Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica 本草纲‪目‬

The book of 本草纲目 Ben Cao Gang Mu, translated as " Essentials of Chinese Materia Medica” was completed by Li Shizhen in 1578, after conducting readings of 800 other medical reference books and carrying out 30 years of field study. For this and many other achievements, Li Shizhen is compared to Shennong, a god in Chinese mythology who gave instruction on agriculture and herbal medicine.

The Compendium of Materia Medica has 53 volumes in total. The text is written classified into 16 divisions and 60 orders. For every herb there are entries on their names, a detailed description of their appearance and odor, nature, medical function, effects and side recipes etc.

With the publication of Compendium of Materia Medica, not only did it improve the classification of how traditional medicine was compiled and formatted, but it was also an important medium in improving the credibility and scientific values of biology classification of both plants and animals.

Compendium of Materia Medica is also more than a mere pharmaceutical text, for it includes a vast amount of information on topics as wide-ranging as biology, chemistry, geography, mineralogy, geology, history, and even mining and astronomy, which might appear to have little connection with herbal medicine.