Li Shizhen-Sage of Medicine and Herbal

Preface

In October 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) first promulgated "International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine", ruling that traditional Chinese medical terms should go by traditional Chinese characters and do a uniform international English translation. Whom officials introduced that there were different expressions and translations for traditional Chinese medical terms. So uniform standards were established to standardize traditional Chinese medical terms.

400 years ago, the Chinese did the same thing. He wrote a book of nearly 2 million words, collected, tested and recorded over 1,800 medicines and over 10,000 prescriptions. He made a summary and unified standards of traditional Chinese medicine terms for millenniums. That man is Li Shizhen, and this book is "Compendium of Materia Medica 本草纲目".

It might never occur to him that over 400 years later, there is an international organization proceeding with the promotion of traditional Chinese medicine by his book, "Compendium of Materia Medica". "International Standard Terminologies on Traditional Medicine" is a transnational operation, which is completed by an international organization for four years. Li Shizhen devoted his whole life to accomplishing "Compendium of Matena Medica" single-handedly.

Who is Li Shizhen 李 时珍

Li Shizhen was born in Qizhou County, Huanggang City, Hubei Province, and his grandfather and father were doctors, too. Nature richly endows Qinzhou's medical resources. Among over 1,800 kinds of medicinal materials, there are over 1,000 in Qizhou. It is a natural botanical garden of therapeutic elements. A famous proverb circulating in the local is that every man knows something about medicine and every plant can use as medicine.

The excellent medicine resources and the geographic and human environment produces many famous doctors in this region. Before Li Shizhen, there were Wan Mizhai, a medical sage conferred by the court and Pang Anshi; he wrote the TCM Prescription name as "General Treatise on Febrile Diseases".

To be a doctor

Li Shizhen was intelligent from childhood; he was awarded XiuCai (former bachelor of arts or graduate of the first degree) in the imperial examination at 14 ages.

In the Ming Dynasty, doctors had very low social standing, so his father decided to ask him to study diligently and engage in political affairs for altering the fate of his family. But Li Shizhen didn't follow his father's will to continue the imperial examinations, he gives up imperial examination and fame and takes up medicine finally. The reasons below:

Firstly, the way to imperial examinations was rough and bumpy. According to "The Biography of Li Shizhen", Li Shizhen failed successively in the imperial examinations three times. There was another thing shocking him much that he had been delicate from a child. When he was twenty, he even suffered pulmonary tuberculosis which almost killed him. He felicitated himself upon his narrow escape and exclaimed that doctors were sublime.

As the saying goes, "If not a good official, then a good doctor", so Li Shizhen gave up his plan to be an official through imperial examinations, but decided to study medicine from his father. He declared his will to his father.

From then on, he immured himself for study and stayed indoors for ten years. Finally, he was proficient in medicine and became a famous local doctor.

Sage of Medicine

From his practicing medicine throughout his life, he was famous for his excellent medical skills. The Mansion of King of Jing at Qizhou invited him to treat an illness. He cured many difficult and complicated diseases there. Later, the Mansion of King of Chu at Wuchang also encouraged him to treat an illness. After that, he became very famous and then he went to Imperial Hospital in Beijing. Eminent in medical skills, Li Shizhen appointed as a chief administrative assistant of the sixth rank in Imperial Hospital. He was well-known all over the world because he had cured lots of confusing and complicated diseases during his lifetime.

The prince had had some rare disease and fainted frequently. Moreover, instead of being fond of eating rice, he liked eating the ashes of wicks. The King had visited many famous doctors around the world, but all the doctors had nothing to do with this strange disease. But after Li Shizhen's arrival, he diagnosed that there were parasites in the prince's body. So he used helminthic to cure him.

Historical records estimated that Li Shizhen was eminent in medical skills and cured the grandson of the King of Fushun. It is thus apparent that he is well-known for his outstanding medical abilities during his lifetime. The later generations name him the Sage of Medicine, which he thoroughly deserves.

Sage of Herbal

He is the sage of herbal because he made a significant conclusion of traditional Chinese medicine and wrote “Compendium of Materia Medica”, which records 1,892 kinds of medicines. So it’s appropriate to call him the sage of herbal. In ancient times, traditional Chinese medicine was also called herbal medicine. “Compendium of Materia Medica” is a pharmacopeia on traditional Chinese medical science.

According to the statistics of printed books existing in China, during the 400 years since its birth to now, it has been written for more than 70 times in succession. Moreover, it has been published overseas and translated into over ten languages, including Japanese, French, German, English, Latin, Russian and Korean, enjoying a worldwide reputation.

Darwin 达尔文, a world-renown biologist, quoted in his book "The Descent of Man" a fact that artificial selection made in living creatures, from "Compendium of Materia Medica". He also praised the "Compendium of Materia Medica" as not only extraordinary medical literature but also an encyclopedia in ancient China. The world attaches great importance to this excellent pharmacological monograph, and scientists speak highly of and use it, so it's appropriate to say that Li Shizhen deserves the honor of the sage of herbal.

sage of medicine and herbal

Li Shizhen practiced medicine during the first half of his lifetime, and he spent the rest of his life on writing "Compendium of Materia Medica" Li Shizhen practiced medicine during the first half of his lifetime, and he spent the rest of his life on writing “Compendium of Materia Medica”. He had made prominent contributions to both the fields of medicine and pharmacology. In the world, some people are called the sage of medicine and some other people the sage of herbal, but Li Shizhen is the only person who called both the sage of medicine and herbal. In 1951, the World Peace Council, which held in Vienna, named Li Shizhen one of the celebrities in the ancient world. So he is a legend over the years.

Written Book of Compendium of Materia Medica

In 1548 A.D., he resigned as an imperial doctor from Imperial Hospital, returned to his hometown and began to write "Compendium of Materia Medica". Before that, there had been a sea of books on traditional Chinese medicine, but there are not systemic and confused.

During his long-term medical practice, Li Shizhen found that there were lots of defects and mistakes in previous books on traditional Chinese medicine. The same medicinal material could be given different names while different materials could provide the same name. He said, "Doctor is a sacred profession. If a doctor uses wrong medicine, it will be a matter of life and death". So he decided to write a new "Compendium of Materia Medica".

To write a new "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen would face three challenges.

Firstly, he should read all the previous books on traditional Chinese medicine thoroughly. Only in this way could he find mistakes among them. It is a massive project; Li Shizhen had to read more than 10,000 medical books.

Secondly, he should check material objects of medicinal materials, which can correct mistakes. It is more difficult to checking material objects of therapeutic substances than reading more than 10,000 medical books. To verify the shapes and nature of medicinal materials recorded in former “Compendium of Materia Medica”, Li Shizhen had traveled through famous mountains and great rivers in Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu. During his on-the-spot investigation of these places, Li Shizhen had found 374 kinds of new medicines.

Thirdly, he should find out a way to classify these thousands of medicinal materials scientifically. The third difficulty is making a catalog. He organized these tremendous amounts of therapeutic substances and prescriptions. The broad category was called essence, and the small group invited outline, so this book was named "Compendium of Materia Medica".

Published Book of Compendium of Materia Medica

In 1578 A.D., "Compendium of Materia Medica" was finished finally after 28 years of effort. However, this original masterpiece did not publish until 18 years after the death of Li Shizhen.

Publishers, who ran workshops on publishing and printing books, were reluctant to print this book. Why? It was such a highly technical monograph on pharmacology. The publishers considered practical benefits and had to figure out if they could earn money.

Therefore, Li Shizhen came to Nanjing to invite Wang Shizhen, a leading figure in literature, to write a preface for "Compendium of Materia Medica". He hoped to make this book published as soon as possible in virtue of Wang Shizhen's reputation. After finishing reading the book, Wang Shizhen spoke highly of it and said, "Reading it as if I have gone into a garden full of golden rice, whose color is brilliant, and as if I have gone into the palace of Dragon King, where exhibits numbers o treasures".

This book, because of Wang Shizhen's preface, was accepted finally by a publisher, who owned a workshop in Nanjing. Without considering the profits and how much money this book would make, he promised to print it.

The first version of "Compendium of Materia Medica", which published in 1596 in China, was known as Jinjing Version. Now we can see its Photostat copy. The Jingjing Version of "Compendium of Materia Medica" has now become a rare treasure at present. There are only two in China, one kept in Shanghai Library, and another in the Library of China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Unfortunately, as the author of "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen couldn't see the publication of his masterpiece in his lifetime.

All in All

People worship and memorize Li Shizhen in various forms, as good health and long life is the sincere wish of everyone. Li Shizhen is a sage who heals the wounded and rescues the dying. Over 400 years ago, Li Shizhen unified and standardized the names of Chinese herbal medicine. Today, again the World Health Organization unites and regulates traditional Chinese medical terms in traditional Chinese characters, which governs Chinese-English translation. The traditional Chinese medicine has already developed toward the world and will continue to benefit humanity.

key persons in the history of traditional Chinese medicine

Bian Que                 BC 407 - 310      Ancestor of traditional Chinese medicine

Hua Tuo                  AD 145 - 208      Ancestor of Surgery

Zhang Zhongjing   AD 150 - 215      Sage of traditional Chinese medicine

Ge Hong                 AD 284 - 364      Ancestor of first-aid

Sun Simiao             AD 541 - 682       King of the traditional Chinese medicine

Li Shizhen               AD 1518 - 1593   Sage of Medicine and Herbal