Herbal Classic Plain Translation

Author: Li Shizhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: Special recommendation from renowned traditional Chinese medicine experts nationwide, an essential reading that generations of medical practitioners and readers have pursued, and a globally influential work of natural history! Compendium of Materia Medica embodies the highest achievements of ancient Chinese medicine and is celebrated as the "Fountainhead of Medicine" and the "Comprehensive Treatise on Inquiry." It serves as both a reference book for medical studies and a source for research in zoology, botany, mineralogy, physics, as well as astronomy, meteorology, and phenology. At the same time, it is a practical household guide, once praised by British biologist Charles Darwin as the "Encyclopedia of China."
Compendium of Materia Medica was written by Li Shizhen, a famous Ming Dynasty botanist, physician, and naturalist, and is hailed as the "Giant Pharmacopoeia of the East." It embodies the highest achievements of ancient Chinese medicine, serving as an inexhaustible treasure trove of Chinese medical knowledge and renowned as the "Fountainhead of Medicine" and the "Comprehensive Treatise on Inquiry." Its content spans an extremely broad range, including achievements in biology, chemistry, astronomy, geography, geology, mining, and even history. It can be said to be a globally influential work of natural history. Since its publication, it has stood alone at the pinnacle of ancient Chinese pharmacology, becoming the largest and most comprehensive work in the history of Chinese pharmacology. It was praised by British biologist Charles Darwin as the "Encyclopedia of China" and has been an essential reading that generations of medical practitioners and scholars have pursued.
To better showcase this representative of Chinese culture and enable it to be utilized more effectively by modern readers, we have specially invited experts from the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine to review and select the essence of the classic, presenting this Compendium of Materia Medica (Colloquial Exposition) for the general readership.
Compendium of Materia Medica. This book consists of sixteen sections and fifty-two volumes. It includes over 800 single herbs, each listed with its formal name as the main entry (gong), followed by alternative names as explanations (mu), to clarify their origins. Subsequently, annotations, clarifications of doubts, corrections of errors, four natures and five flavors, main uses, and supplementary prescriptions are arranged in order to explain the origin, shape, and properties of the herbs.