First page of the first edition of Bencao Gangmu (Systematic Materia Medica), woodblock print; held in held in the Rare Books collection of the Library of Zhongguo zhongyi yanjiu yuan (China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Li Shizhen completed his monumental pharmaceutical encyclopedia, Bencao gangmu, in 1578 at the age of 60. The first edition - known as the Jinling edition - was engraved by Hu Chenglong at Jinling (present-day Nanjing) in 1590. This is the first half-folio of juan (volume/fascicle) 1.
Juan 1 is devoted to a historical survey of the literature on materia medica. It includes an annotated bibliography and sections on key concepts of Chinese medicine and pharmacology. The bibliography begins with an introduction to the two ancient classics Shen Nong bencao jing (The Divine Farmer' s Canon of Materia Medica) and Mingyi bielu (Additional Records of Famous Physicians) and concludes with Bencao gangmu itself.
