[Preliminary investigation on the materia medica of the Zhuang ethnic group].

By Zhuang materia medica, it refers to application of medicines under the instructions of medical theory of Zhuang ethnic group. By studying the pronunciation of the Zhuang language for the terms "zhu yu", "bai jiu", and "mi gu" included in the shan hai jing nan shan jing (The Classic of Southern Mountain in Classic of Seas and Mountains) carried out by the Zhuang scholar Qin Bao-lin, it was concluded that the Zhuang minority already applied medicines early in the pre-Qin period. Through extensive cultural communication in different regions in the Wei-Jin-Southern-Northern Dynasties, the medicinal experiences of the Zhuang ethnic group appeared in ancient literature. The antidotes in Zhou hou fang (Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency), for instance, were mostly coming from the Southern Ridge area. Since the Sui-Tang Dynasties, many materia medica recorded in the herbal works and regional gazetteers, and Annals such as the Guangxi Annals, Gazetteer of Nanning County, and Gazetteer of Liuzhou County, Gazetteer of Binzhou County etc., also carry medicines such as Cinnamom twigs and bark, and mangosteen etc., which are similar to those of the Zhuang medicines. In the Republican period, many manuscripts of Zhuang medicines appeared. After 1949, many institutions of Zhuang medicine were set up successively, including The Nanning Medical Institute, The Medical Institute of Wuzhou, The Medical Institute of Guilin. Systematic researches were also done, with publication of a series of works on Zhuang materia medica. Reformation of part of the prescription forms of Zhuang medicine were also accomplished.