Dragon Bones

Nearly 500 years ago, during the rule of the Ming Dynasty, someone named 李时珍 (Li Shi Zhen) was born. He lived from 1518 until 1593, during which time he spent three decades painstakingly researching, traveling, collecting, then writing the 本草纲目, or Compendium of Materia Medica. This encyclopedia is composed of 52 volumes and covers the usage and effects of nearly 2,000 different medicines. Needless to say, I have not had the time, nor will I ever, to read through this massive collection of medical knowledge. However, one of my buddies, fellow Fulbrighter Jack Tseng, is quite familiar with the content of 本草纲目. SIDE NOTE* Jack is an evolutionary biologist doing his research on the ecology and evolution of Asia’s top predators, which means he digs for dino bones in the most remote corners of China. He is the man. He explained to me that the Compendium of Materia Medica contains the first formal record of using “dragon bones” as medicine. Tha means for hundreds and hundreds of years, Chinese who have lived among these bones have been digging them up and either using them to cure all sorts of ailments, selling them, or who knows…hanging them on their walls. It wasn’t until 1903 that a German paleontologist named Max Schlosser came to Shanghai and identified these dragon bones as fossils of ancient animals. This was the first record of dinosaur fossils (as we now understand them to be) in China. Why is it important for you to have this background knowledge before reading on? Well, because lots of people in China obviously still don’t.

Originally published by BBC News on 6 July, 2007… only in China…

Villagers in central China have been using dinosaur bones as medicine - thinking they were from dragons. These bones have been dug up, then boiled in soup or ground down to make traditional medicines for decades. The news emerged this week when scientists displayed some excavated bones at a museum in Henan Province. “[People] believed that the ‘dragon bones’ were from dragons flying in the sky,” one Chinese scientist told AP news agency. These ‘dragon bones’, found in Henan’s Ruyang County, were sold for about 4 yuan (50 cents) per kilogram. “Local people used the bones as medicine to treat conditions such as dizziness and leg cramps,” said Zhang Xinliao from Henan Geology Museum. They were also made into a paste and applied to fractures and other injuries. “Some locals even made a business out of collecting the bones. One had collected up to 8,000 kg,” Mr Zhang added. These dinosaurs are 85 to 100 million years old.

You know, after eating that live squid I really had a hankering for some Brontosaurus soup. Now I know where I can get some.