At the end of autumn this year, Li Shizhen returned from collecting herbs and stopped by Guangshan County to see his eldest son Jianzhong. Jianzhong realized the Li family's desire to change the dynasty according to the ancestral teachings, and won the township examination, becoming the Oracle of Guangshan County. Oracle Bone Inscriptions is an academic official who is responsible for offering sacrifices to Confucius Temple and educating students. Although the Jianzhong official is not big, he lives in the Confucius Temple in memory of Confucius, and the environment is very elegant. Influenced by my father since childhood, although I became an official, I still like to grow herbs. Li Shizhen found a plant with white flowers, like morning glory and leaves like eggplant in the back garden of the Confucian Temple, and asked Jianzhong what kind of flower it was.
Jianzhong told his father that people here call it mountain eggplant, or wind eggplant.
Li Shizhen nodded, picked a flower and observed it carefully. This plant is called eggplant (Solanum melongena), with green stems and green leaves. Its single stem is straight, its height exceeds 1 m, and it has 6 petals. This suddenly reminded Li Shizhen of the statue of Datura Star Messenger he saw in Maoshan Taoist Temple. The flower held by Datura Star Messenger is very similar to this one. Is this Datura flower? He called Pang Xian and Jian Yuan excitedly and said, "Look, you can't find it anywhere in the world, and you don't need to spend much effort to get it. Isn't this Datura flower? "
Pang Xian was puzzled and asked, "Master, what makes you think this is Datura flower?"
Li Shizhen said: "According to the Beijing Daily, the Buddha said that there is a mandala in the sky. Later, the Taoist called one of the stars of the Big Dipper Datura Star, and the messengers of Datura Star often held Datura flowers in their hands. The white flowers I saw on the statue of Dracula in Maoshan Taoist Temple are very similar to this one. However, to confirm whether this is a Datura flower, you have to taste it yourself. According to legend, when picking Datura stramonium, if the flower picker is laughing, the wine brewed with this flower will laugh after drinking, and if the flower picker is dancing, it will make people dance after drinking. We might as well give it a try! "
Jianzhong quickly dissuaded him and said, "Father, don't expect anything. Isn't it bad that this flower is poisonous? "
Li Shizhen was in high spirits. While picking flowers, he smiled and said, "In ancient times, Shennong dared to taste a hundred herbs. I want to rebuild materia medica. How can I be timid? "
In order to avoid poisoning, Li Shizhen asked Jianyuan to learn about poison. Li Shizhen put the flowers in the cup, crushed them, and then poured the wine in. Li Shizhen raised his glass and took a swig of Datura. After a while, Li Shizhen felt trance, comfortable and happy. He laughed and shouted, "What a Datura flower! It is really a Datura flower! "
Jianyuan danced with joy when he saw that it was really a Datura flower. He also picked a flower, put it in a glass, broke it, filled it with wine and drank it all at once. Sure enough, he was dancing with excitement. Li Shizhen immediately recorded the characteristics of Datura flower in detail, described the discovery process, and asked Jianyuan to carefully draw the pattern of Datura flower. After repeated experiments, Li Shizhen finally made a drug similar to Huatuo's "Leprosy Powder" with Datura flower and Cannabis seed flower, and described this experience in Compendium of Materia Medica: "It is said that this flower is a laughing wine, which makes people laugh; It's dancing, making wine and drinking. Try it. It's also a test to get half drunk and then make a person laugh or dance. Pick this flower at the end of August, and pick the twist in July, dry it in the shade, and divide it at the end. Hot wine mixed with San Qian, and after a while, he was dizzy and drunk. He should take this first so that he won't feel bitter. "