Chinese Medicines used in the West before TCM

The following is a brief list of medicines used in the West before TCM. Many 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 bone 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)

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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. Many of the medicines mentioned by Hippocrates already had a long history in the west before him.
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.