A decision made when I was young gave birth to a great work. According to Baidu Encyclopedia, Li Shizhen (1565438+July 3, 2008-1593) was born in Huguang qi zhou (now Hubei). He was born in a medical family, and his grandfather was a folk "clock doctor", walking around the streets and ringing bells to cure diseases; Father Li Yanwen is a local famous doctor; Therefore, Li Shizhen was exposed at an early age and made house calls with his father at an early age.
Li Shizhen, like most people, embarked on the road of being an official when he was young, with excellent academic performance. After three rural examinations failed, he decided not to pursue fame and gain, but to concentrate on studying medicine with his father. He didn't even know that this decision gave birth to the world-famous masterpiece Compendium of Materia Medica.
1953, Li Shizhen's portrait was embedded in the newly completed teaching building of Moscow University in the Soviet Union, and Li Shizhen was juxtaposed with world famous scientists such as Newton, Copernicus, Madame Curie and Darwin.
Li Shizhen wrote books all his life and was good at learning. After practicing medicine alone, he cured many incurable diseases and soon became a skilled doctor. In the process of practicing medicine, he found that there are many categories and mixed names in Materia Medica, and there are still many mistakes. Therefore, Li Shizhen made up his mind to rewrite a new Materia Medica.
In order to realize his wish, Li Shizhen read widely, besides medical works, there are numerous books, history, classics, biography, phonology, agricultural nursery, medical skills, astrology, Yuefu, etc., and read 800 Yu Ben before and after.
He also paid attention to on-the-spot investigation, traveled all over his hometown, led his son and disciples to Jiangxi, Anhui, Hebei and other drug producing areas, collected specimens and drew pictures in remote areas and mountainous areas, humbly consulted local farmers, fishermen, hunters and woodcutter, and collected many remedies.
During Jiajing period, Li Shizhen cured the son of King Qi Chu of syncope, and then stayed in Wang Fu as a temple official, in charge of medicine. A few years later, I was transferred to Beijing Hospital. At that time, the superstition of magic was rampant, and some people were keen to find and make elixirs, elixirs, and even had a profound impact on Thai hospitals. Li Shizhen didn't want to go along, so he resigned and returned home. However, this experience in Wang Fu and Taiyuan hospitals will be of great benefit to his future compilation of Compendium of Materia Medica.
After returning home, Li Shizhen set out to compile. On the basis of predecessors' materia medica, combined with new materials collected by himself, he devoted himself to writing, which lasted nearly 30 years and was finally completed in the sixth year of Wanli (1578) at the age of 6 1. Later, it was revised three times in 10, and it was 40 years. Li Shizhen died in the 21st year of Wanli (AD 1593). In the 25th year of Wanli (1596), in the third year after Li Shizhen's death, Compendium of Materia Medica was officially published in Jinling (now Nanjing).
Compendium of Materia Medica is a masterpiece of pharmacology, and a collection of masterpieces of pharmacology before the Ming Dynasty. It is the first time to classify drugs with the simplified system, which is the first in all previous dynasties. This book has 52 volumes and classifies drugs according to their natural properties. * * * recorded drugs 1892, prescriptions1096, pictures 1 160, * * * 1.9 million words. In addition, it records many kinds of animals, plants and minerals, so it is also a monograph on botany, zoology and mineralogy.
Darwin, a British biologist, has quoted Compendium of Materia Medica for many times, calling it "China Ancient Encyclopedia". In the Memory of the World Directory published by UNESCO in May 20 1 1, Compendium of Materia Medica and Huangdi Neijing were included together, which are the only two medical classics in China.