Natural Ways of Self-treatment

Good Friends (Photo by Jiang Yong)

With rich herbal resources in the Forestry District, the locals have accumulated so much common sense for herbal treatments that the saying “everyone is a doctor here” is widespread among the locals.

On the way to visiting some of the oldest villagers, a member of the Taping Village Committee randomly introduced to us several kinds of herbs that are often used by locals. For instance, bleeding can be stopped quickly by applying a few blades of hemostatic grass—which should be chewed by mouth and then pasted on the wound. A rash on your skin can fade if you mix wormwood, garlic pole,senecio, wild chrysanthemum, and pagoda tree bark together with salt and water, and take a bath. Stewed chicken with Astragalus, Codonopsis, and Angelica have a variety of effects and can help alleviate female anemia, hair loss, or slow recovery after birth.

As a precious treasure endowed by nature, Golden Snub-nosed Monkey is a flagship species in the Shennongjia Forestry District. Being fastidiousabout their food, these monkeys live in this place for a reason. According to Yu Huiliang, vice president of the Scientific Research Institute of Shennongjia National Park, compared with apples, golden monkeys prefer a plant called “cloud grass,” which has important nutritional value for them. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys must eat this grass in winter; otherwise they will suffer from diarrhea.

Bold is the most handsome and courageous young male in the Dalongtan Golden Monkey Tribe. When he was an adolescent, he once got into a fight with his parents. His mouth was almost torn off and he had a bruised back and arms when the team found him. The veterinarian could not sew the wound up, and could only leave him to his own recovery. Bold entered back into the forest, and one month later, when the team thought he must have died of his injuries, he was found recovered. The herbs Bold probably ate in the forest remain to be unknown.