The Materia Medica Reading Club was officially established on February 16, 2011 by medical experts such as Professor Zhao Zhongzhen, Professor Wu Jialin, Professor Chen Hubiao, Professor Cao Hui, Professor Mei Quanxi and Professor Wang Jiakui, with the purpose of reviewing the classics, making the world pay attention to the Compendium of Materia Medica, and preparing for the 500th anniversary of Li Shizhen’s birth in 2018.
At first, the Materia Medica Reading Club was a relaxed and free reading group, which regularly exchanged
experiences with scholars and experts in Materia Medica, and welcomed all scholars who were interested in Materia Medica. Since the first meeting on 16 February 2011, a number of meetings have been held in Hong Kong, Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Chengdu and Beijing.
The Materia Medica Reading Club will be established in Hong Kong in 2024 to promote the Compendium of Materia Medica and Chinese medicine culture in a more planned way. It is expected that in the future, there will be people of different identities and ages who will join, so that the ideas can be active and there is no framework for the meeting, so that the content of the conference can stimulate a lot of sparks and inspiration.