NaturalWays of Self-treatment

W ith rich herbal resources in the Forestry District,the locals have accumulated so much common sense for herbal treatments that the saying“everyone is a doctor here”is widespread among the locals.

On the way to visiting some of the oldest villagers,a member of the Taping Village Committee randomly introduced us to several kinds of herbs that are often used by locals.For instance,bleeding can be stopped quickly by applying a few blades of hemostatic grass—which should be chewed by mouth and then pasted on the wound.A rash on your skin can fade if you mix wormwood,garlic pole,senecio,wild chrysanthemum,and pagoda tree bark together with salt and water,and take a bath.Stewed chicken with Astragalus,Codonopsis,and Angelica have a variety of effects and can help alleviate female anemia,hair loss,or slow recovery after birth.

As a precious treasure endowed by nature,Golden Monkey is a flagship species in the Shennongjia Forestry District.Being fastidious about their food,these monkeys live in this place for a reason.According to Yu Huiliang,vice president of the Shennongjia National Park Institute of Science,compared with apples,golden monkeys prefer a plant called“cloud grass,” which has important nutritional value for them.The Golden Monkeys must eat this grass in winter;otherwise they willsuffer from diarrhea.

“Bold”is the most handsome and courageous young man in the Dalongtan Golden Monkey Tribe.When he was an adolescent,he once got into a fight with his parents.His mouth was almost torn off and he had a bruised back and arms when the team found him.The veterinarian could not sew the wound up,and could only leave him to his own recovery.Bold entered back into the forest,and one month later,when the team thought he must have died of his injuries,he was found recovered.The herbs Bold probably ate in the forest remain to be unknown.

好朋友（姜 勇攝）Good Friends(Photo by Jiang Yong)

大王巡山（胡文波攝）Golden monkeys patrolling the mountain(Photo by Hu Wenbo)

天然自救

林區本草藥資源豐富，在這里生活的人們積累了很多本草救治的常識，當地有“人人識藥”、“人人皆醫”的說法。

去采訪長壽老人的路上，塔坪村村委會的工作人員現場給我們普及了幾種當地老百姓經常會用到的草藥。比如，刀傷可以摘幾片止血草的葉子，放在嘴里嚼一嚼，敷在傷口上，很快就能止血；身上要是起疹子，可以用艾草、蒜桿、千里光、野菊花和槐樹皮加鹽泡澡，加快皮膚更新修復；女性貧血、容易掉頭發，或者是生育后身體恢復緩慢，都可以用黃芪、黨參和當歸一起燉土雞，富有多種功效，醫養兩用。

金絲猴是大自然賦予人類的寶貴財富，它們是神農架林區的旗艦物種。金絲猴能常年生活在這里，它們對這里的飲食是有講究的。據神農架國家公園科學研究院副院長余輝亮介紹，相較蘋果，金絲猴更喜歡吃一種叫“云霧草”的植物。這種植物對金絲猴的身體有很重要的營養價值，它們在冬天必須吃這種草，不然就會拉稀。

“大膽”是大龍潭金絲猴部落的青年雄猴中長相最英俊、也是最有膽識的。“大膽”未成年時，有一次和家長打架，被考察隊發現時，它的嘴巴已被撕裂至脫落，背部和手臂上有大片傷痕。獸醫無法給它縫合上藥，只能看它自己的恢復能力。大膽進入密林深處，考察隊以為它會因傷過重而死去，誰知一個月后它竟然痊愈回來了，至于它在林中吃了什么藥草，目前還不得而知。