Beschrijving

This work presents a modern English translation and annotation of the classical sixteenth-century Chinese pharmacopeia compiled by Li Shih‑Chên, offering a comprehensive survey of medicinal substances derived from the vegetable, animal and mineral kingdoms. It guides the reader through the traditional categories of materia medica, the historical context of their use, and the structure of the original volume in which plants are listed alongside their properties and applications. Moving further, the text illuminates how the substances were classified, how their therapeutic functions were understood in traditional Chinese medicine, and the manner in which the compiler drew connections between empirical observation and inherited medical theory. The modern editors (F. Porter Smith & G. A. Stuart) provide commentary and cross-references to make the work accessible for Western readers, preserving the richness of the source material while situating it in a contemporary scholarly framework. Finally, the book serves as both a historical document and a resource for herbal medicine: it invites reflection on how traditional medical systems conceptualize nature’s bounty, the interaction of substances and bodily processes, and how this legacy continues to inform herbal pharmacology and ethnobotanical research today. The breadth of the material—covering hundreds of entries—shows the ambitious scale of Li Shih-Chên’s project and its lasting significance across cultures and centuries.