1. There was once an old nun at the Kuanyin nunnery on Mt. Mao who was a skilled doctor and had a rich fund of knowledge about medicine herbs.
2. Whenever people of the surrounding area became ill, they would go to the nunnery to see her.
3. The old nun examined the patients and diagnosed them. Culling the herbs and concocting them into medicine was done by a young nun.
4. The little nun went about her business patiently and quietly. 5. One day, a poor villager came to ask for help.
6. When the old nun, who was a snob about money and position, found out, she had him driven off the premises without any further ado.
7. The little nun couldn't bear to see him sent away empty-handed. She picked up some herbs and ran after him.
8. "Wait! Take these herbs. When you get back home, boil them into a medicine to drink!"
9. As soon as the villager was out of sight, she began to worry.
10. "I don't know what he was suffering from," she thought. "What if I gave him the wrong medicine and he gets worse?"
11. A few days later, the villager came back to the old nun to express his thanks.
12. "Thanks to the little nun, my father's much better. His knees hurt him so badly over the years that he couldn't walk."
13. "That's odd," the old nun thought. "I don't have any herbs like th at around. Don't tell me --"
14. She had the little nun brought in to get to the bottom of things.
15. "Have you been stealing my herbs, young lady? Quick, out with it!"
16. The little nun knew that the herb she had given the villager was cal led tsang-chu.
17. When the old nun sorted through her herbs, she used to pick it out and throw it away.
18. Now the little nun found out it was good for aching knees.
19. Eventually the little nun couldn't take any more of the old woman' s snobbery and high and mighty ways. she left the nunnery and returned to the secular world.
20. After that, she used the herb to treat people whose knees hurt so badly they had a hard time getting about.
21 . People later found out that tsang-chu is also effective against vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments.
Tsang-chu
Appearance: The outside of the root is brownish- yellow; covered with white powder, similar to ginger; hard.
Properties: Bitter; warm; non-toxic.
Efficacy: Lowers body heat and induces sweating; heals stomach illnesses; helpful to digestion; heals boils.
Prohibitions: Those of weak constitution, low heat, or who sweat a great deal should use this medicine only with caution.
(To be used by prescription only.)
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