Introduction

Short history of Kampo medicine There is a saying that one can gain new knowledge from the old. I would like to first review the old, and begin by reviewing the cultures common to China and Japan, the Chinese characterbased culture that originated in the great Yellow River, and the Kampo medicine that developed in this setting. The ‘Records of the Historian’ by Sima Qian states that the first dynasty of China was the Xia dynasty (2205-1766 BC), but the details are not known. Currently the oldest recognized dynasty is the Shang dynasty (1766-1122 BC). In 1899, Wang Yirong, a government official in the late Qing dynasty (AD 1644-1911), noted the hieroglyphics carved in the long gu (dragon bone: FOSSILIA OSSIS MASTODI) purchased for use in the treatment of a certain illness. This led the discovery of ideographs, the oldest written form of the Yellow River civilization. Based on the findings of crude drugs and long gu, an excavation of the Yinxu (ancient capital city of the Shang) was started in Anyang county, Henan Province in 1928 and clearly demonstrated the existence of the Shang dynasty.