Skip to content
EntityQ698925· pop 30· linked from 170 articles

Li Shizhen

Sign in to save

Also known as Dongbi

Chinese polymath and scientist (1517-1593)

Person · Open Library

Born
1518
Died
1593
Works
36

Top works

  • 金陵本《本草纲目》新校正
  • Qi jing ba mo kao
  • Li Shizhen jian shen chang shou yi fang
  • Kokuyaku honzō kōmoku
  • Li Shizhen yan jiu lun wen ji

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type
Person
Gender
Female
Origin
Sweden
Active from
1986-03-18
alternative rockalternative/indie rockalternativtart popdance-popdream pop

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
5
Total plays
10

<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Li+Shizhen">Read more on Last.fm</a>

via Last.fm · Li Shizhen

Key facts

Born
July 3, 1518, Qizhou Town, Qichun County , Hubei
Died
1593 (aged 74 – 75)
Other name
Dongbi ( 東璧 )
Occupations
Acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, writer
Father
Li Yanwen

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Family name
Li
Gender
male
Citizenship
Ming dynasty
Occupation
pharmacist
Languages spoken
Chinese
Native language
Chinese
Field of work
Chinese herbology
Image
Li Shizhen portrait.jpg
Show 7 more facts
Commons category
Li Shizhen
date of birth
1517-07-03
date of death
1593-01-01
described by source
History of Ming
pseudonym
Hinko
name in kana
り じちん
courtesy name
東璧
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~7 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Li Shizhen (July 3, 1518  – 1593), courtesy name Dongbi, was a Chinese acupuncturist, herbalist, naturalist, pharmacologist, physician, and writer of the Ming dynasty. He is the author of a 27-year work, the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu; Chinese: 本草綱目). He developed several methods for classifying herb components and medications for treating diseases.

The Compendium is a pharmacology text with 1,892 entries, with details about more than 1,800 traditional Chinese medicines, including 1,100 illustrations and 11,000 prescriptions. It also described the type, form, flavor, nature and application in disease treatments of 1,094 herbs. The book has been translated into several languages. The treatise included various related subjects such as botany, zoology, mineralogy, and metallurgy. Five original editions still exist.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Li Shizhen” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.