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Chinese Medicines used in the West before TCM

The following is a brief list of medicines used in the West before TCM. Many or most have possibly been introduced into TCM usage from Western travelers along the Silk Road, especially Arab traders.

Sources for the Western Materia Medica are ancient and complex. The Ancient Greeks derived much of their science, medicine and Materia Medica from the Ancient Egyptians, but indirectly acquired knowledge from other sources such as Babylon and Mesopotamia. However, even using Hippocrates as a source in the Western Tradition, many medicines can be found to have been used in the West centuries before their documented use in TCM.

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Medicine
Almonds
Pomegranate

Aloe
Black Nightshade
Calamus
Cannabis
Cinnamon
Fennel
Frankincense
Gall
Garlic
Gentian
Hawthorn
Licorice
Madder
Myrobalans
Myrrh
Peony
Saffron
Senna
Sesame

Alum
Amber
Arsenic
Calamine
Earth
Gypsum
Hematite
Magnetite
Sulphur

Cantharides
Cuttlefish
Earthworm
Placenta
Turtle
Xing Ren
Shi Liu

Lu Hui
Long Kui
Shi Chang Pu
Da Ma, Ma Ren
Rou Gui, Gui Pi
Xiao Hui Xiang
Ru Xiang
Wu Bei Zi
Da Suan
Long Dan Cao
Shan Zha
Gan Cao
Qian Cao
He Zi (& others)
Mo Yao
Shao Yao
Xi Hong Hua
Fan Xie Ye
Hei Zhi Ren

Bai Fan
Hu Po
Xiong Huang
Lu Gan Shi
Chi Shi Zhi
Shi Gao
Dai Zhi Shi
Ci Shi
Liu Hunag

Ban Mao
Hai Piao Xiao
Di Long
Tai Pan
Gui Ban

First used in West
before Hippocrates (1)
before Hippocrates; Babylonian (3)

Egyptians (2); Hippocrates
Hippocrates
before Hippocrates
Egyptians
before Hippocrates
before Hippocrates
Egyptians; Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Egyptians; Hippocrates
Egyptians; Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates
Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Egyptian; Hippocrates
Hippocrates

Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Egyptian; Hippocrates
Egyptian; Hippocrates
Egyptian; Hippocrates
4th C BCE, Theophrastus
Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates
Egyptian; Babylonians; Hippocrates

Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates
Hippocrates

First used in TCM
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE) (5)
5th century

1061 CE
659 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
c. 600 CE
c. 500 CE
720 CE
494 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
494 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
c. 600 CE
c. 600 CE
494 CE
1330 CE
unknown
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)

Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
c. 500 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
1590 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)

Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)
720 CE
Eastern Han Dynasty (25 - 220 CE)


NOTES:
1. Hippocrates lived 460–377 BCE. I'm not aware of a single medicine he introduced. Rather, his mention of a medicine is one whose use was already well established.
2. 'Egyptian' can refer to the period extending back to 3000 BCE. However, many of the herbs come from Eber's Papyrus (c. 1600 BCE).
3. Babylonian medical texts dating back to 2nd millennium BCE have been found, but the primary Babylonian medical text is the Diagnostic Handbook, dating back to about 1000 BCE.
4. Mesopotamia likewise can extend back to 2500–3000 BCE. There was probably early exchanges of medical knowledge between Egyptians and Sumerians.
5. Many Chinese Medicines were first noted in the Sheng Nong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Farmers Materia Medica) which is said to be a compilation of oral teachings written in the second century CE.

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