\tThe Bencao gangmu \u672c\u8349\u7eb2\u76ee "Guidelines and details of materia medica" is China's most important traditional book on pharmaceuticals. It is 52 juan"scrolls" long and was written by the famous Ming period \u660e (1368-1644) herbologist Li Shizhen (1518\uff0d1593), courtesy name Li Dongbi \u674e\u4e1c\u58c1, stylePinhu shanren \u6fd2\u6e56\u5c71\u4eba. He came from Qizhou \u8572\u5dde (modern Qichun \u8572\u6625, Hubei), and hailed from a family of physicians. His father Li Yanwen \u674e\u8a00\u95fb, also called Li Yuechi \u674e\u6708\u6c60, was a medical secretary in the Imperial Academy of Medicine (taiyi limu \u592a\u533b\u540f\u76ee) and had written the books Sizhen faming \u56db\u73cd\u53d1\u660e, Aiyezhuan \u827e\u53f6\u4f20 and Douzhen zhengzhi \u75d8\u75b9\u8bc1\u6cbb. Li Shizhen himself was an enganged student of his own father but did not have the ambition to achieve a career in the civil service. He nevertheless became a physician at the court of Zhu Yingxian \u6731\u82f1{\u706b+\u4f65}, the Prince of Chu \u695a, and later even administrative assistant in the Imperial Academy of Medicine (taiyi yuanpan \u592a\u533b\u9662\u5224).<\/p>\n
\tLi was a well-read person and had studied many kinds of books, from the obligatory Confucian Classics and the histories to the books of the masters and philophers, and, of course, specialized books on medicine and herbology. He therefore possessed an excellent overview of all statements on material medica in various types of literature. Yet Li Shizhen also gathered information from peasants, fishermen, travelers and craftsmen about drugs, their preparation and their effects, and was, as a physician, also experienced in the practical use of materia medica in clinical medicine. As a herb collector he was able to correct many errors and uncertainties in older books, for instance, the fact that the herb penglei \u84ec\u8646 was in fact five different types of rubus. Old writings included many wrong statements about pharmaceuticals and it was therefore necessary to correct these errors and to add new, useful information. It was further necessary to add drugs that had not been known in earlier times. Li Shizhen took this task very seriously, visited experienced doctors and collected all kinds of information he was able to obtain. He had also prepared pictures of all pharmaceuticals that were later included in his book.<\/p>\n
\tLi Shizhen evaluated more than 800 different sources, among these 276 medical books, and compiled his large book on material medica according to the pattern of the Song period \u5b8b (960-1279) pharmacopoeia Zhenglei bencao \u7c7b\u8bc1\u672c\u8349. The compilation process consumed almost three decades, and the manuscript was revised three times. The book was finished in 1578 and the publication process began immediately, but Li Shizhen died before its completion.<\/p>\n
\tThe book is divided into 16 large classes of pharmaceuticals, according to their nature, that are divided into 62 sub-classes. Herbs, for instance, are divided into mountain herbs (shancao \u5c71\u8349), fragrant herbs (fangcao \u82b3\u8349), marshland herbs (xicao\u96b0\u8349), creeping herbs (mancao \u8513\u8349), poisonous herbs (ducao \u6bd2\u8349), aquatic herbs (shuicao \u6c34\u8349), stone herbs (shicao \u77f3\u8349), moss (taicao \u82d4\u7c7b) and miscellaneous herbs (zacao \u6742\u8349). Inside the sub-classes the materia medica are arranged according from the smaller to the larger, the less valuable to the expensive drugs, and the simple to the complex.<\/p>\n
\tThe Bencao gangmu describes 1,892 different pharmaceutical objects, which is 374 more than in earlier pharmacopoeias. These additional herbs and objects mainly originate in regions that were formerly not part of the Chinese empire, especially the northwest and the southwest. Some drugs also come from abroad, like grapes (putao \u8461\u8404), carrots (hu luobo \u80e1\u841d\u535c), pumpkins (nangua \u5357\u74dc), yam (ganshu \u7518\u85af), Panax pseudo-ginseng (sanxi \u4e09\u4e03), yasmin (moli \u8309\u8389), tulips (yujinxiang \u90c1\u91d1\u9999) or camphor (zhangnao \u6a1f\u8111). The Zhenglei bencao provided a number of 1,479 drugs, and 39 drugs were included in sources from the Jin empire \u91d1 (1115-1234) and the Yuan period \u5143 (1279-1368). The book is enriched with 1,109 illustrations of minerals, plants and other pharmaceutical objects. These illustrations are in most editions of the Bencao gangmu positioned at the beginning of the book. The illustrations were compiled by Li Shizhen's son Li Jianzhong \u674e\u5efa\u4e2d and painted by Li Jianyuan \u674e\u5efa\u5143 and Li Jianmu \u674e\u5efa\u6728. The quality of the paintings it not very superior, but they suffice to identify the plants.<\/p>\n
\tThe Bencao gangmu includes 11,096 recipes and treatment methods for various diseases. The large amount of drugs covered in the Bencao gangmu is owed to the principle of Chen Cangqi's \u9648\u85cf\u5668 Bencao shiyi \u672c\u8349\u62fe\u9057 "Collected addenda to the pharmacopoeias" not to leave out any single information, but also to the Neo-Confucian attempt at investigating all things (ge wu \u683c\u7269), like the Song and Yuan period physicians Zhang Yuansu \u5f20\u5143\u7d20 and Li Dongyuan \u674e\u4e1c\u57a3 had already done.<\/p>\n
\t1,094 drugs are made of plants, which is more than half of all materia medica dealt with in the Bencao gangmu, and shows that "roots and herbs" (bencao \u672c\u8349) were in fact the most important tools of an apothecary in ancient China. 276 drugs are made of minerals, and 444 out of parts of animals.
\tThe pharmaceuticals are arranged according to their physical nature, beginning with anorganic substances, namely water (shui \u6c34), fire (huo \u706b), earth (tu \u571f) and metals and minerals (jin shi \u91d1\u77f3), which reflect four of the elements of the Five Processes \u4e94\u884c. The fifth element, wood (mu \u6728), is represented in the next part, divided into herbal plants (cao \u8349), grains (gu \u8c37), vegetables (cai \u83dc), fruits (guo \u679c), and trees (mu \u6728). This section is followed by six groups of moving creatures, namely worms, amphibia and reptiles (chong \u866b), fishes (lin \u9cde), animals with a shell, including turles (jie \u4ecb), birds (qin \u79bd), beasts (shou \u517d), and man (ren \u4eba). Another anorganic section is that of textiles and tools (fuqi \u670d\u5668).<\/p>\n
\tThe first two juan include an introduction (xuli \u5e8f\u4f8b) in which the seven basic methods (qi fang \u4e03\u65b9) are described, the ten preparation methods (shi ji \u5341\u5242), the concepts of energy (qi \u6c14), taste (wei \u5473), Yin and Yang \u9634\u9633, rising and falling (shengjiang \u5347\u964d), floating and submerging (fuchen \u6d6e\u6c89), the outwards phenomena (biaoben \u6807\u672c) of the inner zang \u810f andfu \u8151 organs, as well as the combination of drugs that mutually require each other, catalyse, avoid, "hate", "contradict" or even "kill" each other. The basic methods of application are described and what restrictions are to be observed. The introduction also explicates the functional quality of drugs that can be divided into "lords" (jun \u541b), "ministers" (chen \u81e3), and "assistants and runners" (zuo li \u4f50\u4f7f). The introduction also includes an overview over pharmarcopoeias of earlier times and mentions 41 pharmaceutical books.<\/p>\n
\tJuan 3 and 4 enumerate the most important standard pharmaceuticals that heal the 177 most oftenly occurring diseases and are easily to applicate. The main part of the book contains the detailed description of a huge number of pharmaceutical drugs. The description is systematically divided into eight parts, beginning with an analysis of the different names of drugs (shiming \u91ca\u540d), collected explanations (jijie \u96c6\u89e3) about the places of origin, the genral appearance and the colleting methods of the drug, discussions of doubts (bianyi \u8fa8\u7591) and corrections of errors occurring in older texts (zhengwu \u6b63\u8bef), preparation methods (xiuzhi \u4fee\u6cbb), energy and taste (qiwei \u6c14\u5473), healing effects (zhuzhi \u4e3b\u6cbb), and "enlightenments" (faming\u53d1\u660e). All these parts quote extensively from older sources and are enriched by Li Shizheng's own remarks. An appendix chapter for each drug is commented regarding concrete treatment methods (fufang \u9644\u65b9).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\tLi Shizhen analysed many statements of older texts and found out many errors that he was able to rectify, like the fact thatPolygonatum odoratum (weirui \u8473\u8564) and Clematis apiifolia (nüwei \u5973\u840e) are two different plants, or that nanxing \u5357\u661f andhuzhang \u864e\u638c are the same drug, namely Pinellia temata. He also shifted ginger (jiangsheng \u751f\u59dc) and Chinese yam (shuyu \u85af\u84e3) from the herbs chapter to the chapter on vegetables, and betel (binlang \u69df\u6994) and longans (longyan \u9f99\u773c) from the trees chapter to the fruits chapter. He discerned the proper orchids (lanhua \u5170\u82b1) and Eupatorium fortunei (lancao \u5170\u8349), likewiseLilium lancifolium (juandan \u5377\u4e39) and proper lilies (baihe \u767e\u5408), Polygonatum sibiricum (huangjing \u9ec4\u7cbe) and Gelsemium elegans (gouwu \u94a9\u543b), Calystegia sepium (xuanhua \u65cb\u82b1) and Alpinia japonica (shanjiang \u5c71\u59dc). Li Shizhen also renounced some older statements that were wrong in a pharmacological way. Quicksilver (shuiyin \u6c34\u94f6), for instance, was thought to be non-toxic and was therefore consumed in great doses because people thought its consumption would lead to immortality. Ancient Daoist books like the Baopuzi \u62b1\u6734\u5b50 had an influence on medical treatises like the Mingyi bielu \u540d\u533b\u522b\u5f55 and theBencao shiyi, so that statements about the allegedly healthy application of gold (huangjin \u9ec4\u91d1), realgar (As4S4, xionghuang\u96c4\u9ec4), orpiment (As4S6, cihuang \u96cc\u9ec4) or cinnabar (HgS, dansha \u4e39\u7802) were recorded in pharmaceutical books. He also criticized superstitious beliefs like the theory of fish that grow out of grass seeds, or Cynomorium songaricum (suoyang \u9501\u9633) growing in the earth out of horse sperm. On the other side, Li Shizhen clinged to some of these beliefs, like the theory that flies emerge out of rubbish or the superstitious belief that if a pregant woman does not eat meat, her baby will be born without lips.<\/p>\n
\tThe Bencao gangmu has a scientific value that can not be underestimated. It is therefore the most important pharmaceutical book in traditional China. It is a thorough and systematic compendium on Chinese parmacology until the mid-16th century. The book is arranged as guidelines (gang \u7eb2) surrounding "meshes" (mu \u76ee), the drug and its direct description constituting the guidelines, and its specifics corresponding to the "meshes". Other explanations see the 16 basic categories as "guidelines" and the subcategories of drugs as "meshes". Similarly, "genera" (like liang \u7cb1 "millet") can be seen as guidelines, while "species" (like chiliang \u8d64\u7cb1 "red sorghum" and huangliang \u9ec4\u7cb1 "yellow sorghum") are the "meshes". The description of individual drugs includes the origin of the materia, the place where it grows, lives or can be found, its appearance and collection method, as well as the preparation method of the required drug. Li Shizhen also explains experiences with the drug made by earlier physicians, and his own experiments. The entry of each drug is enriched by an appendix on treatment (fufang \u9644\u65b9), in which Li Shizhen explains 8,161 different recipes and treatment methods.<\/p>\n
\tLi Shizheng's text is so comprehensive that the Bencao gangmu is not only a pharmaceutical book but can be used for informations on botany, zoology, chemistry and mineralogy. In the field of biology, for instance, Li Shizhen describes many details on lotus. He says that wild lotus has a red flowers, many stalks, but few roots, while the cultivated white lotus has precious roots. The species or kind of hehuan \u5408\u6b22 has great heads, yeshuhua \u91ce\u8212\u8377 opens at day and rolls in the petals at night, while shuilian \u7761\u83b2 submerges during the night. The kind of jinlian \u91d1\u83b2 has golden flowers, that of bilian \u78a7\u83b2 green flowers, and xiulian \u7ee3\u83b2 flowers look like embroideries. In the field of geology or mineralogy he lists the places where petrol (shiyou \u77f3\u6cb9) is to be found in China, and explains that the local population stores the oil in jars and uses it as a fuel for lamps. The water lever in course terracotta jars can say a lot about the moisture of the air, as he explains, and can eventually predict rainfall. Li Shizhen gives an example to test the identity of chalcantithe (shidan \u77f3\u80c6, today called danfan \u80c6\u77fe). He also believed that the brain was the organ of the "primordial spirit" (yuanshen zhi fu \u5143\u795e\u4e4b\u5e9c), and not, as traditionally believed, the heart.<\/p>\n
\tExcept the Bencao gangmu Li Shizhen has also written a number of other medical books, like Pinhu maixue \u6fd2\u6e56\u8109\u5b66 (shortly called Maixue \u8109\u5b66), Qijing bamai kao \u5947\u7ecf\u516b\u8109\u8003, Maijue kaozheng \u8109\u8bc0\u8003\u8bc1, Wuzang tulun \u4e94\u810f\u56fe\u8bba, Sanjiao kenan \u4e09\u7126\u5ba2\u96be,Mingmen kao \u547d\u95e8\u8003, Shiwu bencao \u98df\u7269\u672c\u8349, Pinhu yi'an \u6fd2\u6e56\u533b\u6848 and Jijianfang \u96c6\u7b80\u65b9. A biography of Li Shizhen can be found in the official dynastic history Mingshi \u660e\u53f2 (in the chapter of magicians, Fangjizhuan \u65b9\u4f0e\u4f20), and in Gu Jingxing's \u987e\u666f\u661f collected writings Baimaotang ji \u767d\u8305\u5802\u96c6.<\/p>\n
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