Description

Chinese materia medica began with Shennong ben cao jing (Shennong’s materia medica), which appeared before the Qin period (221‒206 BC). By the time that Tang Shenwei (11th century‒12th century) of Song dynasty compiled Zheng lei ben cao (Classified herbal medicine) the number of medical herbs included had increased to well over a thousand. According to Tang’s original text, it was Cao Xiaozhong who, under imperial order, revised the work. Originally it had 30 juan. The Library of Congress copy presented here, which dates from 1249, is ...