Li Shizhen

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Li Shizhen (李時珍; Hanyu Pinyin: Lǐ Shízhēn; Wade-Giles: Li Shih-Chen) (1518 - 1593 CE, Ming Dynasty), was one of the greatest physicians and pharmacologists in Chinese history. His major contribution to medicine was his forty-year work, which is found in his epic book the Ben Cao Gang Mu (本草綱目), Compendium of Materia Medica. He is also considered to be the greatest naturalist of China, and was very interested in the proper classification of the herb components.

The book has details about more than 1,800 drugs(Chinese Medicine), including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions. It also describe the type, form, flavor, nature and application in disease treatments of 1,094 herbs. His Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages, and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine. It was also treatise on botany, zoology, minerology and metallurgy. The book was reprinted frequently and five of the original edition still exist. Original text from [Li Shizhen], licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Li Shizhen's Life

In addition to the Ben Cao Gang Mu, Li wrote eleven other books, Dharmananda, Subhuti. "Li Shizhen: Scholar Worthy of Emulation." Institute for Traditional Medicine. Institute for Traditional Medicine. 25 Apr. 2006 . including "Binhu Maixue" --A Study of the Pulse-- and "Qijing Bamai" Kao -- An Examination of the Eight Extra Meridians."The Herbal Tradition." PlanetHerbs.Com. 2005. 24 Apr. 2006 . He lived during the Ming Dynasty and was influenced by the Neo-Confucian beliefs of the time. He was born in what is today Hubei Province in 1518 AD and died 75 years later, in 1593.

Li's grandfather had been a doctor who traveled the countryside and was considered relatively low on the social scale of the time. His father was a traditional physician and scholar who had written several influential books. He tried to move up in society and encouraged his son to seek a government position. Li took the national Civil Service Exam three times, but after failing each one, he turned to medicine. At 23, his father took him on as an apprentice. When he was 27, and a practicing physician, he cured the son of a Chu prince and was invited to be an official there. A few years after, he got a government position as assistant president at the Imperial Medical Institute in Beijing. However, even though he had climbed up the social ladder, as his father had originally wanted, he left a year later to return to being a doctor.

In his government position, Li was able to read many rare medical books; he also saw the disorder, mistakes, and conflicting information that were serious problems in most medical publications of the time and soon began the Ben Cao Gang Mu to compile correct information with a logical system of organization. e based it a little bit on another book which had been written several hundred years earlier, Jingshi Zhenglei Beiji Bencao – Classified Materia Media for Emergencies – which, unlike many other books, had formulas and recipes for most of it entries. In the writing of the Ben Cao Gang Mu, he traveled extensively, gaining first-hand experience with many herbs and local remedies and consulted over 800 books – nearly every medical book in print at the time.

Altogether, the writing of the Ben Cao Gang Mu took 27 years, which included three revisions. Ironically, writing the book allegedly took a considerable toll on his health. It was rumored that he stayed indoors for ten consecutive years during the writing of the Ben Cao Gang Mu. Tan, S Y. "Medicine in Stamps -- Li Shih-Chen (1518-1593) -- Herbalist of Renown." Singapore Medical Association. 2003. University of Hawaii. 24 Apr. 2006 . After he had completed it, a friend “reported that Li was emaciated.”

Li died before the book was officially published, and the current emperor paid it little regard. However, it remained one of the most important materia medica of traditional China.

The Ben Cao Gang Mu

The Ben Cao Gang Mu was massive. Li's bibliography included nearly 900 books. Because of its size, it was not easy to use, though it was organized much more clearly than others that had come before, which had classified herbs only according to strength. He broke them down to animal, mineral, and plant and divided those categories by their source. Dr. S. Y. Tan says: “his plants were classified according to the habitat, such as aquatic or rock origins, or by special characteristics, e.g. all sweet-smelling plants were grouped together.” His system of organization is similar to that of Carl Linnaeus, who wrote in the 18th century.

Li had exemplary recording techniques. Seeking to fix the errors of previous works, the medicinal plants and substances in the Ben Cao Gang Mu were clearly organized and categorized. With every entry, he included:

• “Information concerning a previously false classification;
• Information on secondary names, including the sources of the names;
• Collected explanations, commentaries and quotes in chronological order, including origin of the material, appearance, time of collection, medicinally useful parts, similarities with other medicinal materials;
• Information concerning the preparation of the material;
• Explanation of doubtful points;
• Correction of mistakes;
• Taste and nature;
• Enumeration of main indications;
• Explanation of the effects; and
• Enumeration of prescriptions in which the material is used, including form and dosage of the prescriptions.”