Compendium of Materia Medica

For each of us, health is the most precious wealth, so people have been exploring ways to keep fit since ancient times. China is one of the earliest birthplaces of human medical culture. Traditional Chinese medicine, which is very different from Western medicine, is a huge system and has become a precious cultural heritage of China. Traditional Chinese medicine has extensive and profound contents and a long history. As an important part of Chinese culture, the wise ancestors have left us countless classic works. In this vast river of medical culture, the pharmaceutical book "Ben Dan Gang Mu" can be regarded as a classic. The launch of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" by "Illustrations of the World·Chinese Studies Series" is naturally based on the original intention of further promoting the Chinese culture. More importantly, it is also a tribute to the traditional Chinese medical culture by all the planners and editors of the "Chinese Studies Series". "Compendium of Materia Medica" was compiled by medical scientist Li Shizhen after decades of research based on inheriting and summarizing previous achievements in materia medica. It has always enjoyed the reputation of "the great classic of oriental medicine". It is called a pharmaceutical work, and its content actually covers many fields such as medicine, pharmacy, chemistry, biology, geology, geography, history, etc. It can be said to be a natural history work with global influence, and it is still an inexhaustible source of research on Chinese medicine and culture. The "Compendium of Materia Medica" launched this time is based on the principle of taking the essence of the ancients and making it practical for modern people. It extracts the best parts and compiles them together. In the original work, Li Shizhen divided the contents of the book into "grain part", "vegetable part", "fruit part", "wood part", etc. This classification method was the first in the world at that time, and this style was also followed when compiling this book. This book contains more than 200 kinds of Chinese medicinal materials, each of which not only has the quintessential vernacular translation of the original works such as "Shiming" and "Jijie", but also adds new content such as "new scientific concepts" that are suitable for modern people to understand and accept, and prepares practical application methods of the medicinal materials. Each medicinal material is equipped with exquisite illustrations, which is considerate and thoughtful. I only hope that it can be helpful and beneficial to Chinese studies enthusiasts in their research on traditional Chinese medicine knowledge, which is all the hope of publishing this book.