Compendium of Materia Medica and Its International Influence

Since the publication of the Compendium of Materia Medica, it has got more than 400 versions both at home and abroad; approximately a new version came out every five to six years. It has been translated into Latin, Italian, French, German,English, Russian, and many other languages, which makes it one of the most translated scientific works from China.

In 1604, the Compendium of Materia Medica was first introduced to Japan. Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, hailed the book as a masterpiece which could help with his ruling.

The sales volume of herbal medicines in Japan and Korea now accounts for 90% of the global market. It was the Compendium of Materia Medica which set the basis for the success of Japanese Hanfang medicine and Korean medicine today.

In 1650, Polish scholar Michel Boym (1612-1659) translated the Compendium of Materia Medica into Latin and published it in Vienna, setting a precedent for Europeans to study the book.

In the 18th century, French Jesuit historian Jean-Baptiste Du Halde (1674-1743) compiled and published his Geographical,Historical, Chronological,Political, and Physical Description of the Empire of China and Chinese Tartary, which commented that the Compendium of Materia Medica represented the highest level of natural science in the world at the time.

Li Shizhen’s portrait by Jiang Zhaohe蔣兆和繪李時(shí)珍像

《本草綱目》的海外影響

《本草綱目》問世后，在國(guó)內(nèi)外出版印刷達(dá)400余種，大致5—6年就有一種新版本出現(xiàn)，此外歷代都有《本草綱目》的簡(jiǎn)編本問世，陸續(xù)被譯成拉丁文、意大利文、法文、德文、英文、俄文等，是中國(guó)被譯成外文最多的科學(xué)著作之一。

1604年，《本草綱目》最早傳到日本。江戶時(shí)代幕府首腦德川家康，將《本草綱目》視作治國(guó)安邦的名著。

日、韓本草藥物的銷售量，目前占國(guó)際市場(chǎng)總額的90%，“漢方”“韓醫(yī)”得以繁衍，才有如今的成就。

1650年，波蘭人卜彌格將《本草綱目》譯成拉丁文，后在維也納出版，開創(chuàng)歐洲人研究《本草綱目》的先河。

18世紀(jì)，著名漢學(xué)家杜赫德編纂刊行《中華帝國(guó)通志》，稱贊《本草綱目》代表著當(dāng)時(shí)世界自然科學(xué)的最高水平。

李時(shí)珍創(chuàng)造的植物分類法，比西方植物分類學(xué)鼻祖林奈的分類法早170多年。

19世紀(jì)，英國(guó)博物學(xué)家達(dá)爾文，吸取引用了《本草綱目》的理論和例證。他將《本草綱目》稱為“中國(guó)古代百科全書”“東方醫(yī)藥巨典”“人類綠色圣經(jīng)”。

李時(shí)珍像被鑲刻在莫斯科大學(xué)的世界歷史文化名人長(zhǎng)廊上。在韓國(guó)，還有“李時(shí)珍城”等。《本草綱目》首印金陵木刻版陳列在法國(guó)盧浮宮、英國(guó)不列顛、德國(guó)皇家、日本、韓國(guó)等博物館、圖書館（院）內(nèi)，以福祉全人類健民壽民，昭示普天下永恒敬仰。

英國(guó)世界科技史專家、英國(guó)皇家科學(xué)院院士李約瑟說：“李時(shí)珍作為科學(xué)家，在與伽利略、維薩里的科學(xué)活動(dòng)隔絕的情況下，能在科學(xué)上獲得如此輝煌的成就，是任何科學(xué)家所不能達(dá)到的最高水平。”“毫無疑問，明代最偉大的科學(xué)成就，是李時(shí)珍那部登峰造極的著作《本草綱目》，至今，這部偉大的著作仍然是研究各門科學(xué)史的一個(gè)取之不盡的知識(shí)源泉。”

1986年11月20日，李約瑟來到李時(shí)珍陵園緬懷紀(jì)念。

1951年2月，聯(lián)合國(guó)“世界和平理事會(huì)”在德國(guó)柏林召開。李時(shí)珍被推選為世界十大歷史文化名人之一。

2011年5月23日，聯(lián)合國(guó)教科文組織將《本草綱目》列入《世界記憶名錄》，標(biāo)志著中國(guó)中醫(yī)藥被全世界所認(rèn)可。2011年6月1日，在中國(guó)北京國(guó)家圖書館召開《本草綱目》入選《世界記憶名錄》新聞發(fā)布會(huì)，正式向全球公布。

李時(shí)珍及其《本草綱目》在海內(nèi)外人民心目中，擁有“醫(yī)中之圣”的崇高地位，擁有跨越國(guó)界、種族、信仰的感召力。

Compendium of Materia Medica listed in the Asia/Pacific Memory of The World Register 《本草綱目》入選《世界記憶（亞太區(qū)）名錄》

Compendium of Materia Medica listed in the International Memory of the World Register《本草綱目》入選《世界記憶（全球）名錄》

The plant taxonomy system created by Li Shizhen is more than 170 years older than the classification system of Carl von Linné (1707-1778), the founder of Western plant taxonomy.

In the 19 th century,Charles Darwin, the British naturalist, drew on the theories and examples cited in the Compendium of Materia Medica.He referred to it as an “ancient Chinese encyclopedia,” “oriental medicine giant,” and “green Bible of mankind.”

At Moscow University, Li Shizhen’s name was engraved on the promenade of world history and cultural celebrities.There are also other places in the world like Li Shizhen City in Korea which has been set up in memory of this medical sage. Different editions of the Compendium of Materia Medica published in the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912) are collected by the British Library, Cambridge University Library, Oxford University Library, French National Library,German National Library, the U.S. Library of Congress, National Library of Korea, and libraries in Russia, Italy and Denmark. To this day, this great work is still an inexhaustible knowledge source for the study of all kinds of science history.

Joseph Needham (1900-1995),the British expert on the history of science and technology and a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences, commented,“Undoubtedly the greatest scientific achievement of the Ming was the culminating work of the pen tsao series (the Compendium of Materia Medica)… Li Shih-Chen (Li Shizhen) attained as high a rank qua a scientist as it was possible for anyone to attain in isolation from the Galilean-Vesalian movement.”

On November 20, 1986, Joseph Needham visited Li Shizhen’s cemetery for commemoration.

At the UN “World Peace Council” held in February of 1951,Li Shizhen was elected as one of the world’s ten historical and cultural celebrities.

On May 23, 2011, the Compendium of Materia Medica was included in UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register, which marked the global recognition of traditional Chinese medicine.

Li Shizhen with his Compendium of Materia Medica holds a lofty status of “medical sage” in people’s mind both at home and abroad. Their charisma transcends national borders, race,and beliefs.

Spring in the “Capital of Chinese Mugwort ” 艾都春色