建议大家都来看看洋人草药师培训的内容,很受启发

Why Does a Herbalist Need Botany?

"In the old days, herbalists collected herbs themselves at the right time and in the right place, and they processed the herbs properly. That is why they were able to cure nine out of ten of their patients. Nowadays, doctors only know how to prescribe. Most of the herbs they are using were not collected and processed properly so they can only cure five or six out of ten of their patients."
~ Sun Simiao (581-682 AD)

The saying above by Sun Simiao, a Chinese herbalist, was written hundreds of years ago, yet it is a true now as it was then. If you are going to be a good herbalist, knowing what the herbs are used for just isn't enough. Knowing how they grow best, how to identify them in the wild and and how to process them into quality products is just as important as knowing what they will treat. This knowledge doesn't come over night. It will take years of working with plants in your garden and in the wild to build relationships with these plants and get the best out of them. A basic understanding of botany can enhance this process. Botany is the study of plants, and it is by studying or watching the plants you will learn to get the best out them. If you want to cultivate a plant in your garden, see how it grows in the wild. This will indicate the optimal growing conditions for that plant. Knowing how tall a plant generally grows, the colour and shape of it's leaves and flowers and how it should smell, will all allow you to choose top quality plants for harvesting.
They key is read, observe and practice as often as possible. The more you get to know the plants the better you will be as a herbalist. Their is no more rewarding feeling than harvesting a herb from your garden or the wild, processing it into medicine and then watching someone get well after taking the herbal remedy you made.

All the effort will have been worth it at that moment, and then you can truly call yourself a herbalist.

以上是引用加拿大一所大学的草药师课程中的一部分。开篇就引用的是孙思邈的话。这一段是洋人拿来教育他们学习西方草药的学生的,对比我们的中医教学,我觉得很有点启发性:


翻译如下:

为什么草药师需要懂得植物学

“在过去,中医采集草药一定要在合适的时间和正确的地方,并且要对草药进行妥善处理。这就是为什么他们10个病人能治好9个。如今,医生只知道如何开药,使用的草药却大多不是经过正确收集和处理的,所以他们只能10个病人中治愈五、六个而已。“-孙思邈(公元581-682)

以上的说法,是中国的中医孙思邈1千多年以前写的,即便是在当今,这个道理还和在孙思邈时代一样是真理。如果你要成为一个好的草药师,知道如何运用草药是远远不够的。了解怎样培植它们才是最好的,知道在野外如何识别它们,以及如何将它们加工成上乘质量的产品,都是和草药的应用知识一样重要的。这方面的知识不是一个晚上就能学会的,这将需要几年时间,需要在你的花园和野外从事植物方面的工作,来建立与这些植物的关系,以得到第一手的知识。对植物学的基本了解,可以帮助你加强这一学习进程。植物学是专门研究植物的,它是通过学习或观察植物,以得到关于植物的第一手经验和知识。如果你想在花园里培养某种植物,首先要观察它是如何在野外生长的。野外的生长条件是植物的最佳生长条件。了解植株生长的高度,它的叶子和花的颜色和形状,以及它们的气味,都将让你有能力选择顶级品质的植物来进行采收。
学习的关键是阅读,观察,并尽可能经常练习。你对植物了解得越多,就越能够成为出色的草药师。作为一个草药师,没有什么能比你亲自从花园或野生地采集来药草,加工成药品,然后看到有人服用了你制作的药品后康复更让人感到欣慰的了。

你所有努力的价值都将体现在那一刻,那时你就可以真正的称自己是一名草药师了。

我们是否也这样教育我们学中医的学生呢?难怪孙思邈说现在的中医只能10个病人里治好5、6个。再加上我们现在的中医教育,连基本理论都未必能弄通,有不一定有足够的临床经验和正确指导,恐怕10个病人里治好的就只有2、3个了。
在这个问题上,洋人的教育方法还是很值得借鉴的。