The Compendium of Materia Medica is the culmination of more than 30 years of work by Li Shizhen, a medical doctor of the Ming Dynasty. The whole book *** has more than 1.9 million words, recorded 1892 kinds of drugs, divided into 60 categories. Among them, 374 kinds of drugs are newly added by Li Shizhen. There are more than 1100 drawings with more than 11,000 prescriptions. It is a summary of the pharmacology of the motherland for thousands of years. This pharmacopoeia, whether from its strict scientific classification, or from the number of drugs it contains and the smooth and vivid writing, are far more than any of the ancient works of materia medica.
In this book, Li Shizhen pointed out the real utility of many drugs, such as Changshan can cure malaria, Yanhuosuo can relieve pain. He also cited examples of poisoning in daily life, such as the use of tin as a wine vessel, because there are toxins that can be dissolved in the wine, and over time, will cause chronic poisoning of people who drink wine. He also went to the field for observation when he encountered difficulties in writing. For example, he saw the old materia medica which said that the pangolin beetle devours ants by trapping them through its scaly armor. He found it strange and thought it was better to see than to hear. He got a live pangolin and after carefully observing its life pattern, he found that it ate ants with its tongue. He also dissected the stomach capsule of the pangolin and found that there were as many as one liter of ants inside, so he wrote this account.
Li Shizhen wrote his magnum opus "Compendium of Materia Medica" with such seriousness and diligence and meticulousness. Because he criticized the book mercury "non-toxic", long service "immortal" "long life" and so on, when the emperor and ministers believe that the Taoists mercury alchemy, so this work of the big booksellers are Dare not publish, until after his death in 1596 AD to meet with readers. After the publication of this work, it immediately caused a great reaction, and people spread it everywhere, and it was reproduced, and became a necessary book for doctors. From the 17th century, the Materia Medica was successively translated into Japanese, German, English, French, Russian and other five countries. 1953 published the Chinese People's *** and the National Pharmacopoeia, *** collection of 531 kinds of modern medicines and preparations; which take the Materia Medica in the drugs and preparations there are more than 100 kinds.
The Compendium of Materia Medica*** has 52 volumes, containing 1892 kinds of medicines, including 374 kinds of new medicines, and 11,096 medical formulas were collected, and l111 beautiful illustrations were drawn in the book, which is a precious legacy in the treasure trove of China's medicine. Its achievements, first of all, in the classification of drugs changed the original classification of the upper, middle and lower three products, to take the "analysis of the class, Zhenzheng subsection" of the scientific classification. It divided the drugs into mineral drugs, plant drugs, animal drugs. Mineral drugs are also divided into four parts: gold, jade, stone and halogen. Botanical drugs a class, according to the performance of plants, morphology, and the environment in which they grow, differentiated into grass, grain, vegetable, fruit, wood and other five parts; leather part is divided into mountain grass, grass, grass, wake up grass, poisonous grass, grass, trailing grass, stone grass and other subclasses. Animals, according to the order of evolution from the lower to the higher level of the worm, scale, medium, bird, animal, human and other 6 departments. There is also the Department of Clothing. The Materia Medica*** is divided into 16 parts and 62 categories. This classification, has transitioned to the system according to natural evolution. From inorganic to organic, from simple to complex, from low to high, this classification was very advanced at that time. Especially the scientific classification of plants, two hundred years earlier than the Swedish taxonomist Linnaeus.
The Compendium of Materia Medica is not only a great achievement in pharmacology, but also an outstanding contribution to chemistry, geology and astronomy. It was early in the history of chemistry, recorded a series of chemical reactions of pure metals, metals, metal chlorides, sulfides and so on. It also recorded some operations applied in modern chemistry such as distillation, crystallization, sublimation, precipitation, drying and so on. Li Shizhen also pointed out that the moon, like the earth, is a celestial body with mountains and rivers, "I say that the moon is a Yin soul, in which the Brahmans, the shadow of mountains and rivers." The Compendium of Materia Medica is not only a masterpiece of pharmacology in China, but also an ancient encyclopedia of China. As Li Jianyuan, "into the Materia Medica" pointed out that: "from the cemetery, down to the legend, where there is relevant, not collected, although the fate of the medical books, the physical."
"Compendium of Materia Medica" after the preparation, Li Shizhen hope to publish early, in order to solve the "Compendium of Materia Medica" publishing problem, more than 70 years old Li Shizhen, from Wuchang ran to the publishing industry center of Nanjing at that time, hoping to solve the problem through the private sector. As a result of years of hard labor, Li Shizhen finally case in bed, sick, instructed his children, the future of the "Compendium of Materia Medica" dedicated to the court, with the help of the court's power to disseminate in the world. Unfortunately, Li Shizhen had not yet seen the publication of the Compendium of Materia Medica, he passed away. This year (1593), he just turned 76 years old.
Soon, the Ming emperor Zhu Dangjun, in order to enrich the national library, ordered all over the country to offer books to the court, Li Shizhen's son, Li Jianyuan, will be "Compendium of Materia Medica" offered to the court. The court approved the "book to stay read, the Ministry of Rites know" seven words, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" put aside. Later, under the engraving of Hu Chenglong, a private engraver in Nanjing, the Compendium of Materia Medica was published in 1596, the third year after Li Shizhen's death. In 1603 A.D., Ben Cao Gang Mu was again reprinted in Jiangxi. From then on, it was widely spread in the country. According to incomplete statistics, "Materia Medica" in the country so far there are more than thirty kinds of engraved books.
In 1606 AD, "Materia Medica" was first introduced to Japan, and in 1647, the Polish Miguel came to China and translated "Materia Medica" into Latin and circulated in Europe, and then successively translated into Japanese, Korean, French, German, English, Russian and other languages.
Li Shizhen and the Compendium of Materia Medica (I)
Li Shizhen, with the word Dongbi and the name Endangered Lake, was born in 1518 in Waniba, outside the east gate of Herb County in Hubei Province (now Herb County, Herb County, Hubei Province). Before the Ming Dynasty, this place was the junction of Rain Lake and Lianshi Lake, and the people along the lake often suffered from the disaster of rising lake water. From the Ming Dynasty, in order to block the rise of the lake, a dike was built here, which was later called Warnie Dam. Near Wanniba, there is a rainy lake with a circumference of 20 or 30 miles, which is one of the scenic spots of Herb State. East out of the Wanniba, there are Dachuan Mountain, Longpan Mountain, Pingdingshan, the mountains and fields, in addition to flowers, trees, bamboo forests, but also grow a variety of wild medicinal herbs, is a good place rich in material resources.
Li Shizhen came from three generations of medical families, his grandfather was a doctor, and his father, Li Yanwen, also known as Li Yuechi, was also a famous local doctor, who worked as a "doctor of medicine". He not only had rich clinical experience, but also in the medical theory has considerable training, later Li Shizhen praised his father in the diagnosis of diseases in the knowledge of the "mastery of the purpose, shallow learning can not glimpse of the creation". It is recorded that Li Yanwen authored Four Diagnostic Inventions, Biography of Ailanthus, Biography of Ginseng, and Pox and Rash Evidence and Treatment. Li Shizhen was nurtured in this environment since childhood.
In feudal society, the status of doctors is very low, often compared with the "fortune-telling", "fortune-telling", "selling" people, and sometimes by bureaucrats, landlords and gentry oppression. This force in the Ming Dynasty is even more, at that time also stipulated that the "medical family" family can not change profession, this contempt for the doctor's social culture, prompted Li Yanwen produced a change in the status of the idea of medical family, decided to let Li Shizhen go to the imperial examination road, so that you can get a post, honoring the family, therefore, asked Li Shizhen every day to recite the "Four Books", "Five Classics," in preparation for the imperial examination. He was asked to memorize the Four Books and the Five Classics every day to prepare for the imperial examination.
Li Shizhen grew up with a love of reading, and at the age of 14, he won the examination, and then took the township examination, and failed three times. One year, the area of Herb State, the river rose, flooded the fields, and flooded the city streets, farmland is barren, the epidemic is serious, gastrointestinal diseases are prevalent everywhere. Herb state government organized the "medicine bureau", not for the poor to see a doctor, the poor have a disease, all come to Li Shizhen's father to find medical treatment, and when they leave, all thank you endlessly. All of this was Li Shizhen see in the eyes. Li Shizhen was 20 years old, suffering from "bone vapor disease" (tuberculosis), continuous coughing and fever, almost gave up his life, but fortunately his father's careful diagnosis and treatment, with a flavor of scutellaria soup to cure the disease. Li Shizhen more and more reluctant to take the path of science and technology, said to his father, determined to study medicine, to be a good doctor for the patient to relieve the pain, his father to see his attitude is determined, but also had to agree.
Li Shizhen began to study medicine at the age of 24, during the day with his father to the "Xuanmiao Guan" to see the doctor, at night, under the oil lamp, read the "Neijing", "Materia Medica", "Typhoid Miscellaneous Diseases", "Pulse Classic" and other classical medical works. Li Shizhen's reading spirit is admirable, "reading for ten years, not out of the household, erudition nothing to foot". Because he studied hard, he mastered the method of treatment. He had used "Yan Hu Suo" to cure Jing Mu Wangfei Hu's stomach pain, and with insecticides to cure the grandson of the king of Fushun's addiction to eating lampblossom disease, and later with the appendages and gas soup to cure the king of Fugu Yu's disease and was hired as the king of Chu Feng Shou Zheng.
Years of clinical practice, so that Li Shizhen know, to be a doctor, not only to understand the medical science, but also to understand the pharmacology. If the form and properties of the drug picked wrong, it will make a mess. Li Shizhen found that there are many problems in the ancient materia medica, first of all, in the classification of drugs is "grass and trees are not differentiated, insects and fish are mixed with each other". For example, "Ginger" and "Dioscorea" should be listed in the Department of Vegetables, the ancient herbal book is included in the Department of Grasses; "atrophic lemonade" and "female atrophy" are two kinds of herbs. "This is two kinds of medicinal herbs, and some of the herbal books said to be a kind of;" orchids "can only be used for ornamental purposes, can not be used for medicinal purposes, and some of the herbal books will be "orchids" as medicinal "orchid grass "; more serious is even the poisonous "hook vine" as a tonic "yellow essence". Li Shizhen believed that the ancient herbal book so many errors, mainly on the lack of field investigation of the results of the drug.
Since the Song Dynasty, China's pharmacology has been a great development, especially with the frequent cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries, foreign medicines continue to increase, but are not included in the book of materia medica. Li Shizhen considered it necessary to revise and supplement the previous materia medica. At this time, Li Shizhen was already 35 years old.
After five years, the court issued an edict to select a number of experienced doctors in the country to fill the shortage of the Imperial Hospital, Chu Yingliao, King of Wuchang, recommended Li Shizhen. Li Shizhen believed that Beijing was the Kyoto of the Ming Dynasty, where not only important medical books of the whole country were gathered, but also more medicinal herbs could be seen, which was an excellent opportunity to revise the materia medica. Li Shizhen accepted the recommendation of the King of Chu, and at the age of 4l, he entered the Imperial Hospital in Beijing, and assumed the position of the hospital's director.
Ming Shizong Zhu Houjian was a dim-witted emperor. He was bent on pursuing immortality elixir medicine, and also wanted to be a god. The medical officers in the Imperial Hospital, in order to cater to the needs of Zhu Houjian, not only to the country around the collection of "immortal formula" and "danfang", and at the same time, the generations of books of materia medica, attempting to obtain the immortality of the drug. Some medical officials said that "long service mercury, can be immortal", some medical officials said that "refining food sulfur yellow, can be long skin and energy"; some said that "ganoderma lucidum is an immortal grass, long food can prolong life! "Li Shizhen heard this nonsense. Li Shizhen heard these nonsense, more determined to prepare for the revision of the book of herbs.
Li Shizhen used the good learning environment of the Imperial Hospital, not only read a large number of medical books, but also on the scriptures, history and hundreds of books, Fangzhi class books, barnyard and wildlife history, are also widely referred to. At the same time carefully observed the foreign imports as well as domestic precious herbs, their form, characteristics, origin are recorded. After a year or so, in order to modify the book, he was no longer willing to delay down, resigned.
On the way home, one day, Li Shizhen stayed at a post station, met a few for the government to drive the horseman, around a small pot, cooking with the roots and leaves of the weeds, Li Shizhen went up to ask, the horseman told: "We drive the people, years and years out of running, damage to the muscles and bones is common, such as this herb to cook and drink, can be soothing and invigorating! This medicine is called "Drum". This medicine grassland named "drum flower", also called "spin flower", Li Shizhen will be introduced by the horseman's experience recorded down. Li Shizhen recorded the experience introduced by the horseman, and wrote: the spinning flower has the use of "benefiting the qi and renewing the tendons". This incident made Li Shizhen realize that the revision of the book of materia medica should be put into practice in order to make discoveries.
Li Shizhen and the "Compendium of Materia Medica" (II)
Li Shizhen in order to modify the book of Materia Medica, a variety of medical books on the different records of the investigation, in order to clarify the morphology of the similar applesauce, water pimpernel and pimpernel, had to the door of the rainy lake, but also to the farther Lake Makou, along the city lake, Lake Chidong to collect, and patiently observe and compare, and finally corrected the book of the Materia Medica on the long-term confusion.
In order to figure out the form of the white-flowered snake, to verify the book records, Li Shizhen came to the herbs north of the city of Long Bee Mountain to catch snakes (white-flowered snake for the herbs specialties), only to hear someone sing: "white-flowered snake, who told you to be able to ward off the wind and evil spirits, the superiors Saul anxious as fire, the state in the doctor only forced me to a moment shall not be skin and flesh broken". Along with the ballad came a few shoulder bamboo basket snake catcher, they are walking towards a few heather vines, it is said that the white-flowered snake loves to eat the leaves of the heather vines, so the heather vines have become the white-flowered snake's "home", day and night coiled in the heather vines. Snake catcher found the white-flowered snake, immediately from the ground to fish up a handful of sand, aimed at the white-flowered snake scattered, it is strange, the white-flowered snake encountered sand, really like flour meets water, shrunk into a ball, the snake catcher immediately went up to the white-flowered snake's neck with a fork fork to the snake's neck, and grabbed the snake's body with his other hand at the back of the snake, this time the white-flowered snake can no longer exert force to the. Li Shizhen set forward to carefully observe the white flower snake's form, only to see the snake's head is large like a triangle, the mouth with four long teeth, the back of 24 diagonal squares, the abdomen and mottled, and the general snake, indeed not the same. Then, the snake catcher personality snake hanging on the roadside tree, with a knife to cut its abdomen, to its internal organs, coiled into the bamboo basket basket, it is said that the snake will be dried, in order to be used as medicine. Li Shizhen recorded every detail of the snake-catching process, which not only supplemented the herbal book, but also provided important materials for the later preparation of the Biography of the White-flowered Snake. A few years later, Li Shizhen made "White-flower Snake Wine", which is specialized in treating hemiplegia and stroke, based on the wind-expelling property of the White-flower Snake. According to modern pharmacological analysis, it is proved that the extract of the white-flowered snake has sedative, analgesic, vasodilatory and hypotensive effects.
Pangolin is also known as pangolin, according to Tao Hongjing, "Materia Medica" records, pangolin is a kind of ant-eating animals, it "can be land and water, out of the shore in the middle of the day, open scales such as dead, luring the ants into the armor, that is, closed into the water, open the armor of ants are floating out of, around the catch and eat." Is this really the life habit of pangolin? In order to clarify this issue, Li Shizhen followed the hunters into the deep forest, pangshanjia anatomy, found that the animal's stomach is indeed filled with undigested ants, proving that the records of the book of materia medica is correct. However, Li Shizhen found that the pangolin was not induced by scales, but "often spits out its tongue to induce ants to eat it". He revised the incorrect record of this point in the materia medica book. At the same time, he also collected the medicinal value of pangolin in the folk, recorded a paragraph "pangolin armor, the king does not stay, the woman eats the milk long flow" of the jingle.
Some people say, there is a drug in the north, called Mandragora flowers, after eating will make people dance, serious anesthesia. Li Shizhen left his hometown and came to the north in order to find the mandrake flower. Finally found a single stem straight up four, five feet high, leaves like eggplant leaves, flowers like petunias, early opening and closing of the mandrake flower, he also in order to grasp the performance of the mandrake flower, personally try to "is also tested." And wrote down "cut sores and moxibustion fire, it is appropriate to take this first, then do not feel bitter. According to modern pharmacological analysis, Mandragora flowers contain scopolamine, the central nervous system has excited the brain and medulla oblongata role, the endings are antagonistic or paralytic parasympathetic effect.
Li Shizhen in doing cranberry flower toxicity test, associated with the herbal book on the soybean has to solve the hundred drug poison records, but also carried out a number of tests, confirmed that the use of soybean alone is not possible to play a role in the detoxification, if coupled with a flavor of licorice, there is a good effect, and said: "Such a thing, do not know".
Li Shizhen not only carefully investigated and observed plant and animal medicines, but also did a lot of investigation work on mineral medicines. He had been to the copper mine, lead mine, lime kiln and other places for investigation and research. According to the book of materia medica, lead is a non-toxic substance. Li Shizhen in order to understand the properties of lead, deep into the mines, see the miners of the difficult working conditions, wrote: "lead born in the mountain cave between the stones, people hold oil lamps into the miles, with the veins up and down the zigzag chopping to take it" through the health of the miners to investigate the miners, recognized that the lead is a poisonous substance, "sex with yin toxicity, can not be more than one service ". At the same time, it also grasped that lead poisoning can cause toxic hepatitis and jaundice symptoms. "If not even a month out, the skin is yellow, abdominal distension can not eat, more disease and death".
"Mercury" according to the previous herbal book, said no poison; said its long service immortal; said for the medicine of immortality. Is it true? Li Shizhen through the investigation, realized that mercury is heated by the decomposition of dansha ("mercury out of dansha"); mercury and sulfur heated together, can become silver Zhu (mercuric sulphide); mercury plus salt and so on, and can become another substance, called light powder (mercuric chloride). Thus, he wrote that mercury is a "warm and dry and poisonous" substance. "If you take too much agent" "the poison is steamed into the meridians, tendons and bones", "into the tendon contracture bone pain, hair for carbuncle swollen chancre leakage, or hands and feet rupture, jock itch stubborn paralysis, over the years, then into a disease cancer, its harm is infinite." Li Shizhen also according to the six dynasties since the long service mercury and caused lifelong disability of the historical facts, refuted the long service mercury can be immortal nonsense, and wrote: "Fangshi is not enough, the herb its can be delusional."
Li Shizhen is a rich spirit of truth-seeking medicine; in order to complete the difficult task of revising the book of Materia Medica, he traveled almost all over the Hubei Province, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu and other places of the famous mountains, traveled no less than 10,000 miles. At the same time, he referred to more than 800 books, after three revisions of the draft, and finally at the age of 6l years (1578 AD) the year, compiled the "Materia Medica". Later on, with the help of his students, sons and grandsons, the Compendium of Materia Medica was made more complete and more exquisite.
Li Shizhen's contribution to mankind is great, and is therefore highly respected by future generations. In order to commemorate this great medicinal scientist, the History of the Ming Dynasty and the Collection of Bai Mao Tang have written biographies of him. Qing Guangxu years in Li Shizhen's tomb monument to commemorate. After liberation, Li Shizhen base, and get again repair. In 1956 the scientist Guo Moruo to the inscription as a memorial, wrote: "medicine in the saint, set of Chinese pharmacology of the great achievements, the compendium of materia medica is 1,892 kinds of drug description, wide range of extracts, had to spend thirty years of exhaustive study. Benefit the people, so how many people live longer! Great husband, will live forever with the national life."