Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 3, 1518 Qizhou Town, Qichun County, Hubei |
| Died | 1593 (aged 74–75) |
| Other names | Dongbi (東璧) |
| Occupation(s) | Acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, writer |
| Father | Li Yanwen |
| Li Shizhen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 李時珍 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李时珍 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518 – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu; Chinese: 本草綱目). He developed several methods for classifying herb components and medications for treating diseases.
The Compendium is a pharmacology text with 1,892 entries, with details about more than 1,800 traditional Chinese medicines, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions. It also described the type, form, flavor, nature and application in disease treatments of 1,094 herbs. The book has been translated into several languages. The treatise included various related subjects such as botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy. Five original editions still exist.