Bencao Gangmu
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2008-06-15T13:39:03Z
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[[Image:Compendium of Materia Medica.gif|thumb|right|300px|The Compendium of Materia Medica is a pharmaceutical text written by Li Shizhen (1518-1593 AD) during the Ming Dynasty of China. This edition was published in 1593.]]
'''''Bencao Gangmu''''' ({{zh-tspw|t=本草綱目|s=本草纲目|p=''Běncǎo Gāngmù''|w=''Pen-ts'ao Kang-mu''}}), also known as '''''Compendium of Materia Medica''''', is [[Chinese materia medica]] work written by [[Li Shizhen]] in [[Ming Dynasty]]. It is a work epitomizing [[materia medica]] (本草) in Ming Dynasty. The ''Bencao Gangmu'' is regarded as the most complete and comprehensive medical book ever written in the history of [[traditional Chinese medicine]]. It lists all the plants, animals, minerals, and other objects that were believed to have [[medicinal properties]].
==Title==
The ''Bencao Gangmu'' title, which Unschuld (1986:145) translates as "Materia Medica, Arranged according to Drug Descriptions and Technical Aspects," uses two [[Chinese language|Chinese]] [[compound (linguistics)|compounds]]. ''Bencao'' ("roots and herbs; based on herbs, pharmacopeia, materia medica") combines ''ben'' ([[Wikt:本|本]] "root; origin; basis") and ''cao'' ([[Wikt:草|草]] "grass; plant; herb"). ''Gangmu'' ("detailed outline; table of contents") combines ''gang'' ([[Wikt:綱|綱]] "main rope, hawser; main threads, essential principles") and ''mu'' ([[Wikt:目|目]] "eye; look; category, division").
==History==
[[Li Shizhen]] completed the first draft of the text in [[1578]], after conducting readings of 800 other medical reference books and carrying out 30 years of field study. For this and many other achievements Li Shizhen is being compared to the [[Shennong]], a mythological God in [[Chinese myth]] who taught them about agriculture and [[herb]]al [[medicine]].
==Contents==
The ''Compendium of Materia Medica'' has 53 volumes in total:
1. At the very beginning is the table of contents, containing a list of entries included and 1,160 hand drawn diagrams to serve as illustration.
2. Volume 1 to 4 — an 'index' (序例) and a comprehensive list of herbs that would treat the most common sickness (百病主治藥).
3. Volume 5 to 53 — the main content of the text, containing 1,892 distinct herbs, of which 374 was added by Li himself. There are some 11,096 side [[Medical prescription|prescriptions]] to treat common illness (8,160 of which is compiled or collected by Li).
The text is written in almost 2 million [[Chinese characters]], classified into 16 divisions and 60 orders. For every herb there are entries on names, detailed description of appearance and odor, nature, medical function, effects and side recipes etc.
==Value==
With the publication of the ''Compendium of Materia Medica'', not only did it improve the classification of how traditional medicine was compiled and formatted, but it was also a great medium in improving the credibility and scientific values of biology classification of both plants and animals.
The compendium corrected many mistakes and false understandings of the nature of herbs and illness. Li also included many new herbs, added his own discovery in certain drugs, their effectiveness and function, as well as more detailed description according to experiments. It also has notes and records on general medical data and medical history.
''Compendium of Materia Medica'' is also more than a pharmaceutical text, for it contains information so vast that it covered topics in [[biology]], [[chemistry]], [[geography]], [[mineralogy]], [[geology]], [[history]], and even [[mining]] and [[astronomy]], which would seem to have little to do with herbal medicine. It has been translated into more than 20 languages and spread all over the world. Even now it is still in print and used as a reference book.
==Controversy ==
''Compendium of Materia Medica'' also contains information that have since been proven to be false due to scientific and technical limitations at the time. For example, it claimed that [[lead]] is not [[toxic]].
==References==
*Luo Xiwen, tr. ''Bencao Gangmu: Compendium of Materia Medica''. 6 vols. Foreign Languages Press. 2003. ISBN 7-119-03260-7. ([http://www.china.org.cn/english/2006/Sep/180652.htm Review], Edward B. Jelks)
*Unschuld, Paul U. ''Medicine in China: A History of Pharmaceutics''. University of California Press. 1986. ISBN 0-520-05025-8
==See also==
*[[Pharmacognosy]]
*[[Chinese herbology]]
*''[[Yaoxing Lun]]''
*[[Traditional Chinese medicine]]
*[[Li Shizhen]]
*[[Mellified Man]]
==External links==
*[http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Science/bencaogangmu.html ''Bencao gangmu'' 本草綱目], ChinaKnowledge article
*[http://www.chinapage.org/medicine/materiamedica/materia2.html ''Bencao Gangmu Materia Medica''], ChinaPage article
*[http://www.asianresearch.org/articles/1474.html Li Shizhen: Icon of Chinese medicine], Association for Asian Research article
*[http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/chinese/images/017c.jpg ''Pen ts'ao kang mu'' (The Great Herbal)], page from 1672 edition, National Library of Medicine
[[Category:Chinese encyclopedias]]
[[Category:History of ancient medicine]]
[[Category:Medical manuals]]
[[Category:Pharmacology]]
[[Category:Traditional Chinese medicine]]
[[de:Ben cao gang mu]]
[[zh-classical:本草綱目]]
[[ko:본초강목]]
[[ja:本草綱目]]
[[zh:本草纲目]]