Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu). Translated and annotated by Luo Xiwen. 6 volumes. 2003. XXXII, 4397 p. gr8vo. Hardcover. - English.

Considered one of the key achievements of ancient Chinese civilization for its wealth of information on medicine mineralogy botany zoology and natural science—Compendium of Materia Medica covers the long period between remote antiquity and the Ming Dynasty when the book was first published in 1593. As early as the 17th century Compendium of Materia Medica was introduced through translations to some other countries in Asia Europe and America as an essential work for the study of Chinese medical science ancient Chinese science and technology and ancient Chinese culture and history. However with the exception of a complete Japanese translation published in Japan in the 1970s only parts of Compendium of Materia Medica—mostly having to do with pharmacological therapeutics –have been translated. More difficult sections of the book involving history culture and science have never been translated with only abridged versions of the book available in the west. To fill the void and make accessible to Western readers the full knowledge contained in this great scientific encyclopedia of Materia Medica. The translator and other experts have given many years of dedicated work to this project trying to be true to the original text while providing notes to explain some of the contents in light of modern scientific research. Because of the scope and depth of the material with its many specialized terms translation was extremely difficult. We recognize that some errors are bound to exist despite the utmost efforts of the translator and other experts and we invite readers to point out any mistakes or to make any suggestions for the improvement of future editions. The original edition of the book had more than two million words, and the English edition, with Prof.Luo Xiwen of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as the chief translator, was expanded into a huge work of more than five million words with explanations, notes and indexes.