笔耕本草 嘉惠后学——纪念《本草纲目》初刻暨李时珍逝世410周年

The Writing of COMPENDIUM OF MATERIA MEDICA Benefiting Later Generations—A Memento of the Writing of COMPENDIUM OF MATERIA MEDICA and the 410^(th) Anniversary of LI Shizhen

李时珍 (15 18～ 15 93) ,出身医学世家 ,他的博学精神贯穿于他人生的全部 ,在他的所有著述中 ,章头句尾都显露着他超人的才华 ,他一生著述颇丰 ,对祖国医药学理论的发展、完善做出了不可磨灭的贡献 ,是我国明代伟大的医药学家 ,也是人类历史上杰出的科学家。《本草纲目》是李时珍的鼎杠之作 ,是我国古代著作中论述中药最全面、最丰富、最系统的典籍 ,它集药学、医学、文学、博物学于一体 ,共收入药物 1892种 ,附方 110 96首 ,插图 110 9幅。《本草纲目》问世不久 ,即在国内外引起了强烈的反响 ,自 15 93年初刻至 2 0 0 2年止 ,国内各种版本已超过百种 ,每隔 5～ 6年就有一种新版出现 ;自 16 0 6年首传日本 ,4 0 0年间《本草纲目》被译成日、英、法、德、俄、拉丁等众多版本 ,成为我国有史以来被译成外文最多的医学著作之一。李时珍和他的《本草纲目》深深受到世界人民的重视和爱戴 ,作为中外文化交流的纽带 ,它已远远超越了国界和医学的范围 。

LI Shizhen (1518-1593) was born in a doctor’s family, and his profound knowledge run through his whole life. All his works have revealed his outstanding genius. He remained prolific lifelong, and has contributed greatly to the development, and perfection of theories of Chinese Medicine. He is both a great pharmacist in the Ming dynasty and a prominent scientist in human history. COMPENDIUM OF MATERIA MEDICA is his masterpiece and the classic on materia medica, being comprehensive, rich, and systematic. It is the unity of pharmacy, medical science, literature, and botany with a collection of 1892 kinds of herbs, 11096 prescriptions, and 1109 illustrations. Soon after it came out, it has evoked worldwide repercussions. From the year 1593 to 2002, there have been over a hundred versions of it, with each published every five to six years. Ever since year 1606 when it was first passed on to Japan, it has been translated into Japanese, English, French, German, Russian, and Latin, thus becoming the medical work that enjoys the most translated versions in China. LI Shizhen and his COMPENDIUM OF MATERIA MEDICA have won worldwide attention and esteem, and became ties of cultural exchanges. It has outgrown national boundaries and medical world, and grown into the treasure of the whole mankind.