Painting: Li Shizhen Gathering Medicinal Herbs.

Li Shizhen (1518 to 1593) nicknamed Dongbi was born in Waxiaopa, a small village just north of Qizhou on the Yellow River in what was northern Huguang and is today Hubei Province. Li Shizhen is the author of The Great Compendium of Herbs which took him thirty years to finish. Li collected and consulted 8oo medical books and revised the text three times. The Great Compendium of Herbs is one of the most frequently mentioned books in the Chinese herbal tradition, containing fifty-two chapters. Li Shizhen, a highly influential figure in Chinese medicine, also wrote other books, such as A Study on the Eight Extra Channels and Pin Hu Mai. (A book on pulse diagnosis)

The research method of Li Shizhen was to consult books and experts in every field. Li collected and consulted 8oo medical books, that is, virtually everything available in print at the time. Li travelled extensively and consulted experts in each area of interest, finding individuals who worked daily with field plants, water animals, snakes, birds, minerals, and so on. With the efforts of thirty years, the first draft of The Great Compedium was finally completed in 1578.

In A Study on the Eight Extra Channels, Li Shizhen noted, “Inner channels could only be observed by those who could see inside the body.” Li thought that only those who had their Celestial Eye opened could see inside the channels and pulses of human bodies.

In the picture, the famous doctor of Ming Dynasty is seen in straw sandals, shouldering a hoe on which is a basket filled with herbs.