中古时期药用盐的输入与传播

中古西域地区（尤指中亚、南亚）药用盐的东渐,是中古社会丝绸之路医药文化交流的一个代表。通过考察药用盐在汉唐之间,乃至宋元时期的中西交流活动,可以发现,至晚到南北朝时期,各种矿物盐,由于具有不同的药用价值,或被作为贡品,或经由贸易通道流入中原,进入医家、旅行家、统治者的视野中。从汉到宋代及其以后,药用盐的东渐活动,大体经历了一个变化过程,即从汉代西域开始进贡药用盐,到魏晋南北朝时期逐渐增多,再到隋唐时期社会需求达到峰值,宋元以后,由于传统商路的改变,＂西盐东渐＂日趋式微。中古药用盐对中原社会生活的影响,不仅使中古本草书中进口盐与本地盐存在贵贱之分,而且还大大加深了人们对盐的药用功效的认识。

Medicinal Salt in Medieval China:Import and Spread

Medicinal salts’ being introduced eastwards from Xiyu regions was an important event in Silk Road medical communication in medieval age.It can be seen from the history of medicinal salt exchange between China and West that mineral salt was introduced to Inner China as tribute or merchandise because of its medical value and was concerned by doctors,travelers and rulers no later than the Southern and Northern Dynasties.It had passed through a saddle procedure.Han Dynasty was the initial period when Xiyu’s medicinal salt was first introduced into the court.Number of imported medicinal salt was increasing in Wei and Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties,and arrived at its highest point in Sui and Tang dynasties.In Song and Yuan dynasties,Xiyu salt’s spreading eastwards turned to be nearly stopped.The influence of medicinal salt in medieval China was not only indicated by a value difference between imported and native produced salt in medieval medical books,but also by people’s knowledge of efficacy of medicinal salt.