第6章 《本草纲目》

《本草纲目》是一部药物学的洋洋巨著，也可以说是生物学上一部较早的百科全书。它不仅是祖国医学发展史上的光辉成就，也为世界医药学和生物学做出了重大的贡献。

《本草纲目》这部书在明代万历年间出版以后，很快就流传到了日本、朝鲜和越南。十七、十八世纪传入欧洲，立即得到各国的重视。先后被翻译成英文、法文、德文、俄文和拉丁文出版。英国生物学家达尔文在撰写关于进化论的著作（《人类的由来》）时，还引用了《本草纲目》中关于金鱼颜色的形成的史料，来说明动物的人工选择，可见这部著作的价值和影响是多么大。

这部巨著的作者是生活在明代嘉靖、万历年间的李时珍。李时珍最伟大的贡献是对“本草”的研究和整理方面。《本草》是专讲药物的，李时珍在长期的医疗实践中，发现以前的本草不仅缺漏较多，而且有不少错误，李时珍深知这些药书上的混乱和错误，会带来治疗上的严重后果，因此，他决心重新编写一部本草。《本草纲目》是李时珍倾注了毕生精力的不朽巨作。可惜，这部书定稿之后不久，他便与世长辞了，生前没有看到这部书的出版。

Compendium of Materia Medica

Compendium of Materia Medica is a monumental work of pharmacology,also known as an earlier encyclopedia in the field of biology.It acts not only as a brilliant achievement in TCM development,but also a momentous contribution to the world's medicine and biology.

Published in Wanli period of Ming Dynasty（1573—1620），the book spreadrapidly to Japan,Korea,Vietnam,and then to Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.It lured a worldwide attention and was highly valued by the world.It has also been translated and published in English,French,German,Russian and Latin.In his In Human Variation And Origins:An Introduction To Biology And Evolution,the British biologist Charles Robert Darwin（1809—1882）once consulted the book for historical data on the formation of skin colors of gold fish to demonstrate the artificial selection process of animals,a vivid evidence of the great value and influence of the book.

The author of this masterpiece is Li Shizhen.He was a great physician and pharmacologist in the Jiajing period and Wanli period of Ming Dynasty.His most significant contribution falls on the study and organizing of "herbal medicines"，which was finally compiled into a monograph on medication.In his age-long medical practice,Li Shizhen found that there had been a great amount of mismatches and deficiencies and even some inaccuracies in the previous herbal medicine books,which,Li Shizhen affirmed,might lead to dangerous consequences.Given this fact,he was determined to write a book on herbal medicine.Li Shizhen dedicated all his lifetime to this immortal work.It was a pity that he passed away no sooner than the manuscript had just been finalized.He failed to witness the publication of the book in his life time.