Li Shizhen (1518—1593), was a famous Chinese medical scientist, pharmacist (药学家) and naturalist (博物学家) of the Ming Dynasty. Li Shizhen’s grandfather was a medical practitioner (从业人员) who travelled the countryside, and his father, Li Yanwen, was also a famous local doctor. Grown up in a medical family like this, he was really fond of medicine since he was a kid. However, his father wanted him to study for the imperial examinations (科举考试) and did not encourage him to practise medicine due to the low social status (地位) at the time. However, Li Shizhen didn’t give up studying medicine.

When Li Shizhen was young, he enjoyed traditional Chinese medicine and began to read medical books. He found many mistakes in those books. He worried these mistakes would cause serious problems or death. So Li Shizhen decided to write a new book. He travelled everywhere to look for herbs (药草) and do research. And he talked with farmers, doctors and patients. He even tested herbs on himself and almost lost his life many times. Li Shizhen collected and recorded over 1,890 herbs. He also read about 900 medical books. He worked day and night. Finally the valuable work, Compendium of Materia Medica or Bencao Gangmu, came out.

Today Materia Medica has been translated into many foreign languages. It is widely read not only in China but also in many other countries around the world.