The Tang Ye Jing— where to start? Way back in the Shang Dynasty so the story goes. The Yang Ye Jing is a “lost” text on herbal medicine that has played hide and seek with practitioners over the centuries. How much of it is myth? How much archetypical patterning? And how much a ghost story we like to tell ourselves? All worthy questions. And while the topic of this episode touches on the Tang Ye Jing, our main concern is a medieval text from a Buddhist cave with its own colorful story— the Fu Xing Jue.

In this discussion with translator and historian Sabine Wilms we trace the footprints of the Tang Ye Jing through history and discuss its connection to the Fu Xing Jue, another text equality fascinating and problematic. 

Listen into this conversation on the mythic roots of herbal medicine, stolen treasure and principles of medicine that are timeless regardless of their source.

Head on over to the show notes page for more information about this episode and for links to the resources discussed in the interview.