Ben Cao Gang Mu in Modern Clinical Practice

Course overview

Dr Paul Unschuld gives an overview about using The Ben cao gang mu in modern practice. This ancient book is a unique document based on literal quotes from more than 1000 literary sources from the preceding two millennia. Its author, the physician Li Shizhen, who lived from 1518-1593, took his knowledge from all echelons of Chinese historical society. Beggars, convicts, monks, priests, physicians, scholars, dukes and emperors were equally acknowledged as contributors. One of the most impressive features of the Ben cao gang mu is the detailed style of discussion presented by author Li Shizhen. Nowhere else in pre-modern Chinese literature can you find citations of numerous different views and voices in a way that illustrates the development of knowledge about specific substances. In this way, the texts guide readers to definite judgment about the items therapeutic potential and possible dangers. I hope that the English translation of the Ben cao gang mu will open a new era in the Western reception of Chinese Medicine. As valuable and indispensable as the many books on Chinese materia medica written in Western languages are, their content has been sifted through the sieves of modern knowledge, worldviews, and expectations. This Ben cao gang mu translation offers direct access to a vast accumulation of Chinese knowledge, a unique and valuable window into the past and culture of China