Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) story (10) -- wormwood 
 
 
Behind every medicinal herbs there is a beautiful legend 
 
 
Herba artemisiae 

There is a patient, orders, all yellow, the whole body have no energy, people also thin. One day, he was on crutches, one step a hum come to hua tuo: "Sir, would you please give me cure".
 
Hua tuo saw a patient's jaundice, frowning shook his head, said: "now have not found a way to cure the disease, there's nothing I"!
 
Hua tuo in a patient with could not cure him of his disease, had to pull a long face to home, such as dead.
 
After six months, hua tuo and met the man, who think the patient is not only not dead, become strong, with red light. Hua tuo was surprised and hurriedly ask a way: "you this disease is that gentleman cure? Tell me, let me go with him to learn".
 
The man replied, "Sir, please I don't see, disease is good"
 
Hua tuo not letter: "there is such a thing! You must be eat any medicine?" "Medicine is not eaten. "It's strange!" "Oh, because this have no food, some time I eat weeds."
 
"That's right! The grass is medicine. How many days did you eat?" "More than a month." What is "eat the grass?"
 
"I don't know exactly." "You show me." "Ok."
 
They went to the hillside, the man pointed to a piece of grass said: "that's the one."
 
Hua tuo and said, "this isn't the artemisinin? Can cure jaundice? Well, get some back and give it a try."
 
So, hua tuo used artemisinin try treating jaundice patients remedy to the case. But even tried The Times, the patient had no see good. Hua tuo thought previously the patient must be mistook the grass, then find him again, make a detailed inquiry: "you eat really act good?" "Yes." Hua tuo wanted to think and ask: "you eat caraway is son of the months?" "In March.
 
"Well, spring march sun be the spirit rising, sprout grass bouquet. There might have been efficacy of artemisinin in March."
 
In the second year of spring, hua tuo and picked many march ACTS try to treat people eat with jaundice. This is a real spirit! Eat a result, a good one. And after the spring in artemisia annua l cannot cure jaundice.
 
In order to get the medicinal properties of artemisinin touch, more accurate and wait until the second year, hua tuo once again made a test, he came to adopt a artemisinin from month to month, again by the root, stem, Ye Fang respectively, and then to the patient. Hua tuo found as a result, only young stem leaf can be used as a medicine to treat jaundice. In order to make it easy for people to distinguish, hua tuo so can be used as a medicine to cure jaundice young man named "wormwood," also called "artemisia capillaris". He also made up of four words for posterity.
 
March wormwood Chen Siyue artemisia, and later generations to bear in mind.
 
Gall can cure in March, April ACTS as firewood.
 
(note: artemisinin is blindly Chinese traditional medicine. The traditional Chinese medicine scientific research personnel have extract artemisinin, extracted from plants to treat malaria drugs, have very good effect, international reputation, don't put the "national treasure" as firewood.) 
 
 
 
The original link: http://www.sanwen8.cn/subject/208881/