Contents: Li Shizhen's 410-year-old classic, Bencao Gangmu: Compendium of Materia Medica, with its lore chronicling centuries of Chinese medical achievement, now reveals its secrets to the world, thanks to a formidable translation effort. While largely outmoded as a guide to modern pharmaceutical and medical practices, Bencao Gangmu is a treasure trove of information on traditional Chinese medicine and on Chinese folk views of the world, which underlie many of the prescribed treatment regimens.  Thus it is a valuable source of data for medical historians, especially those interested in folk medicine, and for folklorists in general.

Foreign Languages Press