Science, Medicine & Engineering
Distinguished
Li Shizhen
1517 – 1593
Ming physician who wrote the Compendium of Materia Medica
Distinguished is level 3 of 4 in the China Hall of Fame: sustained excellence over a career, widely honoured at home. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
A Ming dynasty physician and naturalist whose Compendium of Materia Medica described nearly two thousand natural substances used in medicine.
Li Shizhen spent nearly three decades compiling the Compendium, travelling to gather specimens and correcting errors in earlier works. Published after his death, it became the most comprehensive book on medicine and natural history in pre-modern China.
It was later translated into many languages and is listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
It was later translated into many languages and is listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.
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