「阿勃參」與「拔爾撒摩」——中外藥物交流的長時段考察例證

Mecca Balsam and Balsam of Peru in Ancient China: An Exchange of Foreign Medicine over a Long Historical Period

唐代段成式的博物學著作《酉陽雜俎》中，記載了一種來自拂菻（拜占庭帝國）的藥用植物「阿勃參」。該樹脂藥（香脂、香膏、香油）主要產自西亞，在中古中國使用未廣，好似曇花一現，但該藥在中古時期的伊斯蘭世界，卻被視為一種萬能藥，使用廣泛。在大航海時代之後，該類藥逐漸被來自南美的樹脂「拔爾撒摩」（或「巴爾撒木油」、「巴爾撒木香」等）替代。該藥也隨明清之際耶穌會士進入中國，在中醫本草和醫方、筆記等著作中，相關的記載與使用則逐漸增多，主要用於傷科。清宮與耶穌會士、海外多國的外事交往中，該藥頻頻出現。在日本的蘭醫學著作中，該藥甚至被稱為「聖藥」。本文以長時期和跨區域的視野，梳理此藥的知識擴散、用法流傳及其貿易的路線，不僅試圖勾勒出從古代希臘、羅馬、敘利亞、波斯、阿拉伯、文藝復興前後的歐洲、南美、印度、東南亞到中國乃至日本的長時段的藥物流動途徑，而且以此理解在近代藥物交流的歷程中，中醫在世界醫學網絡中的角色與地位之變化，並以此作為考察近代中國社會變遷的一個例證。

Duan Chengshi’s 段成式 Tang dynasty work Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎 (Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang), records a foreign botanical medicine called aboshen 阿勃參 (balm of Gilead or Mecca balsam) originating from Fulin 拂菻 (Byzantine Empire). This balsam (resin, spice, or oil) was mainly produced on the banks of the Dead Sea in western Asia. Although never widely used in medieval China and only enjoying brief popularity there, in the medieval Islamic world it was regarded as a panacea with a wide range of uses. After the Age of Discovery, balm of Gilead was gradually replaced by balsam of Peru from South America. Jesuit missionaries introduced balsam of Peru to China in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, where it was known as baersamo 巴爾撒摩 (balsam), baersamu you 巴爾撒木油 (balsam oil) and baersamu xiang 巴 爾 撒 木 香 (balsam spice). There was a gradual increase in the number of records of this medicine and its uses in Chinese Materia Medica, dispensatories, and jottings literature, mainly relating to its use in the treatment of traumas. It appeared numerous times in exchanges between the Qing court, the Jesuits and foreign countries. In Japan during the period when the study of Western medicine was promoted, this balsam even came to be referred to as “sacred medicine.” This article traces the journey of Mecca balsam and balsam of Peru over a long historical period across different regions of ancient China, focusing on transmission of knowledge, methods of use, and trade routes. The author attempts to sketch the routes of its transmission through ancient Greece, Rome, Syria, Persia, Arabia, pre- and post-Renaissance Europe, South America, India, and Southeast Asia to China and Japan. This article also explores how, in the process of botanical medicine exchange from the medieval period to modern period, the role and status of Chinese medicine in world medicine changed. This case study will also help us understand changes in Chinese society from the pre-modern period to the late Qing dynasty.