What happened before the Compendium of Materia Medica?

Since the publication of Li Shizhen's works on materia medica, it has always been valued by people, not only in China, but also in foreign countries.

Since the Compendium of Materia Medica came out in the 16th century, it has been studied in depth throughout the ages. A huge work of nearly 2 million words like this is not easy to reprint even in modern times. However, in the past 400 years, it has been re-engraved nearly 60 times, including modern printing with movable lead typesetting!

Its importance can be taken without further effort.

In modern times, people have studied Li Shizhen's scientific thoughts, working methods, life deeds, medical achievements, and even his literary accomplishments from the perspective of modern science, including modern medicine, and studied the naturalism in the "Compendium of Materia Medica", including the achievements of various disciplines of modern natural science. Li Shizhen has become an outstanding representative of ancient natural scientists in China.

Abroad, his influence is also considerable. Charles Darwin (1809-1883), the founder of the theory of biological evolution, cited Li Shizhen's achievements in biology in the process of researching and establishing the theory of evolution. For example, in his book "The Origin of Mankind", he once quoted a passage about the formation of the color of goldfish, pointing out that its color was caused by the sudden mutation caused by artificial careful cultivation, and pointed out that this animal was carefully cultivated in China for a long time, and it is believed that it began to be cultivated in the Song Dynasty.

This material is quoted from the Compendium of Materia Medica. Darwin once mentioned that he was referring to the "Encyclopedia of Ancient China", referring to the Compendium of Materia Medica.

The Compendium of Materia Medica spread abroad very early on, and was studied and translated by scholars from Japan, Germany, Europe and the United States. It is quite difficult to translate such a large tome into a foreign language, and there are many special terms of traditional Chinese medicine.

So far, the Compendium of Materia Medica has been translated in full or in part into English, Japanese, German, Korean, Latin, French and other translations. In addition, the book has also been translated into German.

Li Shizhen has become an outstanding representative of ancient scientists in China, alongside world scientific celebrities such as Lomonosov, Darwin, and Copernicus.

In international cultural exchanges, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" has been circulated to Japan as early as the Wanli period, and has been engraved in Japan 9 times. Later, it spread to North Korea, Vietnam and other countries. 17 In the 18th century, it spread to Europe, and there were translations or abridged versions of German, French, English, Latin, and Russian.

This shows the lofty status and far-reaching influence of this work in the history of world culture.

Li Shizhen. The author of the Compendium of Materia Medica was Li Shizhen, a famous medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty. The Compendium of Materia Medica, which has a total of 52 volumes, was compiled by the author over a period of nearly 30 years, and is known as the "Great Dictionary of Oriental Medicine", which has had the greatest impact on modern human science and medicine.

The Compendium of Materia Medica has a total of 52 volumes, containing 1,892 kinds of medicines, including 374 kinds of new drugs, collecting 11,096 prescriptions, and drawing 1,160 exquisite illustrations in the book, about 1.9 million words, divided into 16 parts and 60 categories. Judging from the number of medicines it contains and the smooth and vivid writing, it far exceeds any ancient Materia Medica, and can be described as a precious heritage in the treasure house of medicine in China.

Li Shizhen, whose name is Dongbi, in his later years, called himself a native of the lake, a famous medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty, and the "medical saint" Wan Mi Zhai, who was respected as the "medicine saint". Li Shizhen's academic thinking and research methods are very distinctive, and he has improved the ancient scientific methods and accumulated new experience in scientific research on the basis of his own practical experience under the new historical conditions. Li Shizhen has successfully used the methods of observation and experimentation, comparison and classification, analysis and synthesis, critical inheritance, and historical research.

Compendium of Materia Medica: It can be said to be the culmination of the academic work of traditional Chinese medicine. Prior to this, there had been no such systematic and comprehensive work on TCM medicine.

Tiangong Kaiwu: It records in detail the types, origins, planting and processing of various crops and handicraft raw materials, as well as handicraft production techniques, and provides a large number of accurate data, and is known as the encyclopedia of Chinese science and technology in the 17th century.

It can be said to be the culmination of Chinese medicine academics. Prior to this, there had been no such systematic and comprehensive work on TCM medicine. And after that, it didn't show up.

An important document of the world's medicine.

Instead of studying the historical position, it is better to study the practical significance

Isn't it a bit narcissistic to discuss the status of history now?

In the environment of modern Western medicine rampant and Chinese medicine decadence, how to play its role and promote the development of Chinese medicine is the right way!!

It doesn't seem to have a very high status, but there are more drugs collected, and the nature of a resource book. The four classic Chinese pharmacopoeias are "Shennong's Materia Medica", which has more reference value, which is Qing Zou Shu's "Benjing Shuzhen" and Zhou Yan's "Materia Medica".

The Compendium of Materia Medica is known as an encyclopedia of Chinese medicine and a bible of Chinese medicine.

Because the "Compendium of Materia Medica" is a collection of almost all the efficacy and usage of Chinese herbal medicine in China. The traditional Chinese medicine system provides a definite written basis. Distinguish the hanging pot of traditional Chinese medicine from the rivers and lakes.

The Compendium of Materia Medica is a famous pharmacological work in ancient China, written by Li Shizhong, a famous pharmacologist in the Ming Dynasty, and written in the middle of the 16th century. The Compendium of Materia Medica has played an important role in the development and inheritance of ancient Chinese pharmacology, and has also had a profound impact on the development of pharmacology in the world.

The author of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" is Li Shizhen, a medical scientist and pharmacologist in the Ming Dynasty. Li Shizhen was born in Qichun County, Hubei Province, and has loved medicine since childhood due to the family environment.

The Compendium of Materia Medica divides medicines into 16 parts, 60 categories, 52 volumes, and about 1.9 million words, including water, fire, earth, gold and stone, grass, grain, vegetables, fruits, and wood. The book contains 1,892 kinds of drugs and 11,096 prescriptions; More than 1,100 drug morphological drawings are attached. For each drug, the name is determined by "interpretation", and the origin, form, cultivation and collection methods are described by "collection explanation". Use "doubt" and "right and wrong" to test the authenticity of drug varieties and correct the errors in historical documents; Use "repair", "indication", and "invention" to illustrate the method, taste, and function of the fire.

Among them, "invention" is mainly Li Shizhen's new discoveries and experiences in drug observation, research and application, reflecting his contribution to pharmacology. Li Shizhen's drug classification method was the most advanced in the world at that time.

The main achievements and contributions of the Compendium of Materia Medica are:

It contains some folk medicines and exotic medicines, which greatly enriches the content of materia medica.

It comprehensively summarizes the theoretical content of medicinal properties before the Ming Dynasty, and preserves a large number of medical literature.

The main medicine part of all diseases is a model for the classification of drugs according to their efficacy and main disease syndromes.

The drug classification method is advanced, and the name of each drug is the outline, and the outline is clear.

The content of the drug record is detailed, highlighting the characteristics of TCM theory and method of syndrome differentiation and drug use.

Take the essence of the materia medica of the past dynasties and correct its fallacies.

It is the culmination of China's pharmaceutical achievements before the 16th century, and widely introduces multidisciplinary knowledge such as botany, zoology, mineralogy, metallurgy, etc., which has far exceeded the scope of materia medica, and is a model of large-scale backbone materia medica in China.

The Compendium of Materia Medica is a very important pharmacological work in ancient China, known as the "Oriental Pharmaceutical Classics". It was compiled by Li Shizhong, a famous pharmacist in the Ming Dynasty, and is divided into 16 volumes, which contains a large amount of drug information, covering various medicinal materials such as animals, plants, minerals, etc., which is of great significance for the research and application of traditional Chinese medicine. The compilation of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" lasted for decades, and Li Shizhong not only collected the pharmacological works of his predecessors, but also personally went to various places in the wax belt to investigate and collect medicinal materials, conduct field observations and experiments, and recorded and classified the properties, efficacy, and usage of the drugs in detail.

This masterpiece not only has a profound impact on the research and application of traditional Chinese medicine, but also provides an important basis and reference for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese medicine.

In short, the importance of the Compendium of Materia Medica lies in the fact that it systematically summarizes the theory and practice of ancient Chinese pharmacology, provides an important foundation and guidance for the research and application of traditional Chinese medicine, and is an important part of the pharmaceutical culture of Zhongtong Oak, and is also a precious heritage of traditional Chinese culture.

The author of "Compendium of Materia Medica" is Li Shizhen.

Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518, 1593), the name Dongbi, in his later years, called himself a native of Qizhou, Hubei Province (now Qizhou Town, Qichun County, Hubei Province), and a famous medical scientist in the Ming Dynasty.

Since the 44th year of Jiajing (1565), Li Shizhen has successively gone to Wudang Mountain, Lushan, Maoshan Mountain, Niushou Mountain, Huguang, Nanzhili, Henan, Beizhili and other places to collect drug specimens and prescriptions, and to learn from fishermen, woodcutters, farmers, coachmen, pharmacists, and snake catchers.

Referring to 925 kinds of books on medicine and other aspects in the past dynasties, "archaeological evidence of the present, exhaustive study of physics", recording tens of millions of words of notes, clarifying many difficult problems, after 27 cold and summer, three changes of draft, in the eighteenth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1590) completed the 1.92 million words of the masterpiece "Compendium of Materia Medica".

Anecdotal allusions

Some people say that there is a medicine in the north, called mandala flower, which will make people dance after eating, and in severe cases, it will also be anesthetic. In order to find mandala flowers, Li Shizhen left his hometown and came to the north.

Finally found a single stem straight up four or five feet high, leaves like eggplant leaves, flowers like morning glory, early blooming and night closing of the mandala flower, in order to master the performance of the mandala flower, personally try, and wrote down "cut sores and moxibustion fire, it is advisable to take this first, then do not feel bitter". It has been confirmed that it is impossible to detoxify soybeans alone, and if you add licorice, it has a good effect.

The above content reference: Encyclopedia - Li Shizhen.