A Story of Plantago

A Story of Plantago

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was a famous general named Ma Wu in Han Dynasty.

There had been a drought in summer one year and no crops could survive. It happened that Ma Wu's army was defeated and had to retreat to the wilds.

Food supplies were few and it was even difficult to find wellspring. Many soldiers and war-horses died of hunger and thirst. Most of the survivors suffered from bladder damp-heat bloody urine.

Ma Wu's hostler took care of three horses and one carriage. Seeing that the horses were suffered from bloody urine, he was burning with impatience but could do nothing.

One day, the hostler found there was no blood in the urine of the three horses. He was very curious at that and said to himself, "What on earth have they had these days?" So, he searched around the carriage again and again and suddenly found a kind of weed of which the leaves were like the ear of a pig. The horses had been having this kind of weed all these days.

"Is it possible that this kind of weed cured the horses of their illness?" So he pulled up a lot of this kind of weed and decocted them. After taking the decoction for several days, he found his urine was normal as expected.

The hostler ran to report it to the general immediately.

Ma Wu was very delighted and ordered his soldiers pull up the weed and take the decoction as well as feed the horses. Several days later, all the soldiers and horses were cured.

Ma Wu asked the hostler, "Where do the weeds grow?"

The hostler showed the general around the tent and pointed to the carriage and said, "They are just in front of the carriage."

"Ha-ha," Ma Wu laughed heartily and said, "what a che-qian-cao!"

Since then, the name che-qian-cao (weed in front of the carriage), i.e., plantago was spread. However, some people also called it "pig-ear weed".

---------------------------------------------------

miraculous hands

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2007 5:58 pm    

very interesting story !!!

please give us more

Tommy

-------------------------------------

Tommy

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2007 2:43 pm