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Standardized Herbal Nomenclature

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A few weeks back, people were discussing the source of the

standardized Latin and Chinese names of medicinals. I believe the

book that provides that information for most medicinals is " The

Colored Atlas of Chinese Materia Medica Specified in Chinese

Pharmacopoeia. " If I recall correctly, it is put out by the Chinese

Pharmacopoeia Commission.

 

The book is available in a bilingual edition, although the English

is a bit off and the TCM language has been mostly turned into

Western terms. The book is full of nice pictures and is probably a

familiar book to many on this list. Anyway, I believe that is the

source of standard names of the most common drugs (it only has like

500, so I'm not sure where the names of the others come from).

Several of the officially endorsed, " correct " names differ from the

common names we use in the West- Mo Han Lian vs. Han Lian Cao, etc.

Most are the same. A few have an ongoing debate going as to whether

the gov't is correct(Chun Gen Bai Pi, for example). Basically

though, I believe that book is the state-endorsed standard in the

PRC.

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On 21/09/2004, at 9:50 PM, smilinglotus wrote:

 

>

> A few weeks back, people were discussing the source of the

> standardized Latin and Chinese names of medicinals. I believe the

> book that provides that information for most medicinals is " The

> Colored Atlas of Chinese Materia Medica Specified in Chinese

> Pharmacopoeia. " If I recall correctly, it is put out by the Chinese

> Pharmacopoeia Commission.

>

 

Yes, this is the default standard for nomeclature in CHM for registered

practitioners in Australia. Ironically it is a limited edition,

difficult to obtain and VERY expensive. The English (bi-lingual)

version is also somewhat outdated compared to the Chinese edition which

I understand is the basis for Wiseman's publications.

 

Steve

 

 

> The book is available in a bilingual edition, although the English

> is a bit off and the TCM language has been mostly turned into

> Western terms. The book is full of nice pictures and is probably a

> familiar book to many on this list. Anyway, I believe that is the

> source of standard names of the most common drugs (it only has like

> 500, so I'm not sure where the names of the others come from).

> Several of the officially endorsed, " correct " names differ from the

> common names we use in the West- Mo Han Lian vs. Han Lian Cao, etc.

> Most are the same. A few have an ongoing debate going as to whether

> the gov't is correct(Chun Gen Bai Pi, for example). Basically

> though, I believe that book is the state-endorsed standard in the

> PRC.

>

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, Steven Slater

<laozhongyi@m...> wrote:

>

> On 21/09/2004, at 9:50 PM, smilinglotus wrote:

>

> >

> > A few weeks back, people were discussing the source of the

> > standardized Latin and Chinese names of medicinals. I believe

the

> > book that provides that information for most medicinals is " The

> > Colored Atlas of Chinese Materia Medica Specified in Chinese

> > Pharmacopoeia. " If I recall correctly, it is put out by the

Chinese

> > Pharmacopoeia Commission.

> >

>

> Yes, this is the default standard for nomeclature in CHM for

registered

> practitioners in Australia. Ironically it is a limited edition,

> difficult to obtain and VERY expensive. The English (bi-lingual)

> version is also somewhat outdated compared to the Chinese edition

which

> I understand is the basis for Wiseman's publications.

>

> Steve

>

 

Eric says:

 

Indeed, it is the basis for Wiseman's publications. I suspect it is

probably also the source that Bensky's new book is derived from. If

that is the case, it will be interesting to see whether the primary

names of a few of the drugs get changed in response to the updates

by the PRC commission. It also raises the question of whether

schools, prepared products, and exams will switch the names as well.

 

Eric Brand

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On 22/09/2004, at 12:07 AM, smilinglotus wrote:

 

>

> , Steven Slater

> <laozhongyi@m...> wrote:

>>

>> On 21/09/2004, at 9:50 PM, smilinglotus wrote:

>>

>>>

>>> A few weeks back, people were discussing the source of the

>>> standardized Latin and Chinese names of medicinals. I believe

> the

>>> book that provides that information for most medicinals is " The

>>> Colored Atlas of Chinese Materia Medica Specified in Chinese

>>> Pharmacopoeia. " If I recall correctly, it is put out by the

> Chinese

>>> Pharmacopoeia Commission.

>>>

>>

>> Yes, this is the default standard for nomeclature in CHM for

> registered

>> practitioners in Australia. Ironically it is a limited edition,

>> difficult to obtain and VERY expensive. The English (bi-lingual)

>> version is also somewhat outdated compared to the Chinese edition

> which

>> I understand is the basis for Wiseman's publications.

>>

>> Steve

>>

>

> Eric says:

>

> Indeed, it is the basis for Wiseman's publications. I suspect it is

> probably also the source that Bensky's new book is derived from. If

> that is the case, it will be interesting to see whether the primary

> names of a few of the drugs get changed in response to the updates

> by the PRC commission. It also raises the question of whether

> schools, prepared products, and exams will switch the names as well.

>

> Eric Brand

>

The issue of prepared products and even powdered extracts is an

interesting one. One of my good friends is the sole importer of Min

Tong (Taiwan) concentrated powders/granules into Australia and he has

mentioned increased difficulties with clearing his shipments through

Australian customs and the TGA (therapeutic goods administration).

 

The labelling of several of the herbs is outdated and sometimes

slightly bizarre eg. long yean row (long yan rou), huan lian (huang

lian).........and the latin is certainly not standard as far as recent

texts go. The legislation is tightening a lot recently regarding ID of

herbs and such mistakes result in delays and confusion for importer,

customs, and the TGA alike.

 

A particularly bizarre recent example of what is happening here is that

his importation of hong zao (da zao) was refused on the basis of it

being an endangered species!!! Of course, you can walk into any Chinese

grocery store and many health-food stores and buy a bag of fresh da zao

for a few a pittance. Ironic.

 

I advised him to request updated labelling across the product line from

MinTong to match the Australian TGA standards (which is not so easy to

discover in itself). But he expressed doubt they would go to such

trouble due to the size of the Australian market which is gradually

being over-run with Chinese products recently.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Steve

 

 

Dr. Steven J Slater

Practitioner and Acupuncturist

Mobile: 0418 343 545

chinese_medicine

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> >Steve says:

 

> The issue of prepared products and even powdered extracts is an

> interesting one. One of my good friends is the sole importer of

Min

> Tong (Taiwan) concentrated powders/granules into Australia and he

has

> mentioned increased difficulties with clearing his shipments

through

> Australian customs and the TGA (therapeutic goods administration).

>

> The labelling of several of the herbs is outdated and sometimes

> slightly bizarre eg. long yean row (long yan rou), huan lian

(huang

> lian).........and the latin is certainly not standard as far as

recent

> texts go. The legislation is tightening a lot recently regarding

ID of

> herbs and such mistakes result in delays and confusion for

importer,

> customs, and the TGA alike.

>

> A particularly bizarre recent example of what is happening here is

that

> his importation of hong zao (da zao) was refused on the basis of

it

> being an endangered species!!! Of course, you can walk into any

Chinese

> grocery store and many health-food stores and buy a bag of fresh

da zao

> for a few a pittance. Ironic.

>

> I advised him to request updated labelling across the product line

from

> MinTong to match the Australian TGA standards (which is not so

easy to

> discover in itself). But he expressed doubt they would go to such

> trouble due to the size of the Australian market which is

gradually

> being over-run with Chinese products recently.

>

> Best Wishes,

>

> Steve-

 

 

Eric says:

To further complicate the issue, Min Tong and most other major

granule exporters to the West are based in Taiwan, which has its own

standards in nomenclature, which is to say that they largely ignore

the issue when it comes to English and Latin.

 

Taiwan is reluctant to follow the PRC government on any issues, and

the street signs in Taiwan are riddled with all manners of bizarre

romanization techniques that aren't pinyin, but aren't really Wade-

Giles, either. The metro signs all converted to pinyin to at least

give mass transit some consistency where foreigners are concerned,

but this change created an uproar in the community because the

Taiwanese don't like following mainland standards. There is no one

to enforce any regulations on English labeling, and there probably

are no regulations since the Taiwanese all pay attention to what is

written in Chinese and don't bother looking at the English on the

label. I can only imagine how many errors in characters would go

unnoticed if products produced in America had Chinese labels thrown

on them. Nobody cares what the Latin says because nobody is reading

it.

 

Eric

 

 

 

 

-- In , Steven Slater

<laozhongyi@m...> wrote:

>

> On 22/09/2004, at 12:07 AM, smilinglotus wrote:

>

> >

> > , Steven Slater

> > <laozhongyi@m...> wrote:

> >>

> >> On 21/09/2004, at 9:50 PM, smilinglotus wrote:

> >>

> >>>

> >>> A few weeks back, people were discussing the source of the

> >>> standardized Latin and Chinese names of medicinals. I believe

> > the

> >>> book that provides that information for most medicinals is " The

> >>> Colored Atlas of Chinese Materia Medica Specified in Chinese

> >>> Pharmacopoeia. " If I recall correctly, it is put out by the

> > Chinese

> >>> Pharmacopoeia Commission.

> >>>

> >>

> >> Yes, this is the default standard for nomeclature in CHM for

> > registered

> >> practitioners in Australia. Ironically it is a limited edition,

> >> difficult to obtain and VERY expensive. The English (bi-lingual)

> >> version is also somewhat outdated compared to the Chinese

edition

> > which

> >> I understand is the basis for Wiseman's publications.

> >>

> >> Steve

> >>

> >

> > Eric says:

> >

> > Indeed, it is the basis for Wiseman's publications. I suspect

it is

> > probably also the source that Bensky's new book is derived

from. If

> > that is the case, it will be interesting to see whether the

primary

> > names of a few of the drugs get changed in response to the

updates

> > by the PRC commission. It also raises the question of whether

> > schools, prepared products, and exams will switch the names as

well.

> >

> > Eric Brand

 

>

>

> Dr. Steven J Slater

> Practitioner and Acupuncturist

> Mobile: 0418 343 545

> chinese_medicine@m...

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