Shen Nong's Herbal Classic

"Shen Nong's Materia Medica", referred to as "Ben Jing", is the earliest extant traditional Chinese medicine monograph. It was written by Shennong and was written around the Qin and Han Dynasties. There are 365 kinds of medicines recorded in the book, which are divided into three categories: high-grade, medium-grade and low-grade. The original book has long been lost. Tao Hongjing of the Southern Dynasties wrote annotations for the Shennong's Materia Medica, supplemented the Famous Doctors' Notes, and compiled the "Compendium of Materia Medica" in seven volumes, increasing the number of medicines to more than 730. Sun Xingyan of the Qing Dynasty revised and edited the "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" and made it the current version. "Shen Nong's Materia Medica" is an important ancient pharmacological document existing in China. This book divides medicines into three grades: those considered to be non-toxic are called top grade "Jun", those with little toxicity are called "middle grade" "Chen", and those with severe toxicity are called "low grade" "adjuvant".