Overview

Distills ten volumes, four dictionaries, and 1,800 years of knowledge into an authoritative introduction to the Ben cao gang mu. The Ben cao gang mu was the world's most comprehensive encyclopedia of natural history and medicine when it was published in China in 1593. In fifty-two chapters, the physician Li Shizhen evaluated the wisdom of two millennia about plants, animals, minerals, and artificial substances used in medicine and collected it with countless verbatim quotations and his own supplementary comments. A Catalog of Benevolent Items provides the first single-volume introduction to this vast record of the classical Chinese world. Edited and translated by Paul U. Unschuld, a leading expert on historical Chinese medical texts, this anthology offers little-known details of China's historical knowledge of nature; traditional Chinese medicine and its theoretical foundations; social and cultural facets of ancient Chinese civilization not documented elsewhere; and the information management of a sixteenth-century Chinese scholar. Thoughtfully curated and organized by theme, A Catalog of Benevolent Items provides an accessible gateway to this foundational work.

Full Product Details

Author:   Li Shizhen ,  Paul U. Unschuld
Publisher:   University of California Press
Imprint:   University of California Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.544kg
ISBN:  

9780520404243

ISBN 10:   0520404246
Pages:   410
Publication Date:   01 October 2024
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Awaiting stock  
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Table of Contents

Contents Preface  Prolegomena  Historical background  Biographical sketch of Li Shizhen (1518 – 1593)  Structure and contents of the Ben cao gang mu  Notes on the translation  1. Division of items: 16 sections  2. Widespread culture, local customs, personal interventions  3. Visions of associations: From magic correlations observed in equal appearances and  functions to systematized correspondences of the yin and yang and Five Phases doctrines  4. Cosmic structures: Numbers, time, and cardinal directions  5. Demons and spirits, shamans and exorcism  6. Involvement of Buddhists and Daoists  7. The human body: Its organs and paths of entrance  8. Standing up to nature: Cosmetics, body enhancement, anti-aging  9. Social and natural conditioning: Gender and sex  10. The significance of reproduction: Fertility and pregnancy, abortion and birth  11. Case records: Assessment and justification of therapeutic strategies  12. Neglected heritage: Tool-supported therapy  13. Sources of therapeutic expertise: Beggar and sovereign, chance encounters and dreams 14. Dealing with poison  15. Raw materials found in nature and objects produced from them  16. Explanation of names  17. “Further research is required”: Controversy and judgment  18. Sample text and plant monograph: Chai hu, sickle-leaved hare’s ear  Appendix Dynasties  Approximate times of persons and texts mentioned in the anthology  Glossary 

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Author Information

Paul U. Unschuld is Professor and Director of the Institute for the Theory, History, and Ethics of Chinese Life Sciences at Charité – Medical University, Berlin. His previous books include Medicine in China: A History of Ideas and What Is Medicine? Western and Eastern Approaches to Health Care.

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