Chinese Drugs Personified

This wonderful series of illustration personifies Chinese drugs in human form in classical Chinese illustrations. The idea was to represent their nature including taste and effects in illustrations depicting human forms.

The Description from the Wellcome Collection:

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Yaohui tukao (Illustrated Congregation of Drugs), published in 1935 (24th year of the Republic of China), presents the materia medica in dramatic form. It consists of ten scenes, in which various drugs appear as protagonists

The following illustrations, along with their descriptions are from the Wellcome Collection.
To see all 10 images of this book visit Chinese Drugs Personified at wellcomecollection.org
To see 1000's of other images related to History of Medicine, visit the homepage of wellcomecollection.org.

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The Snake Monsters Appear
(Yaoshe chuxian)
This illustration accompanies Scene 3, Yaoshe chuxian (The Snake Monsters Appear), in which characters personifying Cape jasmine (zhizi), long-nosed pit viper (baihua she), and Chinese rat snake (wushao she, Zaocys dhumnades (Cantor)) present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song.

Dendrobium (jin shihu) Overcomes
the Monsters
This illustration accompanies Scene 4, 'Dendrobium Overcomes the Monsters', in which characters personifying dendrobium (jinshi hu), Cape jasmine (zhizi), Chinese rat snake (wushao she, Zaocys dhumnades (Cantor)), and long-nosed pit viper (baihua she) present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song.

The Gold Hairpin Disaster
(Jinchai yihuo)
'This illustration accompanies Scene 8, ' The Gold Hairpin Disaster', in which characters personifying personifying Cape jasmine (zhizi), dendrobium (shihu) and chrysanthemum present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song'.

Nux Vomica Stages a Revolt
(Fan biezi zaofan)
This illustration accompanies Scene 9, Fan biezi zaofan (Nux Vomica Stages a Revolt), in which characters personifying nux vomica (fan biezi, lit 'the foreign turtle'), malt syrup (yitang) and arc shell (walengzi) present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song.

Liquorice Brings Harmony to the Land (Gancao he guo)
This illustration accompanies Scene 10, Liquorice Brings Harmony to the Land (Gancao he guo), in which characters personifying liquorice, dendrobium (shihu) and rhubarb present the sapors, potencies, and therapeutic uses of various drugs through the medium of spoken dialogue and song.