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蔣兆和繪李時珍像

《本草綱目》的海外影響

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

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

日、韓本草藥物的銷售量，目前占國際市場總額的90%，“漢方”“韓醫”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，開創歐洲人研究《本草綱目》的先河。

18世紀，著名漢學家杜赫德編纂刊行《中華帝國通志》，稱贊《本草綱目》代表著當時世界自然科學的最高水平。

李時珍創造的植物分類法，比西方植物分類學鼻祖林奈的分類法早170多年。

19世紀，英國博物學家達爾文，吸取引用了《本草綱目》的理論和例證。他將《本草綱目》稱為“中國古代百科全書”“東方醫藥巨典”“人類綠色圣經”。

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

英國世界科技史專家、英國皇家科學院院士李約瑟說：“李時珍作為科學家，在與伽利略、維薩里的科學活動隔絕的情況下，能在科學上獲得如此輝煌的成就，是任何科學家所不能達到的最高水平。”“毫無疑問，明代最偉大的科學成就，是李時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史的一個取之不盡的知識源泉。”

1986年11月20日，李約瑟來到李時珍陵園緬懷紀念。

1951年2月，聯合國“世界和平理事會”在德國柏林召開。李時珍被推選為世界十大歷史文化名人之一。

2011年5月23日，聯合國教科文組織將《本草綱目》列入《世界記憶名錄》，標志著中國中醫藥被全世界所認可。2011年6月1日，在中國北京國家圖書館召開《本草綱目》入選《世界記憶名錄》新聞發布會，正式向全球公布。

李時珍及其《本草綱目》在海內外人民心目中，擁有“醫中之圣”的崇高地位，擁有跨越國界、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）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