Licorice is commonly known as the old man of the country. What is the origin of this common name?

Licorice has many aliases, such as beautiful grass, honey sweet, honey grass, pink grass, sweet grass and so on. These are all related to the characteristics of licorice. But licorice also has a very interesting nickname-Lao Guo. The origin of this alias should start from the Southern Dynasties.

There was a famous doctor named Tao Hongjing in the Southern Dynasties. He is a famous doctor, Taoist priest and writer. He became an official in his early years and resigned at the age of 36 to live in seclusion in Maoshan. In the meantime, he received national current affairs from Liang Wudi from time to time, and advised the court in the mountains, so he was called "Prime Minister in the Mountains". At the same time, he also arranges manuscripts, writes alchemy notes, and often treats people.

Tao Hongjing opened licorice, and some patients asked if licorice could cure all diseases. Tao Hongjing said with a smile, "Ural licorice is sweet, which can tonify deficiency, slow down and flush essence. For some drugs with violent temperament, we can monitor, control, converge and promote; In different prescriptions, you can be the monarch and minister, you can be the messenger of Zuo Wei, and you can reconcile all kinds of drugs to make them work better. In the pharmaceutical kingdom, licorice is the medicine of the country. " Since then, people have called licorice "the old country".

Modern medicine has found that licorice contains hundreds of chemical components, which can treat or assist in the treatment of many diseases. It deserves to be the king of many medicines, the oldest medicine in the country. (Deng)