"Dreams fear sorrow when waking up, spring returns from drunkenness." Wine can help sleep and heal stubborn illnesses. When used properly, wine can become a good medicine for improving sleep and treating chronic illnesses. Sun Siyao, a famous physician in the Tang Dynasty and known as the Medicine King, had a legendary achievement in using medicated wine to treat persistent illnesses.
In his book "Emergency Recipes Worth a Thousand Gold", Sun Siyao recorded a story about a monk named Yunhui at the Xiangguo Temple in the Tang Dynasty. Yunhui suffered from a mental illness called "paranoid madness", often crying and acting irrationally. After seeking treatment from famous doctors for six months without improvement, his brother Pan sought help from Sun Siyao. After a detailed examination, Sun Siyao said, "Let your brother sleep tonight, and he will recover in the next two days." So Pan arranged for Yunhui to stay in a quiet room, and Sun Siyao instructed them to give Yunhui some salty food and wait until he became thirsty. In the evening, when Yunhui was extremely thirsty, Sun Siyao prepared a warm cup of wine with medicine for him to drink. After a while, Yunhui fell into a deep sleep. Sun Siyao repeatedly instructed not to wake him up. Yunhui slept for two days and nights and woke up with a clear mind, completely cured of his madness. Pan specifically asked about the method of treatment, and Sun Siyao replied, "The medicine used to treat this illness is a mixture of cinnabar, jujube kernel, and frankincense, which is taken with wine. When the patient is slightly intoxicated, ask them to lie down and sleep. For mild cases, they can wake up within half a day to a day. For severe cases, it may take two to three days to wake up. Let the patient wake up on their own, and the illness will be cured."
In traditional Chinese medicine, the heart governs the spirit, and the spirit refers to a person's mental consciousness and thinking activities. The most common mental illnesses that trouble most people are insomnia and forgetfulness.
First, let's talk about insomnia. A person spends about one-third of their life in sleep. Deep and restful sleep is a wonderful enjoyment and a release for exhaustion and a comfort for the mind. The quality of sleep is directly related to the health and quality of life. Insomnia is the enemy of sleep.
Insomnia usually refers to the inability to obtain normal sleep despite having sufficient sleep conditions and environment, including insufficient sleep time and quality. It is a disease that has adverse effects on physical conditions and normal activities. In the past, traditional Chinese medicine often referred to this condition as "sleeplessness" or "inability to sleep". Medically, insomnia includes difficulty falling asleep, difficulty maintaining continuous sleep, early awakening, and difficulty returning to sleep, which can lead to decreased daytime physical function. It is often manifested as fatigue upon waking up, decreased daytime alertness, impaired energy, cognitive function, and behavioral and emotional disorders, greatly reducing the quality of life.
Now let's talk about forgetfulness. Memory and forgetfulness are contradictory yet interdependent. Forgetfulness can be said to be a common ailment among humans, especially as they grow older and their mental abilities often become insufficient, causing them to neglect one thing while focusing on another. Medically, forgetfulness refers to symptoms of poor memory and easy forgetfulness. Older people often show signs of forgetfulness due to deficiency of the heart and spleen, insufficient vital energy due to old age, or deficiency of the heart, spleen, or kidneys. It can also be caused by excessive brain use or as a result of a serious illness. Therefore, a chronic conditioning method, including dietary therapy, can be chosen. Forgetfulness means forgetting past events while maintaining normal thinking and consciousness, and it should be distinguished from the intellectual decline and ignorance exhibited in dementia.
People who frequently suffer from insomnia or forgetfulness often tend to experience low moods and depression. Based on the understanding that the heart governs the spirit, traditional Chinese medicine generally treats mental and emotional illnesses by nourishing the heart and calming the spirit. Commonly used Chinese herbal medicines for nourishing the heart and calming the spirit include sour jujube kernel, Chinese arborvitae seed, polygala root, mimosa bark or flower, and cistanche. Preparing medicated wine with these ingredients is a common form of administration.
As the ancients said, "How to relieve worry? Nothing but Du Kang." (Cao Cao's "Short Song") "Wine is a remedy for sorrow, and books are a means to induce sleep." (Lu You's "Returning Home from the North with an Evening Stroll") Nowadays, people also say, "Wine is made for joy, not for suffering." (Ye Nan's "Wine is Made for Joy") "A clear song and a glass of wine, wash away all sorrows. In fact, medicated wine can be used to relieve depression, improve intelligence, calm the spirit, and enhance mood and willpower.
