This book explores the dissemination of knowledge around Chinese medicinal substances from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries in a global context. The author presents a microhistory of the caterpillar fungus, a natural, medicinal substance initially used by Tibetans no later than the fifteenth century and later assimilated into Chinese materia medica from the eighteenth century onwards. Tracing the transmission of the caterpillar fungus from China to France, Britain, Russia and Japan, the book investigates the tensions that existed between prevailing Chinese knowledge and new European ideas about the caterpillar fungus. Emerging in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe, these ideas eventually reached communities of scientists, physicians and other intellectuals in Japan and China. Seeking to examine why the caterpillar fungus engaged the attention of so many scientific communities across the globe, the author offers a transnational perspective on the making of modern European natural history and Chinese materia medica.
Author(s): Di Lu
Series: Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 300
City: Cham
Acknowledgements
Contents
1 Introduction
Transnational Chinese Materia Medica
Scientific Medicine in Motion
Historicising the Caterpillar Fungus
2 The Spread of a Sino-Tibetan Marvel
Sino-Tibetan Origins
Zurkhar Nyamnyi Dorje’s Account of Yartsa Gunbu
Early Chinese Records of Winter Worm Summer Grass
As a Product
The Caterpillar Fungus Becomes Tribute
Emerging Areas of Production
Geographical Disparities and Rhapsodies
Transregional Comparisons and Nominal Variations
As a Marvel
The Caterpillar Fungus Captivates Eastern China
Miraculous Transformations and ‘Immortal Grass’
Packaging the Miracle and Trade
Fancy Look Versus Healing Power
As a Medicine
The Caterpillar Fungus in Cases and Prescriptions
Conclusion
3 The Caterpillar Fungus Travels Overseas
Debuting in France via the Jesuit Mission
Dominicus Parennin’s Tale of the Curative Caterpillar Fungus
Joining British Networks of Natural Knowledge
The Caterpillar Fungus Between John Reeves and British Naturalists
Samples from James E. Home and Henry Frewin and Medical Concern
Frank Kingdon Ward’s Specimens and Cambridge
Encountering Medical Concerns of Russians
Alexander A. Tatarinov Brings the Caterpillar Fungus to St. Petersburg
Spreading Eastward to Japan
Carl P. Thunberg Encounters ‘Totsu Kaso’
Chinese Traders Bring the Caterpillar Fungus to Japanese Attention
Japanese Variants of the Caterpillar Fungus as Kasō Tōchū
Conclusion
4 The Caterpillar Fungus Teases
A Wonder No More?
Auguste-Denis Fougeroux de Bondaroy’s Revisit of Réaumur’s ‘Plante Ver’
New Taxonomic Identifications
Miles J. Berkeley’s Identification of Sphaeria Sinensis and Its Aftermath
Identification of the Caterpillar
New Medical Representations
Maritime Customs’s Publication of Information on Chinese Medicines
Homeopathic Use of the Caterpillar Fungus
Changes in Japanese Perceptions
In Search of the Caterpillar Fungus and Discovery of Similar Organisms
New Perceptions About the Caterpillar Fungus
Conclusion
5 New Caterpillar Fungus Emerges and Negotiates
Locating a Scientific Caterpillar Fungus
Cognitive Change
Communicating the Science of the Caterpillar Fungus
Inviting Scientific Inquiry
Mycological Studies
Chemical and Pharmacological Studies
Domestic Circulation and Consumption
In the Spotlight of Medical Reform
Materia Medica of Growing Importance
Chinese Materia Medica Reformed in the Form of a Dictionary
The Caterpillar Fungus Scientised in an Entry
Between Scholarship and Practice
Extending Textual Life from Dictionaries to Textbooks
Consequences of Scientification
Conclusion
6 Conclusion
Index
