A remedy from history

Writing about the rediscovery of ancient antimalarial treatment, author poses thought-provoking questions, Yang Yang reports.

In 330, Ge Hong, a Taoist scholar and alchemist born in 283, moved to Luofu Mountain in present-day South China's Guangdong province to continue his pursuit of physical immortality, which he believed could be attained through alchemy.

He soon became known for his lifesaving prescriptions. Apart from alchemy, Ge spent much of his time studying herbal medicine and collecting and testing different prescriptions before recording his findings in books like the Zhou Hou Jiu Zu Fang (later known as the Zhou Hou Bei Ji Fang), a prescription guide for emergencies.

One day, a farmer from a village at the foot of the mountain came to seek Ge's help. Many of the villagers had fallen ill, suffering from alternating chills and fever. Some had even died. It was a common affliction in the south of China, and was thought to be caused by miasmas. Ge gave the farmer two different prescriptions, and told him that they might take effect three days after drinking them.