantile malnutrition (gan). Red kaolin (chi shizhi) astringes the intestine and controls diarrhoea. Akebia Fruit is efficacious for killing parasites. Biota/arbor vitae seed (baiziren) nourishes the heart and settles fright. Tabasheer (tianzhuhuang, Concretio Silicea Bambusae) loosens phlegm and extinguishes wind. Momordica seed (mubiezi, semen momordicae) removes poisons and relieves abscesses. Snake slough is efficacious for getting rid of nebula (yunyi) and also for treating infantile convulsions (jingxian, lit. fright epilepsy)… Altogether, this scene introduces about 40 drugs.

TITLE: Dendrobium (jin shihu) Overcomes the Monsters. CAPTIONS: Dendrobium Overcomes the Monsters. Chinese rat snake (wushao she, Zaocys dhumnades (Cantor)); wushaoshe; long-nosed pit viper (baihua she); Cape jasmine (zhizi); dendrobium (jin shihu)