一去“半夏”，无“茴香”消息，未尝百草，不敢“当归”| Mother nature is the best medicine

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Nowadays, many Chinese prefer Western medicine, but a lot of people still believe in the efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The discipline is not only based on a tradition dating back millennia, but also cultivates a reverence for the laws of nature.  Central to TCM are the multitudinous herbs used in treatments. Such plants are often handpicked by people in remote places.

当今中国，西医已经成为医疗的主流，但许多人依旧信奉中药的疗效，依然有对草药的需求。

The history of TCM originated with Shennong, the god of farming who tasted hundreds of plants.

中国传统医学的历史，可以追溯到神农尝百草。自那以来，草药一直占据着中国药学的重要地位。

In 1578, the Chinese polymath Li Shizhen, having gone through documents and collected samples from all over the country, finished his book "Compendium of Materia Medica." The volume covers more than 1095 kinds of herbs, taking up 58% of all the medication included in the book. That information is still considered valuable today.

明代万历六年（1578年），李时珍经过参阅资料、多次赴各地采集样本，著成《本草纲目》。其中收录植物药1095种，占全部药物总数的58%。这部作品至今仍有利用价值。

One such herb gatherer is Liu Liang. He is from the sixth generation of his family to carry on the tradition. 

如今，仍有一批人穿梭在尚未开发的深山老林中，于悬崖峭壁之间寻觅草药的踪迹。其中，就有刘氏草药第六代传人，刘亮。

At 13 years old, Liu started going up to the mountains with his father near his hometown of Liuyang in central China’s Hunan Province. However, it was far from a picnic.

刘亮生活在湖南浏阳，从十三岁起就跟着父亲上山。这绝不是郊游一般愉快的经历。

"We'd run into boars, snakes and wolves. You had to be very careful," he said.

“我们在山里经常可以看到野猪，毒蛇，豺狼，所以有时候需要自己很谨慎。”他说。

Despite rugged paths and ferocious animals, Liu and other gatherers have had to risk even greater dangers to reach herbs off the beaten path, such as scaling cliffs while suspended from a rope.

不仅山路难走，需要披荆斩棘，防范虫兽，许多草药还生长在非常危险的地方。很多时候，刘亮和同行们仅靠一根绳子吊着，下到悬崖上采药。

"To get this frankincense, you need to hang on with one hand, and loosen the rocks with another hand using a knife."

“这个石乳香，腾出一只手，用刀把石壁凿松动了，才能够取出来。”

Liu's ancestors used to be doctors, so the following generations had to be able to distinguish between herbs at a very young age. Gradually, they became specialized in gathering.

刘氏家族原本是郎中，但每个继承人都在五六岁时先学会认药，家族逐渐转向采药为主。

Over the years, the family developed a set of rules cultivating respect in the craft. Before gathering, they'd offer a sacrifice to ancestors while murmuring the names of Hua Tuo (an ancient Chinese physician) and Shennong. After the sacrifice, they would "summon" the god of the mountains, so that they could see the "spiritual" herbs and avoid the beasts.

作为采药世家，刘家人有一套规矩。上山前要“祭祖”，心里默念华佗、神农的名字；祭祖之后还要“请山神”，这样能更容易看见“灵性药材”，自己则可躲避猛兽。

Aside from showing respect to the profession, herb gatherers realize that nature is offering them its bounty, so they engage in the spirit of reciprocity.

采药也是一件很有讲究的事。药草来自自然，就要顺应自然。

"We pick flowers in spring, leaves in summer, fruits in autumn, and roots in winter," said Liu, "And there's another rule: always let them reproduce."

“春天采花，夏天采叶，秋天采果，冬天采根。”刘亮说，“还有一个规矩，采药留种。”

Gatherers would only pick the mature and dense herbs while leaving the sprouts and sparse ones behind. After visiting a location,they won't go back to the same place in four or five years. 

"If we see some herbs that grow too close together, we'll replant them. It's like growing vegetables. You split the roots, so there'll be more space,” Liu added. 

碰见药草，采大的，留小的，采密的，留疏的。一年采过，要再等四五年才回原来的地方。“如果看到有药草长得特别稠密，我们会再种植。就像种菜一样，把他分根。这样的话它就更有生长空间。”这是他们对自然馈赠的敬畏。

对人，采药人也有一项职业准则：“我们采药的话，就采一部分，留一部分给别人去采。说不定别人采的那个药要去救别人的命。就像做人一样，做事不能做绝了，要留一点退路给人家。”

Cameraman: Peng Zhulei

Film editor: Zhou Xin, Ma Mingyuan

Story written by: Zhu Siqi

English editor: Henry Weimin

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