Ravishing GU Poison of China in Evergreen Ethnopharmacology

The Chinese masterpiece in Ethnopharmacology

Gu poison, the deadliest poison in medieval China, was collected by sealing venomous snakes, scorpions, and centipedes in a jar and forcing them to fight and devour each other. The surviving creature containing a concentrated toxin. Gu poison was considered a slow-acting poison. It was said to have no taste, allowing unsuspecting victims to go about their normal lives for as long as 10 days before they started feeling ill.

Dating as far back as 610, gu is also described as a form of black magic and witchcraft with the poison being a central part of the practice. Concocting a strong formula of gu poison required the “five poisonous creatures” in China: the viper, centipede, scorpion, toad, and spider. The poisonous insects, worms, and reptiles, referred to as “chong,” were thought of as evil spirits or demons that possessed a vessel, or the human body. Gu poison has been associated with several regions and peoples in China throughout history, but was most commonly linked to the Lingnan and Miao women, minorities of the south—creating stigmas based on northern prejudice.

There are several methods for formulating the perfect gu poison, according to Xu Chunfu, an official in the imperial medical bureau, who wrote about gu in 1556. The most well-known recipe is to gather different kinds of the “five poisonous creatures” and place them in a jar to fight. This done on the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, which is the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. Some say that the jar is kept in darkness for up to the year. The body of the remaining venomous creature, which has eaten the others in the jar, will become the source of the lethal poison.

Xu also describes another recipe in which the gu sorcerer kills a poisonous snake, mixes it with an assortment of herbs, and sprinkles the body with water. The snake is left alone for a few days, until its meat decays and begins to grow mold. The body is ground into a powder and slipped into wine.

Gu poison’s make-believe tales were a product of prejudice against minority groups. Its association with the Miao and Lingnan women persisted into the end of the 19th century, with some scholars even writing that the Miao were prohibited from attending markets in various places in China in the 1900s. The fear of gu and associated judgement of outsiders has since diminished, and serves as a compass for historians trying to better understand differences between cultures in China.

While the story of gu poison may be that of folklore, its impacts created real geographic and ethnic boundaries that lasted for centuries. But the idea of a sealed container of fighting deadly creatures has sparked imagination. Today, gu poison’s legend lives on, the famous toxin playing significant roles in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the television Sleepy Hollow as a method to manipulate lovers and cause death. 

Know more about such tales and other elements of ethnopharmacology at http://environmentaltoxicology.alliedacademies.com/