The Global Circulation of Chinese Materia Medica, 1700–1949: A Microhistory of the Caterpillar Fungus

Description

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. 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