Li Shizhen

Li Shizhen (1518–1593) was a Chinese physician and pharmacologist of the Ming dynasty. He is best known for compiling Bencao Gangmu, a major work on drugs and natural history.

Bencao Gangmu: A Chinese materia medica compiled by Li Shizhen and published in 1596, after his death. This is the work through which Li Shizhen shaped later knowledge of medicinal substances.
Chinese materia medica: The Chinese textual tradition that records medicinal substances, their properties, and therapeutic uses. Li Shizhen revised and expanded this tradition through a large, systematically arranged work.
Li Yanwen: Li Shizhen's father, a physician whose medical work influenced his son's early life. His father's profession connected Li Shizhen to medicine from an early age.
Bencao Gangmu publication: The posthumous first publication of Li Shizhen's Bencao Gangmu in 1596. Publication carried his decades of compilation beyond his lifetime.
Materia medica: A body of knowledge describing substances used in medicine and their properties. This broader tradition supplied the subject and organizing purpose of his compilation.
Bencao Gangmu classification: The organizational scheme Li Shizhen used to arrange substances and related natural objects in Bencao Gangmu. Its categories made the compilation a structured account rather than an unorganized collection.
Huang Qi: A Chinese medical classic associated with foundational theories of Chinese medicine. Classical medical learning formed part of the intellectual inheritance behind Li Shizhen's work.
Chinese medicine in Japan: Medical traditions in Japan shaped in part by the transmission and adaptation of Chinese medical learning. Bencao Gangmu circulated beyond China and entered Japanese medical scholarship.
Ming dynasty: A Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 1368 to 1644. Li Shizhen lived and worked during this period of Chinese history.
Pharmacognosy: The study of medicines derived from natural sources, including their identification and properties. His descriptions of natural medicinal materials anticipate questions central to this field.

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History of science and technology in ChinaBroader topic: His compilation brought extensive observations of medicines, plants, and animals together.