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Fǔ jǔ, also written as fù qiě, is frequently mentioned in alchemical texts. Chen Guofu, in his "Study of Chinese Alchemical Methods for Producing Gold and Silver," states: "Fǔ jǔ seems to refer to the process of crushing mineral medicines with the stems of herbal medicines." Fǔ jǔ is a pharmaceutical term meaning to crush or grind. Itō Hōzan, in his "Textual Research on the Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases," notes: "Fǔ jǔ likely originated from alchemical practices and later became a term for adjusting and measuring the quantities of various medicines. Modern physicians, when preparing medicines, sometimes taste the medicine first to assess its bitterness or sweetness, rather than strictly adhering to the original dosage. This was likely the case in ancient times as well." In other words, the method of fǔ jǔ emerged later. Itō specifically mentions that physicians of his time had the habit of tasting medicines based on the patient's condition, a detail worth noting. Additionally, Koya Gōsai, in his "Restoration and Interpretation of the Main Text of the Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases," states: "Fǔ jǔ means to chew, derived from the idea of crushing with a mortar and pestle." Some physicians interpret fǔ jǔ as tasting the medicine, or even as a pharmaceutical process involving chewing the medicine with the teeth. Opinions vary, and there is no consensus.

Regarding the考证 of fǔ jǔ, newly unearthed bamboo and silk texts, such as the "Miscellaneous Prescriptions" from Mawangdui and the medical bamboo slips from Wuwei, provide relevant information. This paper will discuss these findings in conjunction with traditional medical texts. Furthermore, the author uses historical records on "tasting medicine" to connect the origins of fǔ jǔ with the ritual of tasting medicine. Below, we will begin with the latest archaeological discoveries.

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The Mawangdui silk manuscript "Miscellaneous Prescriptions" states: "For internal application and binding: take two dou of empty垒, fǔ (㕮) jǔ (咀), crush it, and make it into juice. Alternatively, soak it in two dou of fine vinegar. Remove the residue. Take two sheng of peach hair, put it into [the mixture], and stir. Take two chi of good cloth, soak it in the mixture, and let it dry in the shade. When using, apply the cloth to the lower abdomen and the front of the body, then remove it." This method involves the preparation of medicated cloth. The general idea is: take two dou of empty垒, chew it with the mouth, then pound it into juice. Alternatively, soak it in two dou of fine vinegar. Take two sheng of peach hair, mix it in, and prepare the medicine. When using, soak two chi of good cloth in the medicinal liquid and let it dry in the shade. Use this cloth to rub the lower abdomen and the female genital area. The Mawangdui silk manuscript research team notes that fǔ jǔ originally meant chewing with the mouth, but later it was changed to crushing, and then to finely cutting. The main change was in the tools, and the method of preparing the medicine also differed. Zhou Yimou suggests that fǔ jǔ later became a method for preparing powder. This view may be debatable. Fǔ jǔ likely refers to the process of preparing herbal decoction pieces, meaning cutting the medicine into slices, shreds, chunks, or segments for boiling and drinking. In fact, fǔ jǔ also has the purpose of tasting and adjusting the medicine. Additionally, the use of saliva in preparing medicated cloth is also seen in the "Lingshu-Shou'ao Gangrou": "How to perform medicated hot compress? Bogao replied: Use twenty sheng of pure alcohol, one sheng of pricklyash peel, one jin of dried ginger, and one jin of cassia central bark. All four ingredients are fǔ jǔ and soaked in alcohol." Fǔ jǔ first appears in the "Lingshu" in traditional medical texts, similar to the newly discovered silk manuscripts, where it is used for medicated hot compress. The above method uses four ingredients, all fǔ jǔ. Among them, "twenty sheng of pure alcohol"—how can this be "chewed with the mouth"? Fǔ jǔ likely refers to tasting the medicine and then adjusting it. In the "Baopuzi·Dengshe," methods for avoiding poison and evil are recorded: "Crush equal parts of realgar and garlic, and carry a pill the size of an egg. If one is already affected, applying this medicine to the wound can cure it. Fǔ jǔ the juice of red amaranth, drink it or apply it to the wound, and it will also heal. The roots of Acanthopanax, raspberry grass, and kudzu vine—these three can each be used alone, and their juice can be crushed and taken in one or two sheng." The above methods mainly involve "crushing together" or "crushing and taking," but "fǔ jǔ the juice of red amaranth"—the juice of red amaranth cannot be chewed with the mouth, crushed with a mortar and pestle, or finely cut with a knife. Fǔ jǔ here means to taste and assess the warmth, coolness, coldness, or heat of the medicine.

Furthermore, the Wuwei Medical Bamboo Slips contain several examples of "㕮咀": (1) "A prescription for treating all kinds of diseases: one liter of Pricklyash Peel, twenty fruits of Aconite, all to be crushed." (2) "A prescription for treating disease due to latent stagnation of qi and blood with pus wrapped outside the stomach and intestines: one liang each of Rhubarb Rhizoma, Skullcap Root, and Peony, two liang of Nitre, one chi of Cinnamon, fourteen pieces of Mulberry Bark, and three pieces of Beetle, a total of seven ingredients, all to be crushed and soaked in five liters of pure wine for a full day. Then boil it three times." In the above two examples, for the first one, Zhang Yanchang and Zhu Jianping believe that the character "且" is missing after "父", and it should be "皆父且", meaning "all ingredients should be pounded or chopped". In other words, "㕮咀" does not necessarily mean chewing the medicine with the mouth; as in the above examples, there might be tools for cutting, filing, or pulverizing.

Furthermore, the Cinnamon Twig Decoction formula in the "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" includes "Cinnamon Twig, Peony Root, Liquorice Root, Fresh Ginger Rhizome, and Chinese Date. The right five ingredients are crushed." Guo Aichun and others annotate, citing Hui Lin's "Sound and Meaning": "Crushing, is to pat and break." The character for 'break' is a miswriting for 'crush'. "The old interpretation was to chew with the mouth like crushing beans, which is probably incorrect." The term 'crushing' here likely refers to methods such as cutting with a knife, pounding, or grinding. Wu Qian's "Revised Annotations on the Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases" volume 17 states: "Whenever it says to cut to the size of hemp beans, it means the same as crushing. Crushing is an ancient method. The ancients had no iron knives, so they used their teeth to finely chew, making it like hemp beans, to mix with medicine for decoction, guiding the medicinal water to be clear, drinking it in the intestines, making it easy to rise and disperse. Nowadays, people use a knife to cut to the size of hemp beans, which is an easy way to achieve crushing." The meaning of crushing has changed as described above.

The trajectory of the change in the term 'crushing' can be seen from the discussions of Tang and Song dynasty medical practitioners. Tang's "Newly Revised Materia Medica" states: "Note: Crushing properly refers to deliberation and consideration, the rest are just emotional interpretations." Song's Tang Shenwei's "Classified Materia Medica" states: "All decoctions, wines, and plasters, the old formulas all say 'crushing', meaning to weigh and then pound to the size of soybeans, and then blow away the fine powder, which is not appropriate for the matter; some medicines are easy to crush, some are hard, some produce a lot of powder, some produce little, and the weighing will not be even, so now they are all finely cut, roughly to the size of crushing. This way, there is no powder, and the particles and slices are harmonious." Although there is no definitive conclusion on the interpretation of crushing, most medical practitioners regard crushing as a method of 'fine cutting' for preparing medicine, which should be the mainstream. Wang Xiaotao's "Compendium of Historical Chinese Medicinal Processing Methods" divides processing methods into three categories: purification, cutting, and processing, with crushing belonging to the cutting category, and there are numerous related documents.

Song's Kou Zongshi's "Extended Meaning of Materia Medica" criticizes the above statements: "The two characters for crushing, the 'Tang Ben' annotation says it means deliberation and consideration, which is incorrect. The 'Jiayou' again follows Tao Yinju's statement of fine cutting, which is also incorrect. Confucian scholars believe it has the meaning of tasting, like a person chewing with their mouth and teeth, although broken but not dusty, just to taste. Zhang Zhongjing's formulas often mention crushing, and its meaning is like this." Kou cites Confucian scholars' interpretation, that crushing is to taste the medicine, not equivalent to the preparation method of 'chewing with mouth and teeth'. Later generations' interpretation of crushing as fine cutting or deliberation and consideration is an extended meaning. As for later times, such as Yuan's Wang Haogu's "Tangye Materia Medica" "crushed medicine is easy to circulate through meridians and collaterals", linking medicine with meridians and collaterals, should be a further development. As mentioned above, "Neijing" and "Baopuzi" have examples of using crushed pure wine or red amaranth juice, and the meaning of tasting is likely the correct interpretation.

Three,

The original meaning of crushing is to taste with the mouth. The reason this term transferred to the terminology of medicine preparation may be related to Ito Hosan's speculation that medical practitioners have examples of tasting during the medicine refining process.

The "Analects of Confucius · Xiangdang Chapter" records that Ji Kangzi sent medicine to Confucius, and Confucius, not understanding the medicinal properties, "did not dare to taste it." But when a ruler or parent is ill, ministers and children taste the medicine. Ma Boying said: "Tasting medicine is to prevent drug poisoning, especially from poisoners, protecting the emperor and parents, which at the time seemed justifiable." Besides the reason of preventing poisoning, tasting medicine also has a ceremonial character and practical medicinal needs.

Earlier historical records of tasting medicine are seen in the "Zuo Zhuan". The 19th year of Duke Zhao of Lu, "In summer, Duke Dao of Xu had malaria. On the fifth month, day Wuchen, he drank the medicine given by Crown Prince Zhi and died. The crown prince fled to Jin. It was recorded as 'killed his ruler', and the gentleman said: 'Exhausting one's heart and strength to serve the ruler, one can abandon medicine.'" According to Fu Qian's interpretation: "The duke's illness was not cured, and Zhi offered medicine, although tasted, it was not prescribed by a doctor and he died." Additionally, Liu Xiang's "New Prefaces" believes that "Crown Prince Zhi blamed himself for not tasting the medicine", but the problem was not in consulting a doctor but in not tasting the medicine first, thus poisoning his father, hence the state history recorded it as 'killed'. Wan Sida's "Random Notes on Studying the Spring and Autumn Annals" speculates: "Malaria is not necessarily a fatal disease, and there is no immediate lethal dose for treating malaria. Now the medicine came from Zhi, and drinking it caused immediate death, which was intentional poisoning." Undoubtedly, the purpose of tasting medicine is to prevent poisoning.

The "Chunqiu Fanlu: Jade Cup" states: "It is appropriate for a minister to seek justice for the ruler against wrongdoers, just as it is appropriate for a son to taste medicine for his father." Su Yu's "Yi Zheng" explains: "According to ritual, when a parent is ill and takes medicine, the son should taste it first. The Song law stipulates that if a doctor fails to follow the correct prescription and causes death, the penalty is two and a half years of imprisonment; if injury is caused, it is treated as intentional injury; even if no harm is done, the punishment is sixty strokes with a cane. (See Yichuan's 'Letter to Marshal Xie Shizhi.') The current law, following the Ming law, states that if a doctor mistakenly fails to follow the correct prescription or makes an error in labeling when preparing imperial medicine, the responsible doctor is punished with one hundred strokes; if the preparation is not done carefully, the punishment is sixty strokes. Furthermore, when preparing imperial medicine, after it is cooked, it is divided into two containers: one is tasted first by the imperial physician, then by the court judge, and then by close ministers; the other container is presented to the emperor. All these practices are rooted in the legacy of the 'Spring and Autumn Annals.'" Tasting medicine has both ritual and legal connotations. The so-called "ritual" aspect, for example, is mentioned in the "Book of Rites: Qu Li II": "When the ruler is ill and takes medicine, the minister tastes it first; when a parent is ill and takes medicine, the son tastes it first. If a doctor is not of three generations, his medicine should not be taken." This also expresses distrust in the doctor's prescription. Additionally, the "Book of Rites: Wen Wang Shi Zi" states: "For the medicine of illness, one must taste it personally." It is evident that tasting medicine is a necessary ritual for a filial son attending to a sick parent. As for tasting medicine becoming a formal institution, it was already clearly established in the Han Dynasty. The "Continuation of the Book of Han: Treatise on Rituals" records: "When the emperor is unwell, the Grand Physician and his assistants bring in the appropriate medicine. The medicine-tasting supervisor, close ministers, and eunuchs all taste the medicine first, exceeding the amount by twelve." Furthermore, the "Continuation of the Book of Han: Treatise on Officials" states: "From the reigns of Emperor Zhang and Emperor He onwards, the number of palace officials increased, including the medicine-tasting officer, the imperial kitchen officer, the imperial attendants, the shield officers, the imperial workshop officers, the examination officers, and the special production supervisors, all with a rank of six hundred bushels, and these positions were held by eunuchs."

The ritual of tasting medicine was not always practiced between father and son. The "Book of Han: Biography of Wang Mang" states that Wang Mang served his uncle Wang Feng with the etiquette of a ruler and father, "personally tasting the medicine, with disheveled hair and a dirty face, not loosening his clothes for months." Therefore, if a father was ill and his son did not attend to him or taste his medicine, it would easily invite criticism. The "Records of the Grand Historian: The Hereditary Houses of the Five Clans" records that when King Xian of Dichroa was ill, "his favored concubines often attended to him, so the queen, out of jealousy, did not often attend to him and would return to her quarters. When the physician presented the medicine, Crown Prince Bo did not taste the medicine himself, nor did he stay overnight to attend to the illness." Not attending to the illness and tasting the medicine became one of the charges against Crown Prince Bo after King Xian's death. Later generations endowed the act of tasting medicine with a sacred ritualistic quality, that is, the sense of unity between father and son, ruler and subject, through this ritual. For example, the epitaph of Jia Sanqi of the Northern Wei states, "Attending to illness and tasting medicine, sharing the pain as one body; serving meals and offering condolences, sharing the emptiness within." Also, in the essay "Discussion on the Remarriage of a Mother Who Was Wrongly Expelled After the Father's Death" by Wang Dan, Wang Shen, and Wang Chang of the Jin dynasty: "Our late mother practiced the virtues of a wife for over twenty years, unfortunately suffering from a severe illness for a long time, just as the Lord of Dongjun took office and Lady Li passed away. At that time, our late mother was in great distress and could not attend the funeral. The Lord of Dongjun, in his grief from afar, could not taste the medicine, and the wife should have personally attended to the illness but could not be present at the end. He wrote a letter of reproach and sent her away, carrying her illness back, leading to her death." The mother of Wang was expelled because she could not manage the funeral due to her illness. From the above texts, it is clear that attending to illness and tasting medicine were duties of a filial son serving his parents. This concept seems to have deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Secondly, tasting medicine also had practical medicinal functions, namely to avoid the physician's prescription "not matching the original formula." Therefore, the attendant would taste the medicine to judge if the prescription was appropriate, or to adjust it according to the condition. Tasting medicine was not just about tasting the prepared medicine, but also involved the process of preparing and mixing the medicine. The history of Chinese medicine records that the ancestors' understanding of medicine began with the legend of Shennong tasting a hundred herbs. Chen Yingzhong's "Biography of Zhang Ji" states: "The Medicine Kings were good physicians of the world, having tasted tens of thousands of herbs, minerals, and metals, knowing all the flavors of sour, salty, bland, sweet, and spicy, thus understanding through taste, and further knowing that the ancient practice of physicians distinguishing medicines by taste is ancient." Shennong tasting a hundred herbs also involved tasting with the mouth. The name "materia medica" may be related to the legend of Shennong chewing a hundred herbs.

The term "chewing" originates from physicians distinguishing medicines by taste. From tasting, it became a synonym for the preparation and cutting of medicine. The ritual of tasting medicine, where a filial son tastes the medicine during the preparation process to understand its temperature and properties, evolved into a ritualistic act. Li Gao said that in ancient times there were no iron blades, so medicine was chewed with the mouth, which is not accurate.

IV.

This article aims to examine the evolution of the term "chewing." There are three conclusions: First, the original meaning of chewing was to taste with the mouth. The meanings of chewing, grinding, and cutting finely in the context of materia medica processing are later developments, as seen in the "Guangyun: Eight Tones": "Chewing, collecting and chewing, preparing medicine." This is likely an extension by later generations. Second, tasting with the mouth is related to the ritual of tasting medicine. Besides its symbolic ritualistic significance, tasting medicine also served to distinguish the taste of the medicine. Third, chewing or tasting medicine was not due to the lack of precise tools or measurements in ancient times, but rather physicians tasting to adjust the dosage by intuition. Just like cooking, where a chef tastes to adjust the seasoning, not strictly following the original recipe. The knowledge of "Wuwei" in Chinese medicine may be related to culinary experience. The study of the internal history of pharmacology, combined with the exploration of ritualistic backgrounds, might be a new direction for future research in medical history.

Postscript: This article has been revised with the guidance of Professors Song Guangyu, Li Jiahao, Yan Shixuan, Zhou Fengwu, Liao Yuqun, and Du Zhengsheng, to whom I express my sincere gratitude.