The Bencao gangmu, known in English as the Compendium of Materia Medica or Great Pharmacopoeia,[1] is an encyclopedic gathering of medicine, natural history, and Chinese herbology compiled and edited by Li Shizhen and published in the late 16th century, during the Ming dynasty. Its first draft was completed in 1578 and printed in Nanjing in 1596. The Compendium lists the materia medica of traditional Chinese medicine known at the time, including plants, animals, and minerals that were believed to have medicinal properties.
Li compiled his entries not only from hundreds of earlier works in the bencao medical tradition, but from literary and historical texts. He reasoned that a poem might have better value than a medical work and that a tale of the strange could illustrate a drug's effects.[2] The Ming dynasty emperors did not pay too much attention to his work, and it was ignored.[3]
Li's work contained errors and mistakes due to his limited scientific knowledge at the time. For example, Li claimed that all otters were male[4] and that quicksilver (mercury) was not toxic.[5][6]
^History of Medicine: China Archived 2021-10-04 at the Wayback Machine / Encyclopædia Britannica // "There were famous herbals from ancient times, but all these, to the number of about 1,000, were embodied by Li Shijen in the compilation of Bencao gangmu (the “Great Pharmacopoeia”) in the 16th century CE."
^Nappi (2009), p. 139.
^Nappi (2009b), pp. 462, 465.
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Compendium of Materia Medica 《本草纲目》_Learn Chinese Hujiang". cn.hujiang.com. Retrieved 2023-06-10.
^Wu, Mingren (2022-04-13), "The Ben Cao Gang Mu" (www [dot] ancient-origins [dot] net/artifacts-ancient-writings/ben-cao-gang-mu-001589), Ancient Origins Reconstructing the Story of Humanity's Past
The Bencaogangmu, known in English as the Compendium of Materia Medica or Great Pharmacopoeia, is an encyclopedic gathering of medicine, natural history...
The concoction is detailed in Chinese medical sources, including the BencaoGangmu of the 16th century. Relying on a second-hand account, the text reports...
Li Shizhen's (1597) Bencaogangmu, the classic materia medica of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), included 35 human drugs, including organs, bodily...
"Prescriptions for Common Benefit"), which is frequently quoted in the Bencaogangmu. Zhu Xiao studied botany when he lived in Kaifeng, which is located...
with the same dress and facial expression. (18) Li Shizhen's (1578) BencaoGangmu classic pharmacopeia mentions both burning-mirrors and dew-mirrors....
collated in the Taiping Yulan encyclopedia (10th century ) and the Bencaogangmu (16th century) compendium of materia medica. It is called fūri by Japanese...
to the book Wupu Bencao (around 239). Li Shizhen wrote the following in his BencaoGangmu (1596): Come to think about it, Wupu Bencao says "綸布 (gūanbù)...
Ye Bao (艾叶豹 ~ 艾葉豹, "common mugwort leaves leopards") in Li Shizhen's BencaoGangmu as well as He Ye Bao (荷叶豹 ~ 荷葉豹). Duyvendak, J.J.L. (1939), "The True...
Chapter 11. The classic Chinese pharmacopoeia, Li Shizhen's (1597) BencaoGangmu (獸之四 "Animals No. 4" chapter) lists medical uses for five Yu 寓 "monkeys"...
century) preserved in the well-known Ming Period materia medica, the BencaoGangmu. A similar description can be found the Shui Jing Zhu (Commentary on...
original on 11 December 2021, retrieved 25 August 2019 Li Shizhen, BencaoGangmu, Section of Insect. 李时珍, 本草纲目, 虫部 "Brood VII: The Onondaga Brood". Periodical...
calls Li Shizhen "the 'uncrowned king' of Chinese naturalists", and his Bencaogangmu "undoubtedly the greatest scientific achievement of the Ming".[This...
body parts, and various preparations were elaborated in Li Shizhen's BencaoGangmu (本草綱目). Snake bile was offered to Yang Jisheng as treatment for the...
Aristolochia is known to contain the lethal toxin aristolochic acid. The BencaoGangmu, compiled by Li Shi-Zhen in the latter part of the sixteenth century...
their ill parents or parents-in-law. Later medical manuals like the BencaoGangmu advised against the use of human body parts, though still acknowledging...
in order to drive away the fang-liang spectres. Li Shizhen's (1578) BencaoGangmu ("Compendium of Materia Medica") quotes this under the Wangliang entry...
historical discussion regarding the origin of long gu recorded in the BencaoGangmu, which compiles a wide variety of Chinese medical sources. The Mingyi...
book Xinxiu Bencao by Su Jing (aka Su Gong, died 674), in the 1037 CE rime dictionary Jiyun, or the Ming dynasty materia medica, BencaoGangmu, that the...
"Dragon"), a constellation near the north celestial pole. The (1578 CE) BencaoGangmu pharmacopeia's entry for long "dragon" describes "a pearl under its...
in order to grow more powerful. Mirrors: Li Shizhen's medical book BencaoGangmu mentions, "A mirror is the essence of liquid metal. It is dark on the...
writing on the ningyo drew much from Chinese sources, for example, the BencaoGangmu (1596), the compendium of Chinese materia medica, which was introduced...
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