[Development of the origin and application of shanza in ancient and modern].

Shanzha is a popular Chinese herbal medicine and originally recorded in Xin Xiu Ben Cao. It was derivered form fruit of Crataegus cuneata Sieb. et Zucc form Tang dynasties until modern time. Present day, Shanzha has been recommended form fruit of Crataegus pinnatifida Bge. and C. pinnatifida Bge. var. major N.E.Br. in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. It can be seen C. cuneata has been used over 2000 years in China, so it has excellent production for using treatment. In Tang and Song dynasties, people thought Shanzha has cool nature and acid flavour, and used it in management of diagnostic criteria and principles. After Yuan dynasties, people have thought Shanzha has warm nature and acid-sweet flavour. Today, Shanzha is primarily used to remedy disease in digestive system and cardiovascular system. Through analysising Materia Medica (Ben Cao), we can find that the production and application of Shanzha is a changing process in history.