“Compendium of Materia Medica” is a collection of Chinese materia medica before the 16th century, finalized in the sixth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1578), officially published in Nanjing in the twenty-third year of Wanli (1596), the author is Li Shizhen, a medical scientist, pharmacist and naturalist. This work is included in the “Siku Quanshu”, which is a sub-department of doctors.
The “Compendium of Materia Medica” took more than ten years from completion to engraving. Li Shizhen visited Qizhou, Huangzhou and Wuchang, but no bookseller was willing to print. In 1579, he went to Nanjing Liubu Zhili (abbreviated as Nanzhili, Nanjing) to seek publication, but was unsuccessful. In 1590, it was engraved with the patronage of Hu Chenglong, a bibliophile and publisher in Nanjing. However, Li Shizhen died at home less than three years ago, and he was unable to see his book published.
