Bencao Gangmu

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本草綱目

The Bencao gangmu ( Chinese  本草綱目  /  本草纲目 , Pinyin Běncǎo Gāngmù , W.-G. Pen 3 -ts'ao 3 Kang 1 -mu 4  - "The book of healing herbs") from the 16th century is the best-known historical book about Chinese herbs and medicinal drugs .

It was written by the scholar Li Shizhen ( 李时珍  /  李時珍 ) (1518–1593) on the basis of Shennong ben cao jing and a number of other old pharmacopoeias.

The work has been included in the list of World Document Heritage by UNESCO .

content

Illustration from a colored later edition (c. 1800)

The first complete translation into a Western language did not appear until 2003. Li Shizhen only included 347 of the 365 species of medicinal plants listed in the older literature in his work. Emil Bretschneider , a Russian doctor who lived in China from 1866 to 1883, writes that the plants and their effects from Shennong's description were still generally known and used in his time.

The Bencao gangmu represents 347 natural medicinal substances, which are classified into the categories of "herbal", "animal" and "mineral" nature. 239 belong to the first group, 65 to the second and the remaining 43 to the last group. The medicinal substances were dealt with in 47 chapters. The book is considered to be one of the first critical works on the subject of herbal medicine and natural history .

The herbs are classified and differentiated according to special criteria:

  • taste
  • thermal property
  • Reference pathway / meridian and functional circle / organ reference
  • special effect
  • indication

In 1552 Li Shizhen began to look through all known and tangible drug books and select the relevant contents. It took him 26 years for this work and he presented the work in 1578 after having to rewrite it three times. On the basis of the drugs mentioned, he presented over 4,000 pharmaceutical recipes, including around 300 new recipes he had written himself. The first edition was published posthumously in 1590 by Li Shizhen's son. It comprises 52 volumes illustrated with woodcuts.

The then Emperor Wanli had several editions of the successful work printed at state expense. Several reprints also appeared in Japan.

The sources of Bencao Gangmu

Li Shi Zhen 李時珍 cited his sources in chronological order and marked them with an abbreviation. For example, he used the abbreviation Ben Jing 本 經for the Shennong ben cao jing神農 本草 經. The sources he cited most frequently are briefly listed below. The abbreviation used by Li Shi Zhen is at the beginning of the line:

  • Ben Jing 本 經 = Shennong ben cao jing神農 本草 經. Contained 365 drugs, 240 of which were herbal. The Ben Jing used by Li Shi Zhen was an edition from the late Han period (25-221).
  • Wu Pu吳 普. Author of the drug book Wu Shi Ben Cao 吳氏 本草 ( Wu -Arzneibuch, approx. 250) published in 225 . Wu Pu was a student of the doctor Hua Tuo華佗 (141-203).
  • Bie Lu 别 錄 = Ming Yi Bie Lu 名醫 别 錄. Collection of prescriptions from famous doctors. The author of this book was Tao Hong Jing陶弘景 (452-536) a Taoist, mathematician, alchemist, and doctor. He added 365 new drugs to Ben Jing's 365 drugs. He took these additions from the works of doctors who had published on drugs since the Han period (206 BC-221 AD). The Bie Lu was the first official pharmacopoeia in China.
  • Zhen Quan甄 權. Author of the pharmacopoeias Ben Cao Yao Xing 本 草藥 性 and Ben Cao Yin Yi 本草 音 義. He lived from 540–643.
  • Si Miao 思 邈 = Sun Si Miao孫思邈 (approx. 581–682). Taoist hermit, author of the diet book Qian Jin Shi Zhi 千金 食 治.
  • Meng Xian孟 詵 = doctor (621–713). In 670 he wrote the diet book Shi Liao Ben Cao 食療 本草.
  • Tang Ben 唐 本 = Tang Ben Cao 唐 本草 ( Tang Pharmacopoeia) = Xin Xiu Ben Cao 新 修 本草 (New Revised Pharmacopoeia). It was compiled in 659 by 22 authors. It consisted of 53 volumes and added 144 new drugs to the previous inventory. This means that 844 drugs have been described.
  • Li Xun李 珣 (855–930), doctor and poet. Author of the book Hai Yao Ben Cao 海 藥 本草, a study in six chapters on the medicinal products of the South Sea of ​​China, that is, on pharmaceutical products of foreign origin. In the period from 756 to 762, Li Xun built a collection in southern China with numerous drugs, especially those imported from the Mediterranean countries and from India. The Hai Yao Ben Cao has been lost today, but it is partly in a text from the Song period (960–1279), in the Zheng Lei Ben Cao 證 纇 本草 in 1108.
  • Zang Qi 藏 器 = Chen Zang Qi陳 藏 器. Doctor who lived in the 8th century and wrote a special work on foreign drugs, the Ben Cao Shi Yi 本草 拾遺 (Supplement to the Medicinal Treasure).
  • Zan Yin昝 殷 = Author of the book Shi Yi Xin Jian 食 醫 心 鑒 (Thorough investigation into diet treatment), in which he reported on the effects of the drugs used by Taoists and on experiences with famine, where everything edible had to be used. Issued in the 9th century.
  • Da Ming 大 明 = Da Ming Ben Cao 大 明 本草 = Ri Hua Zi Zhu Jia Ben Cao 日 華 子 諸 家 本草. A pharmacopoeia published in 970, the author of which was called Ri Hua Zi 日 華 子 or Da Ming 大 明.
  • Ri Hua 日 華 = Da Ming 大 明.
  • Kai Bao 開 寳 = Kai Bao Ben Cao 開 寳 本草. A pharmacopoeia published in 975, named after the Emperor Kai Bao (968–976). During the Song period (960–1127), letterpress printing with wooden blocks was invented in China. This invention made it possible for the pharmacopoeias to be widely used. The Kai Bao Ben Cao was put together by 9 authors. They added 133 new drugs and changed the classification.
  • Jia You 嘉 祏 = Jia You Bu To Ben Cao 嘉 祏 補 注 本草. A revised pharmacopoeia developed by 4 authors, which added 82 further medicines to the Kai bao. It was published in 1057.
  • Yuan Su 元素 = Zhang Yuan Su張 元素 = Author of the Pharmacopoeia Jie Gu Jia Zhen 潔 古 家珍, in which he classified the drugs taking into account their effect on the 12 meridians. He founded a medical school, which recommended the principle of therapy Bu Tu 土 igen (strengthen the earth) as basic therapy. His most famous student was the doctor Li Gao 李 杲. Zhang Yuan Su stood in opposition to Liu Wan Su 劉 完 素 (1120–1200) whose theory postulated excessive heat as the main cause of illness and who therefore called for the frequent use of drugs with cool and cold temperature effects.
  • Li Gao李 杲, also Li Dongyuan (1180–1251) = author and one of the "Four Outstanding Doctors of the Jin and Yuan Dynasties". Disciple of Zhang Yuan Su 張 元素. He was in opposition to his contemporary Zhang Cong Zhen張 從 正 (1156-1228), who was a student of Liu Wan Su劉 完 素. Li Gao wrote a. a. the book Yong Yao Fa Xiang 用藥 法 象 (rules for the use of medicines) in which he classified the medicines according to the direction of action: Sheng 升 (ascending-increasing), Jiang 降 (descending-decreasing), Fu 浮 (swimming-superficial) and Chen 沉 (sinking-deep). He advocated treatment through diet and digestive system harmonization.
  • Hao Gu 好 古 = Wang Hao Gu王 好 古 (1210–1310), disciple of Li Gao 李 杲. Author of the Pharmacopoeia Tang Ye Ben Cao Arzne 液 本草 (Herbal Tea Pharmacopoeia) published in 1306.
  • Ri Yong 日用 = Ri Yong Ben Cao 日用 本草 (pharmacopoeia for everyday use). Author: Wu Rui吳瑞. Published in 1329.

literature

  • Bencao Gangmu: Compendium of Materia Medica . By Li Shizhen. Beijing: Foreign Languages ​​Press, 2003 (6 vols.)
  • Schneebeli-Graf R (1992): Useful and medicinal plants of China - Botanical reports and pictures from China , Thomae, Frankfurt am Main.
  • Li Shi-Zhen (16th century): Pen ts'ao kang mu (Chinese Herbal and Materia Medica)
  • Smith & Stuart: Chinese Materia Medica. Vegetable Kingdom , 1911. New edition by Georgetown Press, SF, 1973, a reprint of a partial excerpt from "Ben cao gang mu".
  • Bernard E. Read. Chinese medical plants from the Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu. Shanghai 1936.
  • Albert Y. Leung: Chinese medicinal herbs . Diederichs, Munich. 5th edition, 1998. ISBN 3-424-00796-X
  • Paul-Ulrich innocence : Yü-chih pen-ts'ao p'in-hui ching-yao . A pharmacopoeia from 6th century China. Heinz Moos, Munich 1973, ISBN 3-7879-0073-X .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ben Cao Gang Mu ("本草綱目" Compendium of Materia Medica) | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved August 28, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Jean-Baptiste Du Haldes Description geographique , historique, chronologique, politique et physique de l'empire de la Chine et de la Tartarie chinoise , (Vol. 3, pp. 441-459) contains, as Joseph Needham ( Science and Civilization in China. , Volume 6, Part 1, Cambridge 1986, p. 235, note c) correctly notes, only the preface taken by Li Shizhen from the older Shennong ben cao jing .
  3. ↑ Joseph Needham . Science and civilization in China . Cambridge 1986. Volume 6, Part 1, pp. 235-243.
  4. ↑ Pierre Huard and M. Wong. Bio-bibliography de la médecine chinoise. Extrait du Bulletin de la Sociétée des Etudes Indochinoises. Nouvelle série / Tome XXXI, N ° 3, 3 ° trim. 1956, no. 226 and 376.
  5. ↑ Huard / Wong 1956, No. 133 and 304. Needham 1986. Volume 6, Part 1, pp. 248-249.
  6. ↑ Needham 1986, p. 264.
  7. ↑ Huard / Wong 1956, No 131, 367, 390. - Needham 1986, p. 268.
  8. ↑ Li Tao李濤. Achievements of Chinese Medicine in the Sui (589-617) an Tang (618-907) dynasties. In: Chinese Medical Journal. July / Aug. 1953, p. 312. Needham 1986, p. 336.
  9. ↑ Li Tao 1953, pp. 311-312. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 338. - Needham 1986, p. 265.
  10. ↑ Li Tao 1953, p. 312. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 79 and 262.
  11. ↑ Needham 1986, p. 275.
  12. ^ Li Tao 1953, p. 312.
  13. ↑ Huard / Wong 1956, No 267. - Needham 1986, p. 280.
  14. ↑ Li Tao. Achievements of Chinese Medicine in the Northern Sung Dynasty (960-1127) . In. Chinese Medical Journal, Jan./Feb. 1954, p. 69. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 269. - Needham 1986, p. 280.
  15. ↑ Li Tao. 1954, p. 69. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 270. - Needham 1986, p. 281.
  16. ↑ Li Tao. Chinese Medicine during the Chin (1127-1234) and Yuan (1234-1368) eras . In: Chinese Medical Journal. May / June 1955, p. 245. Achievements in Materia Medica during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) . In: Chinese Medical Journal. Mar./Apr. 1956, pp. 179. Needham 1986, pp. 225 and 287.
  17. ↑ Paul U. Innocence : Li Gao. In: Werner E. Gerabek , Bernhard D. Haage, Gundolf Keil , Wolfgang Wegner (eds.): Enzyklopädie Medizingeschichte. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2005, ISBN 3-11-015714-4 , p. 849.
  18. ↑ Franz Huebotter . Chinese medicine at the beginning of the 20th century and their historical development. Leipzig 1929, p. 22. - Li Tao 1955, p. 244 and 1956, p. 179. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 72 and No 257. - Needham 1986, p. 287.
  19. ↑ Hübotter 1929, p. 23. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 196. - Needham 1986, p. 287.
  20. ↑ Li Tao 1956, p. 180. - Huard / Wong 1956, No 268: - Needham 1986, p. 413.