The Story of Li Shizhen (1 of 2)
 
According to his biography in The Unauthorized History of the Ming Dynasty, Li Shizhen was born in Qizhou (today’s Qichun County in Hubei Province). His courtesy name was Dongbi. Li lived from 1518 to 1593 AD in the Ming dynasty.
 
Li's grandfather and father were both doctors. His father did not want Li Shizhen to become a doctor, rather he hoped that Li would take the Civil Service Exam and become a government official.
 
When Li Shizhen was born, a white deer entered the room and gave birth to a baby deer. Since his childhood, he thought it had been decreed by fate that he would study something related to divinity.
 
When Li Shizhen was fourteen, he started to attend the Civil Service Exam but "He was behind other students and failed three times in the county (lowest level) exams."
 
Li Shenzhen loved to read books and was very knowledgeable since he read all kind of books. Though he read books for ten years, he did not leave his home. In his heart, he did not have the desire to be an official. Among the books he read, Li liked medical books the best and was very good at medicine, so he regarded himself as a doctor.
 
The King of Chu at the time heard that Li was very proficient in medicine and offered him a position in charge of civilian physicians. Later on, the king’s son had a sudden potentially fatal disease and Li cured him straightaway. The king recommended him to the emperor, who gave him a post in the Imperial Medical Institute. However, after one year at the post, Li quit and went back to his hometown.
 
In ancient China, the first book about herbal medicine was written by Shennong before 2070 BC. There were only 365 herbs recorded in the book and none of the later books increased the number of identified herbs. In the Liang Dynasty (502 – 557 AD), Tao Hongjing compiled a summary of herbs but did not add any either. During the Tang Dynasty, Su Gong (599 – 674 AD) added 114 herbs. Liu Han (919 – 990 AD) added another 120 in the Song Dynasty. There were a total of 1558 herbs after the additions made by other notable doctors such as Zhang Yuxi (992 – 1068 AD) and Tang Shenwei, which was considered to be comprehensive at the time.
 
However, Li Shizhen thought the categories were too numerous and the names were not properly assigned. Sometimes one herb was classified as two or three types and sometimes two herbs were identified as the same. He did not think the herbs were properly documented. Therefore Li Shizhen devoted thirty-years of effort to compile the Bencao Gangmu (The Great Compendium of Herbs) after three revisions and consultation with more than 800 books.
 
Three hundred seventy-four more herbs were added in the Bencao Gangmu, which consists of 16 volumes and 52 chapters. The principle classification system was the Gang (Class) and then the Mu (Order) in order to expand and rectify the previous descriptions of herbs. Secondly, he also summarized explanations and corrected previous mistakes, as well as providing detailed descriptions of the origins and appearances of herbs, their scents, their major functions and side effects.
 
Li Shenzhen wrote in the original introduction of the book that reading classics is like chewing sugar cane, "the more one chews, the sweeter it gets." With such enjoyment, he succeeded in finishing his Bencao Gangmu.



李时珍的故事 (上)
 
按《明外史・本传》：李时珍，字东璧，蕲州人（今湖北省蕲春县）。生于明武宗正德十三年（公元1518年），卒于神宗万历二十一年（公元1593年）。
 
李时珍的祖父和父亲世代皆当医生。父亲希望他读书考试当官，不愿让他当医生。
 
李时珍出生之时，有白鹿入室，有紫芝产于庭中。自幼就以为修习“神仙之学”乃是命中定好了的。
 
李时珍于十四岁时开始科举考试，却“补诸生，三试于乡都不能得成”。
 
李时珍喜欢读书，非常的博学，几乎所有的书都读都看。已经读书十年，却从未出家门。他心中并无当官的想法与意愿。他所读的书中，尤其喜好而且善于医学方面，就以医生自居。
 
当时的楚王听闻时珍的医术了得，聘他为奉祠掌管良医的事情。后来楚王的世子暴厥，李时珍立刻救活了他。于是将他举荐于朝廷，授给太医院判的职位。可是，李时珍只做了一年的官就不做了，归回故里。
 
中国古代的医家本草之书，上自神农所传，就止有三百六十五种。在梁・陶弘景时修本草，本草数量亦没有增加。至唐朝，苏恭增加一百一十四种，宋朝刘翰又增一百二十种，到了掌禹锡、唐慎微诸先生，先后增补，加上以前的共一千五百五十八种，当时认为已经算是完善的。
 
然而，李时珍认为，品数太烦多，名称也太杂，有时或一物而析为二三，或二物而混为一品，他以为这样是不正确的。于是“穷搜搏采、芟烦补阙”，历经三十年，阅读的书籍八百余家，书稿订正三次而着成《本草纲目》一书。
 
《本草纲目》增加药物达三百七十四种，分为一十六部，合共五十二卷，首标正名为“纲”，其余各附释为“目”，以补足与纠正药物的原数据。次以集解，辨疑正误，将出产形色等详细说明也。又次以气味、主治、附方，当作本草的体用。
 
李时珍在《本草纲目》原序中自述，读古书典籍，就像吃糖啃甘蔗一样，“长耽嗜典籍，若啖蔗饴”，《本草纲目》一书就是在这样的情况中，增删考证而著作成功的。