[content]

Dyers Woad Leaf is the dried leaf of the cruciferous plant Isatis indigotica Fort., Isatis Root is the dried root of the cruciferous plant Isatis indigotica Fort., and strobilanthes root is the creeping rostellularia herbaceous plant Baphicacanthus cusia ( The dried rhizomes and roots of Nees) Bremek., natural indigo are the leaves of the creeping rostellularia herbaceous plant Baphicacanthus cusia (Nees) Bremek., Polygonum tinctorium Ait. or the cruciferous plant Isatis indigotica Fort. Or dry powder or agglomerate obtained by processing stems and leaves. Woad is mainly produced in Dingxian and Anguo in Hebei, Suqian, Rugao, Taixian and Gaoyou in Jiangsu, Taihe, Linquan, Bozhou and Huaiyuan in Anhui, Dancheng in Henan, Huoxian and Lanxian in Shanxi and other places. Generally speaking, those made in Rugao, Jiangsu and Anguo, Hebei are considered authentic. Malan is mainly produced in Xianyou, Fujian, Jiangyou, Shifang, Jiangjin and other places in Sichuan, and is also produced in Hunan, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan. Natural indigo is a man-made product, mainly produced in Fujian, Hebei, Yunnan, Anhui and other provinces. Those produced in Fujian are famous and are called "Jian natural indigo".

Materia medica Research believes that: Bencao Jing Materia medica should be the fruit of Polygonum indica of the family Polygonaceae. Polygonum indica was still an important source of medicinal "Lanshi" until the Song Dynasty. However, the medicinal parts of "blue" began to change in the Song Dynasty, and the number of prescriptions using the root gradually increased. In the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the medical prescription was already named "Isatis Root". "Isatis Root" is suspected to be the vulgar writing of "昘indigowoad root", which means It refers to the root of "big blue" or "horse blue", and its authentic source is mainly today's woad and horse blue. As for Dyers Woad Leaf, European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf was regarded as the authentic product until the Ming Dynasty. However, starting from the Qing Dynasty, "Dyers Woad Leaf" became the general name including European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf and various blue leaves containing indigo. Recently, because of Paying attention to the pharmacological activity of indigo, the European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf was eliminated, and the Brassicaceae Isatis leaf was used as the authentic product. From the perspective of authenticity, woad is cultivated in both north and south, and there is no obvious authentic trend. Malan has a long history of cultivation in Fujian, so it should be an authentic area of ​​strobilanthes root.

[Variety Research]

In ancient times, plant-based dyes were mainly gardenia and acacia, "Historical Records" "The Biography of Huo Zhi" has the words "Thousand Acres of Gardenia". The root of the gardenia is dyed crimson, and the Cape Jasmine Fruit is dyed yellow. The blue color is mainly derived from the indigo contained in the plant. "Poetry." Xiaoya﹒ "Picking green" "In the end, the blue is picked, and there is no more than a single shade." The "blue" picked is used as a pigment. "Qing" is also related to "blue", "Xunzi﹒" "Encourage Learning" says: "Green comes from blue and green comes from blue." "Historical Records" The quote from "The Family of Three Kings" also says: "The green material comes from blue and the quality is green from blue." "Shuowen" "Blue is also the dye of green grass." Bencao Jing There is blue reality, Bielu said: "The stems and leaves can be dyed green." The word "green" has not been explained by various scholars, and it is suspected that the meaning of the word "indigo" came up later. "Yupian" says: "Indigo is also dyed with blue. ", should refer to the indigo dye used in later generations, which was refined and extracted from the plant "indigo".

There are many plants containing indigo, and the indigo mentioned in different times and places in ancient times is not one kind, or according to "Erya" "Bai, Ma Lan", Guo Pu's note "Today's big-leaf winter blue is also", Xing Bingshu " "This is the lake now", so I thought that Bencao Jing indigo is actually the fruit of Isatis indigotica in the cruciferous family. This theory may be problematic. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, indigo was cultivated in large quantities as an economic plant, "Taiping Yulan" Volume 996 quotes Xie Cheng's "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" as saying: "Hongnong Yang Zhen, courtesy name Boqi, often cultivates blue for his own business. People are afraid that he will grow old, so he helps his servants, so he is shocked." It also quotes Zhao Qi's "Lan Fu" "The preface says: "I went to Yanshi for medical treatment, and the Taoist scriptures were passed down. People in this area made planting blue dye cyanosis their profession, the blue fields were full of hope, and the millet was not grown, so I thought about his legacy and wrote a poem." The fruit of the blue plant should be the blue fruit of Bencao Jing. According to the preface of "Qi Min Yao Shu", Zhong Changtong of the Eastern Han Dynasty quoted: "How can you be so different from the worm in the polygonum and not know the blue fruit?" "It's sweet." This can prove that the "blue" in the Eastern Han Dynasty is indeed Polygonum tinctorium of the Polygonum family, and not something else.

Polygonum indica is mainly distributed in the northern region, which is consistent with the saying of Hongnong Yangzhen Zhonglan, Zhao Qidaojing Chen Liujian Lantian Miwang, and Bencao Jing that "Lanshi grows in Pingze, Hanoi". By the Southern and Northern Dynasties, the northern "Qi Min Yao Shu" had a special chapter recording the method of growing blue. According to Mr. Miao Qiyu's research, the "blue" Jia Sixie talked about was also Polygonum tinctorium, while Tao Hong-jing in the south described "blue" There is another opinion. "Collected Notes" says: "The one with sharp leaves wins." This "blue" is as Su Jing said, "As Tao quoted, it is woad." The original plant is Isatis indigotica in the Brassicaceae family.

"Xin Xiu" mentions that there are three kinds of indigo: "One is about two inches in diameter and three to four cents thick. It comes out of Lingnan and is used to treat poisonous swelling. Taichang named this grass Mulanzi. As quoted by Tao, it is This is Polygonum indica, whose leaves turn into lakes. According to the classics, it is the true form of Polygonum indica, and its seedlings are like Polygonum, but the taste is not pungent. The juice of this herb can treat heat toxin, and other indigo is different. And the two kinds of indigo, Nowadays, it is not suitable for dyeing. The indigo is a lake, but it is suitable for dyeing green. The indigo is not suitable for being used as a lake, but it can only be dyed blue." Su Jing said that the original plants of indigo and woad have been seen before, and the indigo produced in Lingnan is It seems to be Indigofrea tinctoria L. Chen Cang-qi also agreed with Su and believed that "polygonum is the most suitable for medicinal purposes." Shu Bencao ﹒ The indigo plant described in the Book of Illustrations is also polygonum indigo: "The leaves are like water polygonum, the flowers are red and white, and the seeds are as big as polygonum seeds and black. They are found in the wetland below where we are now, and everyone grows them."

, high About three to two feet tall, the leaves are like polygonum, the flowers are red and white, and the fruits are as big as polygonum seeds and black, and they are harvested in May and June. There are several kinds of blue: there is wood blue, which comes from Lingnan and is not used as medicine. There is woad, which can be used as a lake, and is also known as malan. In Erya, the so-called 贴, malan is also called malan. There is polygonum indigo, but it can be dyed blue, but it cannot be used as a lake, so it is also used in medical prescriptions. There is also a kind of horsetail in Fuzhou, which has leaves all year round. It is a bitter and beneficial vegetable. The natives pick it up by the roots, roast it, pound it and sieve it, and drink it with Qian Dagger. It is very good for treating septicemia in women. There is also a kind of Wulan in Jiangning, which grows in February and March, is like artemisia, has blue and white leaves, is cold in nature and removes heat, and removes toxin to stop hematemesis. Although these two types are not similar, they both have the name of blue. In ancient times, Wu blue was often used. This may be the case, so it is appended together. "In addition to the three types mentioned in "Xin Xiu", Fuzhou Malan can be determined to be creeping rostellularia herb Baphicacanthus cusia based on the medicine diagram in "Zheng Lei" (Figure 1). Wu Lan does not know what it is.

Kou Zong-shi disagreed with Su Song and others' view that Polygonum indica is authentic. Bencao Yanyi criticized: "Lanshi is Dalanshi. It is said that Polygonum is not genuine. This is what "Erya" says. It cannot be used to cure poisons such as medicines." Regarding Dalan, Volume 75 of "Tongzhi" says "Dalan is like mustard", which should refer to Brassicaceae Isatis. Probably influenced by "Yan Yi", Jiuhuang Bencao also regards woad as the authentic product. The big blue stripe in the book says: "It is found everywhere today, and there are many kinds in people's gardens. The seedlings are more than a foot tall. , leaves like cabbage leaves, slightly thick and narrow pointed (angle + zodiac), light pink-green, with yellow flowers slightly between the stems, small pods, and black seeds. materia medica says that woad can be dyed blue for indigo, because its leaves It resembles woad, hence the name woad, also known as horse blue." According to the morphological description and medicinal diagram in this book, we can also confirm that it is Isatis indigotica. (Picture 2)

Until the Song Dynasty, the medicinal parts of "Lan" followed Bencao Jing's opinion. Fruits were mainly used, and occasionally stems and leaves were used. Prescriptions were mostly named "Lanshi", although "Collected Notes" and "Yanyi" mentioned Isatis indica, but the dominant one is still Isatis indica. But starting from the Song Dynasty, the situation changed somewhat. In the Song Dynasty, medical prescriptions began to use the root of "Indigowood" as medicine, and the prescription was written as "indigowood root". It was even directly called "Isatis Root" in some Song and Yuan medical prescriptions, such as Xiao' in the Song Dynasty. er Weisheng Zongwei Lunfang Volume 5, Volume 10, Volume 2 of "delivery and feeding of infant Baoqing Collection" to treat pregnancy-related illnesses, Sanyin Jiyi Bingzheng Fanglun Volume 10 Jiedu Pills, Yuan Dynasty "Yi Lei Yuan Rong", Shiyi Dexiao Fang, etc., the medicinal parts have changed, and the plant sources are also different.

According to "Release of Names" "Book of Interpretation" says "ban, Xuan", so it is doubtful that "Isatis Root" is the provincial version of "Xiao indigowood root", "Poetry." Daya﹒ "Juan A" "Ertu Yuzhang Zhang is also thick as a hole", "Zhen is big", "Xuanlan" is "big blue". And "horse" also has a great meaning, so Li Shi-zhen believes that Isatis Root should be the root of horse blue. Gangmu says: "The leaves of horse blue are like bitter grass, which is what Guo Pu calls big-leaf winter blue. The so-called Banlan." According to this opinion, the authentic product at that time should be the strobilanthes root today, that is, the creeping rostellularia herb Baphicacanthus cusia. On the other hand, for example, Bencao Tujing said that "woad can be called lake, which is also called malan", and it also refers to Bencao Yanyi and Jiuhuang BencaoAll use woad as the authentic "blue", so the root of the cruciferous woad Isatis indigotica is also used as the Isatis Root. If what is said is correct, the medicinal history of today's use of Isatis Root and strobilanthes root began in the Song Dynasty. As for the fruit of Polygonum indigo, which has always been used as the authentic medicine of "Lanshi", its root is not a mainstream variety of "Indigowood root" .

The name "indigowood leaf" first appeared in Mingyi Bielu. Its stems are used medicinally. The scriptures say: "Pick the stems in March and April and dry them in the shade." Tao notes: "This is mostly used to treat cold damage disease. Benjing There is no such thing. It is out of the east and the shortcut, about a foot long, with purple stems." It is certainly not enough to judge the variety of indigowoad leaf based on only a few words in Bielu's "Collected Commentary" , but Lan Shitiao Bielu says "its stems and leaves can be dyed green", and Tao Yun Benjing does not have indigowoad leaf, which proves that this "indigowoad leaf" is different from that "Lan Shi" ” is not one thing.

In the Tang Dynasty, its leaves began to be used together. "New Revision" says: "Indigowood leaf uses both leaves and stems, not just stems." Bencao Tujing says: "Spring-born, green-purple stems, like dianthus seedlings The leaves are reddish-purple in color, similar to horse polygonum or Lilac Daphne, and the root is yellow." According to what he said, it seems to be a type of polygonum indigo, but according to the medicinal picture of Shinshu indigowoad leaf drawn in "Zhenglei", especially Lyuchanyan Bencao The picture of indigowoad leaf drawn can definitely be the indigowoad leaf Clerodendrum cytophium Turcz. of the European Verbena Herb family. It is worth noting that Lyuchanyan Bencao is different from blue. The text comes from the solid blue bar of "Zheng Lei", and the legend is creeping rostellularia herb Baphicacanthus cusia. This at least illustrates two problems: first, the origins of "blue" and "green" plants in the Song Dynasty are different; second, Ma Lan is called "green blue", which laid the foundation for the confusion between Dyers Woad Leaf and Isatis Root in later generations. Hidden danger.

The European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf was also regarded as authentic in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Gangmu said: "indigowoad leaf is found everywhere, two to three feet high, with round stems, three to four inches long leaves, and green face. The back is light and grows on opposite nodes. In August, small flowers bloom in red clusters with green seeds, as big as peppers. In September, they turn red." Zhiwu Mingshi Tukao Yiyang: "The leaves are four to five years long. It has a five-petal round purple flower, which is green and black when ripe. When it is mature, the petals are still there, just like a tray, and the natives know it. The summer months are fluid retention to quench thirst."

It is said that it is the genuine indigowoad leaf. European Verbena Herb Clerodendrum cytophium has no relationship with the blue plant. This plant does not contain indigo and cannot produce dyes. There is a different reason why it is confused with indigo-containing indigo-containing indigo, woad, and polygonum.

In the era of Bencao Jing, "Lan" was used medicinally and was named "Lan Shi". Later, the stems and leaves were used, and the prescription name was "Lan Shi Ye", such as Zhouhou Fang Volume 3 quotes "Mei Shi Fang" to treat abnormal rising of qi cough "Soak the blue leaves in water for a long time, pound and twist to get one liter of juice, administer on an empty stomach." Or simply "blue leaves", such as Qianjin Yaofang Volume 18: To treat sores on the lips, "use the juice from ten pounds of August blue leaves to wash." The name of "blue leaves" is found in Bencao Gangmu, It is still mentioned in books such as Shennong Bencao Jingshu and "Materia Medica Chengya Bangae", which shows that it was not confused with indigowoad leaf at that time.

The confusion between indigowoad leaf and blue leaf began in the Qing Dynasty. Benjing Fengyuan merged Bielu indigowoad leaf and Xiaoqing from "Illustrated Book" into Lanshitiao, Zhang Lu It says: "Benjing uses Lanshi, which is the son of indigowoad leaf, and is the so-called polygonum indigo." In the Qing Dynasty, medical prescriptions used indigowoad leaf far more than indigowoad leaf. This may mean that indigowoad leaf and indigowoad leaf are the same as indigowoad leaf. The blue leaves gradually merged into one, and "Dyers Woad Leaf" became the general name including the European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf and various blue leaves containing indigo. Recent chemical and pharmacological studies have confirmed the pharmacological activity of indigo, so the European Verbena Herb family indigowoad leaf, which does not contain indigo, was first eliminated. Later, in order to comply with the principle of one drug, one substance, according to the opinions of some material medica experts And combined with the bulk medicinal habits, the cruciferous woad leaf was determined to be the only authentic product of Dyers Woad Leaf.

Natural indigo is recorded in "Kai Bao", which was originally imported from foreign countries. According to "Northern History", it is said that Cao State (now Afghanistan) had natural indigo. "Kai Bao" says "from the Persian country". Natural indigo is an artificial product containing indigo plants. It is the blue foam on the liquid surface when indigo is produced. China has been able to produce indigo for a long time. The method is detailed in "Qi Min Yao Shu". It was already possible in the Song Dynasty. To prepare natural indigo, you don’t have to rely on imports. "Kaibao" mentions that Taiyuan, Luling, and Nankang all produce natural indigo. It also says that "it is used to dye the foam on the urn purple and blue, which has the same effect as natural indigo." Press this foam After drying, it becomes natural indigo, which is described in "Tiangong Kaiwu".

[Authentic History]

"Blue" was widely cultivated as a cash crop in ancient times, and its varieties come from a variety of sources, so there is no such thing as authentic. The woad used as authentic Dyers Woad Leaf and Isatis Root today, if the variety and origin can be clearly matched, the "big blue" mentioned in Jiuhuang Bencao should prevail. As for the "Drug Production Standard", it says: "Indigowood root and indigowood leaf are most produced in Beiliu, Guangxi." Since the varieties are unknown, it cannot be determined. Ma Lan is the earliest one in Fuzhou Ma Lan in "Zheng Lei". Fujian has been the natural production area of ​​today's "strobilanthes root" since the Song Dynasty. Perhaps because of the high indigo content of Ma Lan, the "Jian Natural Indigo" made from it is also most famous. As for the records of the origin of indigowoad leaf in the literature, the plants referred to are mostly indigowoad leaf of the European Verbena Herb family, which has now been eliminated, so it is not suitable to be used as authentic proof.