Complete Collection of Chinese Folk Remedies (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Wang Guofang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Bencao Gangmu is a precious scientific legacy in the ancient medical treasury of China, written by the outstanding Chinese physician Li Shizhen with his life's dedication. With profound scholarship and rich content, it has won acclaim and appreciation from the medical community and other academic circles both domestically and internationally, earning the title of "Ancient Chinese Encyclopaedia." It has played a significant role in treating diseases and promoting human health. However, various versions of Bencao Gangmu that have been passed down have suffered from annotations that are either obscurely written, riddled with errors, overly complex and lengthy in structure, or unclear in organization, among other reasons. These issues have severely undermined the authority of Bencao Gangmu, making different versions of the work lack practicality and hinder its better dissemination, thereby limiting its greater contribution to people's health. This is somewhat of an imperfection, adding a touch of regret. The newly compiled Comprehensive Bencao Gangmu takes the most complete Jinling edition among various versions as its blueprint, strictly selecting the most common and practical herbs for introduction, explaining them from a practical perspective, with the aim of gaining popularity among the general public and serving as a condensed of essential knowledge for daily life. Compared to other Bencao versions, this edition has the following three features:
1. In terms of language, it avoids using obscure classical Chinese and translates it into easy-to-understand modern language, while discarding some obscure and overly elaborate references, making the language more concise and accessible.
2. In terms of content, it focuses on selecting materials that are common in daily life,, and highly practical, such as grains, fruits, vegetables, poultry and meat, and common medicinal herbs, providing detailed annotations on their properties, medical value, and practical recipes.
3. In terms of format, it follows the original order of Bencao Gangmu, ensuring clarity and ease of reference.
The purpose of compiling and organizing this book is not only to make it a reference for medical professionals but also to enable it to serve as a household manual for self-care and self-medication in people's daily lives. Although we hold such aspirations, due to our limited capabilities, there may inevitably be some shortcomings and errors. We sincerely hope readers will kindly point them out.