At the height of China’s ancient Ming dynasty, ancient surgeons appear to have possessed early knowledge of a surprisingly advanced medical application, according to new findings.
Researchers at Northwestern University have revealed that surgeons in ancient China were using aconitine, a poison derived from monkshood and similar toxic plants, for medical applications. The research offers the first evidence of its controlled use, revealed through analysis that discovered residue of the poisonous substance on surgical tools dating to between 1348 and 1411 CE.
Discovered on tweezers and surgical scissors recovered from an ancient tomb in Jiangyin, China, the researchers used microscopic analysis to reveal this highly sophisticated knowledge displayed by Ming dynasty surgeons. The findings were reported in the journal Antiquity.
Clues from Residues
Archaeologists can discern a remarkable amount of information about the ancient world from faint residues left behind on ancient objects.
From blood-protein analysis that reveals the kinds of megafauna hunted by America’s Paleoindian hunters, to environmental DNA that is revealing new genetic information about the world of our ancient archaic cousins, the Neanderthals, microscopic traces from long ago can reveal a surprising amount of information about life in ancient times.
Now, the microscopic study of 700-year-old residues left on surgical tools from China’s Ming dynasty is revealing something equally remarkable: the advanced medical knowledge of ancient Chinese surgeons.
Advanced Ancient Surgical Practices
Applying conventional microscopic analysis can be difficult in some cases, and that was a primary challenge for Northwestern researchers studying the Ming dynasty artifacts retrieved from a tomb near Jiangyin, located along the Yangtze River in China’s Jiangsu province.
To obtain the minimum amounts required for positive residue analysis and identification, the Northwestern team employed an innovative nondestructive technique called stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), a variety of microscopic imaging that is used in modern applications to help identify certain materials and their components.
Significantly, SRS microscopic imaging can also be used to overcome the problem of obtaining minimal sample requirements, according to Northwest University Professor Congcang Zhao, who says the process overcomes “the key challenges in residue research of minimal sample availability and the need to preserve archaeological material.
Zhao, a co-author of the recent research, and his colleagues were able to rely on this process to detect trace amounts of the toxic substance derived from the poisonous flowering plant Aconitum, which is also known as monkshood, wolfsbane, and by other names.
Known for its extreme toxicity, ancient Chinese medical practitioners had somehow managed to discover that when detoxified using processes that included boiling the plant in vinegar or using mung beans, aconitine could be used to produce a powder that possesses anesthetic properties.
The detoxified aconitine powder, in turn, could be used to reduce pain during surgeries, and evidence for the production of such anesthetic powders are known from ancient Chinese medical literature.
However, evidence for its direct use in surgery had never been observed until now.
“Six centuries ago, a Ming Dynasty surgeon performed an operation with a pair of iron scissors and tweezers, and today we have read the traces of anaesthetic medicine left on those instruments using a beam of laser light,” Zhao explained in a statement.
Discovery of an Ancient Anesthetic
According to the new research, which complements information found in ancient texts, aconitine powder was likely applied topically to an area before incisions were made. This process would have required very careful administration, since some of the substance’s toxic qualities would have remained in the powder ancient Chinese medicinal practitioners produced.
Zhao says that when viewed alongside ancient medical texts from the Ming Dynasty, the study he and his colleagues have produced “confirms that Aconitum was employed as a topical anaesthetic, safely and precisely applied during surgical procedures.”
“Ming physicians used iron surgical instruments and controlled the toxicity of aconitine
through topical application, compound prescriptions and strict procedural controls,” Zhao adds, “demonstrating a practical ability to balance drug potency with patient safety.”
The new research reveals not only that such surprisingly advanced medical applications existed in ancient China, but also that the surgeons who used them understood the necessity for employing them safely, in order to mitigate unwanted side effects.
The result, Zhao says, is a new window towards understanding the precocious surgical practices of 14th century Ming Dynasty medical practitioners.
“This is the first time humanity has found direct chemical evidence of anaesthetics on ancient surgical tools, proving that our ancestors already knew how to safely alleviate patients’ pain with highly toxic herbs,” Zhao says.
The recent study, “Surgical anaesthesia in Ming China: scientific analysis of aconitine residues on medical instruments,” was published in the journal Antiquity.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.