How was Compendium of Materia Medica compiled?

Grand Ceremony of Oriental Pharmacy-Compendium of Materia Medica

Compendium of Materia Medica is the crystallization of more than 30 years' painstaking efforts of Li Shizhen, a medical scientist in Ming Dynasty. The book * * *1.9000 words, recorded drugs 1.892 kinds, divided into 60 categories. Among them, Li Shizhen added 374 new drugs. There are more than 1 100 drawings and more than 1 1000 prescriptions. It is a summary of China's pharmacology for thousands of years. This Pharmacopoeia, no matter from its strict scientific classification, or from the number of drugs it contains and the fluent and vivid writing, far exceeds any ancient herbal works.

In this book, Li Shizhen pointed out the real functions of many drugs, such as Changshan can cure malaria and Yanhusuo can relieve pain. He also cited examples of poisoning in daily life, such as using tin as a container, because toxins can be dissolved in wine, and over time, people who drink alcohol will be chronically poisoned. When he encountered difficulties in writing, he went to the field to observe. As seen in old herbs, pangolins devour ants to trap them through scales. He felt strange and thought seeing was believing. He got a live pangolin, carefully observed its life rules and found that it ate ants with its tongue. He dissected the stomach pouch of pangolin and found that there were as many as one liter of ants in it, so he wrote this record.

In this way, Li Shizhen painstakingly and meticulously wrote his masterpiece Compendium of Materia Medica. In his book, he criticized that mercury is "nontoxic", "immortal" and "immortal" for a long time. At that time, all the emperors and ministers believed in Taoist mercury alchemy, so the big booksellers were afraid to publish this book until his death in 1596. Immediately after publication, it caused great repercussions. People spread it around, reprinted it and became essential books for doctors. Compendium of Materia Medica has been translated into Japanese, German, English, French and Russian since the 7th century. People's Republic of China (PRC) Pharmacopoeia published in 1953 contains 53 1 kinds of modern drugs and preparations; There are 100 kinds of drugs and preparations in Compendium of Materia Medica.

Li Shizhen's great academic achievements are also recognized by people all over the world as one of the scientists who have made the greatest contribution to mankind. Compendium of Materia Medica is known as "the masterpiece of oriental pharmacy".