There is a book that has been cited multiple times by Darwin in works such as "The Origin of Species" and praised as an encyclopedia of ancient China; Evaluated by the renowned British historian Joseph Needham as the "greatest scientific achievement of the Ming Dynasty"; Lu Xun called it "rich in treasures" and "extremely valuable", and listed it as a "must read list"; Guo Moruo believes that it "embodies the great achievements of Chinese pharmacy". This book is the Compendium of Materia Medica written by Li Shizhen. Why did Li Shizhen compile the Compendium of Materia Medica? What are the special values of this medical masterpiece compared to its predecessor? Why can it have a widespread impact in the world? The Compendium of Materia Medica collects the great achievements of Materia Medica before the Ming Dynasty. In 2011, it was included in the UNESCO World Memory List. (Image provided by the interviewee) Dao Zhonghua: What was the process of completing the Compendium of Materia Medica? Why did Li Shizhen spend nearly one-third of her life and energy compiling this book? Wang Jian: Li Shizhen was born in 1518 in Qizhou City (now Qizhou Town, Qichun County, Hubei Province) during the Ming Dynasty. The Li family has been practicing medicine for generations, and Li Shizhen has had a strong interest in medicine since childhood. At the age of fourteen, he passed the imperial examination as a scholar, but failed three local exams. He aspired to study medicine with his father. He read extensively and diligently studied ancient medical works; Having the courage to practice and innovate, he quickly became a skilled doctor. Later, when serving as the head of the Fengci Temple in the Chu Prince's Mansion and also in charge of the Good Doctor's Office (in charge of medical care), Li Shizhen was recommended to work at the Tai Hospital due to her excellent medical skills. The bronze statue of Li Shizhen in the Li Shizhen Memorial Hall in Qichun County, Hubei Province. (Image source: Li Shizhen Memorial Museum website) In long-term medical practice, Li Shizhen discovered that after the compilation of the "Zheng Lei Ben Cao" in the Song Dynasty, the study of Ben Cao had stagnated, and there were many errors in the original Ben Cao books, which were also overly conservative and underestimated folk remedies. So, he decided to comprehensively organize and supplement the manuscript. During her tenure at Tai Hospital, Li Shizhen repeatedly proposed to revise the cursive script. However, due to the fact that Emperor Jiajing was only obsessed with refining elixirs for immortality at that time, Li Shizhen's demands were not heeded. After working at Tai Hospital for more than a year, he resigned and returned home, starting to revise his books. After returning to her hometown, Li Shizhen used her own name "Dongbi" as her name and founded Dongbi Tang to practice medicine, dedicated to the investigation and research of drugs. Inspired by the editing methods of "outlining the outline" and "outlining the outline", he began to compile the Compendium of Materia Medica in this way and named the book "Compendium of Materia Medica". To solve the problems, he conducted in-depth field investigations and traveled throughout present-day Hubei, Hebei, Henan, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, and other places. When studying various drugs, he always first examines the similarities and differences among different schools, and then observes and tests himself to provide evidence. He humbly worshipped farmers, fishermen, cartmen, woodcutters, and snake hunters as his teachers, and gained a detailed understanding of the growth and distribution of drugs. He collected a large number of specimens and folk remedies. After 27 years of three changes, Li Shizhen finally completed a masterpiece of over 1.9 million words in 1578. Li Shizhen's four sons and four of his six grandchildren, as well as his disciples, participated in the compilation and publication of the Compendium of Materia Medica. Among them, sons Li Jianzhong and Li Jianyuan served as "correction" workers, while Li Jianfang and Li Jianmu served as "re correction" workers
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