Hallucinogenic plants in Chinese herbals

The làngdàng (莨菪; làngdàng; lang-tang "Hyoscyamus niger; black henbane") is one of the most famous hallucinogenic drugs in Chinese herbals. The seeds, which contain psychoactive tropane alkaloids, are called làngdàngzi (莨菪子, with -zi "child; seed") or tiānxiānzi (天仙子 "heavenly transcendent seeds").

For use in medicine, the seeds are supposedly treated by soaking in vinegar and milk to reduce their toxicity. The Shennong Bencaojing says, "[The seeds] when taken [when properly prepared] for a prolonged period enable one to walk for long distances, benefiting to the mind and adding to the strength ... and to communicate with spirits and seeing devils. When taken in excess, it causes one to stagger madly."[5] Lei Xiao's 470 Leigong paozhilun (雷公炮炙論 "Master Lei's Treatise on the Decoction and Preparation of Drugs") states that the seed "is extremely poisonous, and when accidentally taken, it causes delirium and seeing sparks and flashes", and Zhen Chuan's c. 620 Bencao yaoxing (本草藥性 "Nature of Drugs in Materia Medica") says the seeds "should not be taken raw as it hurts people, causing them to see devils, acting madly like picking needles".[6]

The yunshi (云实; 雲實; yúnshí; yun-shih "Caesalpinia decapetala; cat's claw") was a versatile drug plant in the Chinese pharmacopeia, and the root, flowers, and seeds were all used in medicine.

The Shennong Bencao says, "[The flowers] could enable one to see spirits, and when taken in excess, cause one to stagger madly. If taken over a prolonged period, they produce somatic levitation and effect communication with spirits." Tao Hongjing, who edited the official Shangqing Daoist canon, also compiled the c. 510 Mingyi bielu (名醫別錄 "Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians") that says "[The flowers] will drive away evil spirits. When put in water and burned, spirits can be summoned" and "The seeds are like langdang (Hyoscyamus niger), if burned, spirits can be summoned; but this [sorcery] method has not been observed."[7]

Li Hui-Lin notes this plant "has not been noted as a hallucinogenic plant in modern works. In fact, as far as I am aware, it has not been investigated medicinally or chemically".[8]

The fangkui (防葵; fángkuí; fang-k'ui "Peucedanum japonicum") root is used in Chinese medicine, and like the previous cat's claw, has not been noted as a hallucinogenic in modern works. The c. 510 Tao Hongjing mingyi bielu states, "Feverish people should not take it, because it causes one to be delirious and see spirits"; and Chen Yanzhi's (陳延之) c. 454-473 Xiaoping fang (小品方 "Minor Prescriptions") says that fangkui, "if taken in excess, makes one become delirious and act somewhat like mad".[9]

P. japonicum is also used quite extensively in Korean cuisine - not only as a culinary herb, but also as a leaf vegetable, raising the question as to what constitutes consumption 'to excess'. It may be the case that the strain of plant grown in Korea is less toxic / medicinal than that found in China, or that very substantial quantities of the plant must be eaten before any psychoactive effects are manifested. Alternatively, the psychoactive components of the plant may be deactivated by the cooking processes employed in the preparation of the plant in Korea.[10][11]

The shanglu (商陆; 商陸; shānglù; shang-lu "Phytolacca acinosa; India pokeweed") has edible leaves and poisonous roots. China's oldest extant dictionary, the c. 3rd-century BCE Erya (13: 110) gives two names for pokeweed: chùtāng (蓫薚) and mǎwěi (馬尾 "horsetail").

Chinese herbals distinguish two kinds of shanglu, white with white flowers and white root, and red with red flowers and purple root. The white root is edible when cooked but the red root is extremely poisonous. The Tao Hongjing mingyi bielu records how Daoists used the red variety, "By boiling or brewing and then taken, it can be used for abdominal parasitic worms and for seeing spirits"; Su Song's 1061 Bencao tujing (本草圖經 "Illustrated Pharmacopeia") says, "It was much used by sorcerers in ancient times".[12] Su Gong's 659 Tang bencao (唐本草 "Tang dynasty pharmacopeia") says "The red kind can be used to summon spirits; it is very poisonous. It can be only used as external application for inflammation. When ingested, it is extremely harmful, causing unceasing bloody stool. It may be fatal. It causes one to see spirits."[13]

The 1406 Jiuhuang Bencao "Famine Relief Herbal" lists pokeweed as a famine food. It gives instructions for removing the poisonous phytolaccatoxin from the white roots and mentions Daoist xian using the flowers: "Cut them up into slices, scald, then soak and wash repeatedly (throwing away the extract) until the material is clean; then just eat it with garlic. … Plants with white flowers can (it is said) confer longevity; the immortals collected them to make savouries to take with their wine."[14]

Dama (大麻; dàmá; ta-ma "Cannabis sativa; hemp; marijuana") has been grown in China since Neolithic times. At a very early period the Chinese recognized the Cannabis plant as dioecious, the male plants produce better fibers and the female plants produce more cannabinoids. In modern usage, the names are xǐ (枲 "male cannabis") and jū (苴 "female cannabis").[15]

Reflecting the importance of cannabis in ancient China, the ca. 3rd century BCE Erya dictionary (13) has four definitions: fén (黂; 蕡) and xǐshí (枲實) mean "cannabis flower"; xǐ (枲) and má (麻) mean "cannabis" generally and not "male cannabis"; fú (莩, lit. "reed membrane") and mámǔ (麻母, "cannabis mother") mean "female cannabis"; and bò (薜) and shānmá (山麻 "mountain cannabis") mean "wild cannabis", possibly C. ruderalis.

The Shennong bencao calls "cannabis flowers/buds" mafen (麻蕡) or mabo (麻勃) and says: "To take much makes people see demons and throw themselves about like maniacs [多食令人見鬼狂走]. But if one takes it over a long period of time one can communicate with the spirits, and one's body becomes light [久服通神明輕身]".[16] The Mingyi bielu records that in the 6th century, mabo were, "very little used in medicine, but the magician-technicians [shujia 術家] say that if one consumes them with ginseng it will give one preternatural knowledge of events in the future."[17] Meng Shen's c. 670 Shiliao bencao (食療本草 "Nutritional Therapy Pharmacopeia") says people will combine equal parts of raw cannabis flowers, Japanese sweet flag, and wild mandrake, "pound them into pills of the size of marbles and take one facing the sun every day. After one hundred days, one can see spirits."[18] Tang Shengwei's 1108 Zhenglei bencao (證類本草 "Reorganized Pharmacopeia") gives a more complete account on the pharmaceutical uses of cannabis: "Ma-fen has a spicy taste; it is toxic; it is used for waste diseases and injuries; it clears blood and cools temperature; it relieves fluxes; it undoes rheumatism; it discharges pus. If taken in excess, it produces hallucinations and a staggering gait. If taken over a long term, it causes one to communicate with spirits and lightens one's body."[19]

According to the sinologists and historians Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-djen, some early Daoists adapted censers for the religious and spiritual use of cannabis. The c. 570 Daoist encyclopedia Wushang Biyao (無上秘要 "Supreme Secret Essentials") recorded adding cannabis into ritual censers, and they suggest Yang Xi (330-c. 386), who wrote the Shangqing scriptures during alleged visitations by Daoist xian, was "aided almost certainly by cannabis".[20]

Datura stramonium fruit and seeds

The mantuoluo (曼陀罗; 曼陀羅; màntuóluó; man-t'o-lo "Datura stramonium; jimsonweed" or "(Buddhism) mandala") contains highly toxic Tropane alkaloids. Several Datura species were introduced into China from India, and Li Shizhen's 1596 Bencao gangmu was the first herbal to record the medicinal use of flowers and seeds. The drug is used in combination with Cannabis sativa and taken with wine as an anesthetic for small operations and cauterizations. Li Shizhen personally experimented with jimsonweed and recorded his experience as follows: "According to traditions, it is alleged that when the flowers are picked for use with wine while one is laughing, the wine will cause one to produce laughing movements; and when the flowers are picked while one is dancing, the wine will cause one to produce dancing movements. [I have found out] that such movements will be produced when one becomes half-drunk with the wine and someone else laughs or dances to induce these actions."[21]

Ranunculus japonicus

The maogen (毛茛; máogèn; mao-ken "Ranunculus japonicus; buttercup") is a poisonous plant with bright yellow flowers. The Daoist alchemist Ge Hong's c. 340 Zhouhou jiuzu fang (肘後救卒方 "Remedies for Emergencies",[22] says, "Among the herbs there is the Shui Lang (water Lang, a kind of Mao-ken) a plant with rounded leaves which grows along water courses and is eaten by crabs. It is poisonous to man and when eaten by mistake, it produces a maniacal delirium, appearing like a stroke and sometimes with blood-spitting. The remedy is to use licorice." Later herbals, which do not mention maogen as a deliriant, say the whole plant is considered poisonous and is should only be externally used as a medicine for irritation and inflammation.

Gymnopilus junonius

Panaeolus papilionaceus

The xiaojun (笑菌; xiàojùn; hsiao-ch'un "laughing mushroom") was known to Chinese herbalists for centuries before modern botanists identified it as a type of psilocybin mushroom, most likely either Gymnopilus junonius or Laughing Gym or Panaeolus papilionaceus or Petticoat Mottlegill.

The earliest record of a mushroom that causes uncontrollable laughter appears in Zhang Hua's c. 290 Bowuzhi compendium of natural wonders, in a context describing two unusual kinds of jùn (菌 "mushroom; fungus") that grow on tree bark.

In all the mountain commanderies to the South of the Yangzi, there is a fungus which grows [生菌] throughout the spring and summer on the large trees that have fallen down; it is known as the Zhen [椹 "chopping block (for execution)"]. If one eats it, it is tasty, but suddenly the poison takes effect and kills the eater. … If one eats Sweet gum tree growths [生者], they will induce uncontrollable laughter. If one drinks "earth sauce" [tǔjiāng 土漿] one will recover.[23]

The Bencao gangmu records Tao Hongjing's recipe for preparing "earth sauce": "Dig out a pit three chi deep in a place where there is yellow earth. Take freshly-drawn water and pour it into the pit, stirring the water so as to make it turbid. After a short while, draw off the clear water and use this. It is called either 'soil sauce' or 'earth sauce'."[24] Hui-lin Li quotes a Chinese-language study of "laughing mushrooms" that this "soil infusion" is the clear liquid after soil is mixed with water and allowed to settle, and an effective antidote for poisons.[25]

Subsequent Chinese authors give many similar records. Chen Renyu's (陳仁玉) I245 Jùnpǔ (菌譜 "Mushroom Guidebook") says this fungus is named tǔxùn (土蕈 "earth mushroom") or dùxùn (杜蕈 "pear mushroom") and "grows in the ground. People believe it to be formed by the air from poisonous vermin, and kills people if taken.... Those poisoned by it will laugh. As an antidote, use strong tea, mixed with alum and fresh clear water. Upon swallowing this, it will cure immediately".[25]

The c. 304 Nanfang Caomu Zhuang mentions sweetgum tree growths in a quite different context, the shamans in the southern state of Yue use a magical fēngrén (楓人 "sweetgum person") that is a kind of liúyǐng (瘤癭 "gall") found growing on sweetgum trees. "When aged they develop tumors. Sometimes in a violent thunder storm, the tree tumors grow suddenly three to five feet in one night, and these are called Feng-jen. The witches of Yueh collect these for witchcraft, saying that they have proof of their supernatural quality."[26] Later sources gave two explanations of the sweetgum tree growths, either as galls that resemble humans and have magical powers or as parasitic plants with rain-giving powers.[27]

In Japan, both medieval and modern sources record laughing mushrooms. An 11th-century story in the Konjaku Monogatarishū describes a group of Buddhist nuns who ate maitake (舞茸 "dancing mushrooms") and began to laugh and dance uncontrollably. It is also known as the waraitake (笑茸 "laughing mushroom"), which scholars have identified as the Panaeolus papilionaceus or Petticoat Mottlegill; the related Panaeolus cinctulus or Banded Mottlegill; and the psilocybin mushroom Gymnopilus junonius or Laughing Cap also called ōwaraitake (大笑茸 "Big Laughing Mushroom").[28]

In a study on early Daoist practitioners searching for the elixir of Immortality, Needham and Lu mention the possible use of hallucinogenic plants, such as Amanita muscaria "fly agaric" and xiaojun "laughing mushrooms". Based on Tang dynasty and Song dynasty references, they tentatively identify it as a Panaeolus or Pholiota and suggest that the properties of at least some psychoactive mushrooms were widely known. They predict the further exploration of hallucinogenic fungi and other plants in Daoism and in Chinese culture in general "will be an exciting task".[29]