I ran across a news item today of some interest to my readers. It involves the discovery that some villagers in China were using the fossils of a dinosaur as medicine, apparently not knowing that they were an important artifact. 
“They had believed that the ‘dragon bones’ were from the dragons flying in the sky,” he said.
The calcium-rich bones were sometimes boiled with other ingredients and fed to children as a treatment for dizziness and leg cramps. Other times they were ground up and made into a paste that was applied directly to fractures and other injuries, he said.”
There are multiple problems with the story. Most importantly, we don’t know whether the villagers truly believed that the bones were from “dragons flying in the sky.” There is a Chinese herb known as Long Gu (龍骨) often translated as Dragon Bone. It is included in the category “herbs that calm the Shen/spirit,” and as the article points out – can be used in some cases of dizziness. It is also commonly used for other Liver-related symptoms like irritability, blurred vision and red and painful eyes. It can also be used for insomnia, for leakage of fluids (such as in night sweats and excessive vaginal discharge) and can be used for chronic ulcers on the outside of the body. It’s a useful herb – to be sure.
But what is this about Dragons? The dragon is a potent symbol within Chinese culture in general and that certainly works its way into Chinese medicine. One place to start in investigating Dragon is with the etymology of the character 龍, which can be translated as “a dragon,” or “of the emperor/imperial,” or “a huge extinct reptile.” When the character is combined with others, when the compound does not explicitly refer to something “dragon-y” it tends to confer a sense of nobility or supreme goodness on the phrase. The first point of interest here is, of course, that a “dragon” can simply refer to a large reptile – as the dinosaurs referred to in the news story.
But why call the herb “dragon bone?” While certainly some large reptile bones have been used for Long Gu, the most common Long Gu comes from various fossilized mammal bones. Why dragon? The answer may become clear after a quick look into some of the symbolism related to Dragon.
On the Chinese organ clock that we use so often in our program in Classical Chinese Medicine at NCNM, Dragon is associated with the Stomach. As such, the Dragon’s voracious appetite can be highlighted. The Stomach, our internal dragon, can be thought of as taking in things from the world so they can be transformed into nourishment – whether we are talking about actual food or simply food for thought. This position on the organ clock is related to the following aspects of time: The third month (approximately mid April to mid May), Taurus on the Western zodiac and 7-9am. All of these times are full of activity and ascending energy. The sun is rising! It’s time to get to work! Time to take it all in! There are other aspects to Dragon – but these elements work well together to prove my point.
One aspect of Chinese medical philosophy that is important to understand is the principle of balance. When there is great energy, there must be a great anchor. When there is great dampness, there must be a great capacity to dry. When there is great heaviness, there must be an element of true lightness. So the symbolism associated with the Dragon is all full of energy, all ready to take on the world – to digest! It is imperial – the figurehead, the one given the “mandate of heaven.” Within Long Gu we find a balance. This is one of the heavier herbs and its action is to act as an anchor. An anchor so that the rarefied and active energy of the Shen and the Liver can be calmed. The Dragon resonates with the healthy energy of the organs and functions that Long Gu seeks to heal.
Looking at it this way, maybe it isn’t so ridiculous that the villagers referred to the fossils as the bones of Dragons. Perhaps they were using the more-than-literal meaning when they said this – it’s impossible for me to know for sure. But be sure, when you are investigating Chinese medicine, not to dismiss a concept based on your first understanding of the language used. In Chinese medicine, there is almost always a lot of meaning lurking in every word.
Tags: cultural-differences, news, Chinese herbs, Character
