Compendium of Materia Medica is a famous pharmaceutical work compiled by Li Shizhong, a famous pharmacist in Ming Dynasty. It is divided into 16 volumes, and contains a large number of medicines, including plants, minerals, animals, etc., which occupies an important position in the development history of medicine and traditional Chinese medicine in China.
Compendium of Materia Medica focuses on herbs, and each herb is described in detail, including its medicinal properties, efficacy and usage. It profoundly reveals many important concepts and viewpoints in the theory of traditional Chinese medicine, which is helpful for the research and popularization of traditional Chinese medicine.
At the same time, Li Lizhong not only collected the ancient medical knowledge of China in Compendium of Materia Medica, but also collected the contents of many Chinese and foreign medical works, making this work an important medical encyclopedia that condensed the ancient Chinese and foreign medical experience.
As an important part of China culture, many books on materia medica have appeared in the development of traditional Chinese medicine. The appearance of Compendium of Materia Medica has epoch-making significance in the history of pharmacy, and it has become an important cultural heritage of traditional Chinese medicine and has influenced it to this day.
Background of Compendium of Materia Medica
Compendium of Materia Medica was compiled in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. Social unrest and frequent wars led to a large reduction in drug production and a serious crop failure of medicinal materials. In order to solve the shortage of Chinese herbal medicine, Li Shizhong began to collect and sort out all kinds of drug knowledge, and finally achieved the classic work Compendium of Materia Medica.