Hallucinogenic plants in Chinese herbals

Chinese herbals are an important resource for the history of botany, for instance, Zhang Hua's c. 290 Bowuzhi is the earliest record of the psilocybin mushroom xiàojùn 笑菌 (lit.

[a] Hallucination (from Latin alucinor "to wander in mind") is defined as: "The apparent, often strong subjective perception of an external object or event when no such stimulus or situation is present; may be visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile."

Psychedelic (first used in 1956 from Greek psyche- "mind; soul" and delein "to manifest"): "Pertaining to a rather imprecise category of drugs with mainly central nervous system action, and with effects said to be the expansion or heightening of consciousness, LSD, hashish, mescaline, psilocybin."

Deliriant is a technical term introduced to distinguish hallucinogens that primarily cause delirium (1982, from Latin deliro "to be crazy" and delira "go out of the furrow"): "An altered state of consciousness, consisting of confusion, distractibility, disorientation, disordered thinking and memory, defective perception (illusions and hallucinations), prominent hyperactivity, agitation, and autonomic nervous system overactivity; caused by illness, medication, or toxic, structural, and metabolic disorders."

[b] Huànjué (幻覺 "hallucination; delusion; illusion") compounds huàn (幻 "unreal; imaginary; illusory") and (jué'' 覺 "feeling; sensation; perception").

Zhìhuànjì (致幻劑 "psychedelic; hallucinogen") compounds zhì (致 "incur; cause"), huàn "unreal; imaginary; illusory", and jì (劑 "medicinal preparation; dose").

The Chinese technical names for the last two classes of hallucinogens are rare: Yóulíyàopǐn (游离藥品 "dissociative") compounds yóulí (游离 "dissociated; drifting") and yàopǐn (藥品 " medicine; chemical reagent; drug"); and Zhìzhānwàngyào (致谵妄藥 "deliriant") combines zhì "incur; cause", zhānwàng (譫妄 "(medical) delirium"), and yào "medicine; drug".

Lang-tang (Hyoscyamus niger), Yün-shih (Caesalpinia Sepiaria), Fang-k'uei (Peucedanum japonica) and Red Shanglu (Phytolacca acinosa) all can cause hallucination in peoples.

In the T'ang times, An Lu-shan [a foreign warlord in the Chinese army service] once enticed the Kitan [tribesmen surrendered to his command] to drink Lang-tang wine and buried them alive while they were unconscious.

Again in the second month of the 43rd year of the Chia-ch'in period (1561 A.D.), a wandering monk, Wu Ju-hsiang of Shensi province, who possessed wizardry, arrived at Ch'ang-li and stopped over at the house of a resident, Chang Shu.

After ten days, he spat out nearly two spittoonsful of phlegm, became conscious, and found out himself that those he killed were his parents, brothers, sisters-in-law, his wife, sons, sisters, nephews.

The Shennong Bencaojing says, "[The seeds] when taken [when properly prepared] for a prolonged period enable one to walk for long distances, benefiting to the mind and adding to the strength ... and to communicate with spirits and seeing devils.

"[5] Lei Xiao's 470 Leigong paozhilun (雷公炮炙論 "Master Lei's Treatise on the Decoction and Preparation of Drugs") states that the seed "is extremely poisonous, and when accidentally taken, it causes delirium and seeing sparks and flashes", and Zhen Chuan's c. 620 Bencao yaoxing (本草藥性 "Nature of Drugs in Materia Medica") says the seeds "should not be taken raw as it hurts people, causing them to see devils, acting madly like picking needles".

[6] The yunshi (云实; 雲實; yúnshí; yun-shih "Caesalpinia decapetala; cat's claw") was a versatile drug plant in the Chinese pharmacopeia, and the root, flowers, and seeds were all used in medicine.

Tao Hongjing, who edited the official Shangqing Daoist canon, also compiled the c. 510 Mingyi bielu (名醫別錄 "Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians") that says "[The flowers] will drive away evil spirits.

[8] The fangkui (防葵; fángkuí; fang-k'ui "Peucedanum japonicum") root is used in Chinese medicine, and like the previous cat's claw, has not been noted as a hallucinogenic in modern works.

China's oldest extant dictionary, the c. 3rd-century BCE Erya (13: 110) gives two names for pokeweed: chùtāng (蓫薚) and mǎwěi (馬尾 "horsetail").

The Tao Hongjing mingyi bielu records how Daoists used the red variety, "By boiling or brewing and then taken, it can be used for abdominal parasitic worms and for seeing spirits"; Su Song's 1061 Bencao tujing (本草圖經 "Illustrated Pharmacopeia") says, "It was much used by sorcerers in ancient times".

It gives instructions for removing the poisonous phytolaccatoxin from the white roots and mentions Daoist xian using the flowers: "Cut them up into slices, scald, then soak and wash repeatedly (throwing away the extract) until the material is clean; then just eat it with garlic.

The Shennong bencao calls "cannabis flowers/buds" mafen (麻蕡) or mabo (麻勃) and says: "To take much makes people see demons and throw themselves about like maniacs [多食令人見鬼狂走].

[16] The Mingyi bielu records that in the 6th century, mabo were, "very little used in medicine, but the magician-technicians [shujia 術家] say that if one consumes them with ginseng it will give one preternatural knowledge of events in the future.

"[17] Meng Shen's c. 670 Shiliao bencao (食療本草 "Nutritional Therapy Pharmacopeia") says people will combine equal parts of raw cannabis flowers, Japanese sweet flag, and wild mandrake, "pound them into pills of the size of marbles and take one facing the sun every day.

"[18] Tang Shengwei's 1108 Zhenglei bencao (證類本草 "Reorganized Pharmacopeia") gives a more complete account on the pharmaceutical uses of cannabis: "Ma-fen has a spicy taste; it is toxic; it is used for waste diseases and injuries; it clears blood and cools temperature; it relieves fluxes; it undoes rheumatism; it discharges pus.

[20] The mantuoluo (曼陀罗; 曼陀羅; màntuóluó; man-t'o-lo "Datura stramonium; jimsonweed" or "(Buddhism) mandala") contains highly toxic Tropane alkaloids.

In all the mountain commanderies to the South of the Yangzi, there is a fungus which grows [生菌] throughout the spring and summer on the large trees that have fallen down; it is known as the Zhen [椹 "chopping block (for execution)"].

[28] In a study on early Daoist practitioners searching for the elixir of Immortality, Needham and Lu mention the possible use of hallucinogenic plants, such as Amanita muscaria "fly agaric" and xiaojun "laughing mushrooms".