This book explores the dissemination of knowledge around Chinese medicinal substances from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries in a global context. The author presents a microhistory of the caterpillar fungus, a natural, medicinal substance initially used by Tibetans no later than the fifteenth century and later assimilated into Chinese materia medica from the eighteenth century onwards. Tracing the transmission of the caterpillar fungus from China to France, Britain, Russia and Japan, the book investigates the tensions that existed between prevailing Chinese knowledge and new European ideas about the caterpillar fungus. Emerging in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe, these ideas eventually reached communities of scientists, physicians and other intellectuals in Japan and China. Seeking to examine why the caterpillar fungus engaged the attention of so many scientific communities across the globe, the author offers a transnational perspective on the making of modern European natural history and Chinese materia medica. Di Lu is a historian of medicine and modern science. He studied at the University of Kent and University College London, UK, and served as a Thomas Arthur Arnold Fellow, Dan David Scholar, and Zvi Yavetz Fellow at Tel Aviv University, Israel. His research explores the transnational history of medicine and natural history, with a specific focus on cross-cultural exchanges of medicinal substances and species between East Asia and the West from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries.

This book explores the dissemination of knowledge around Chinese medicinal substances from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries in a global context. The author presents a microhistory of the caterpillar fungus, a natural, medicinal substance initially used by Tibetans no later than the fifteenth century and later assimilated into Chinese materia medica from the eighteenth century onwards. Tracing the transmission of the caterpillar fungus from China to France, Britain, Russia and Japan, the book investigates the tensions that existed between prevailing Chinese knowledge and new European ideas about the caterpillar fungus. Emerging in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Europe, these ideas eventually reached communities of scientists, physicians and other intellectuals in Japan and China. Seeking to examine why the caterpillar fungus engaged the attention of so many scientific communities across the globe, the author offers a transnational perspective on the making of modern European natural history and Chinese materia medica.

This book, “Chinese Materia Medica”, is going to introduce about more than 300 Chinese medicinal substances with illustrations and botanical pictures, including information on the Source, Explanation of Name, Habitat, Collection, Processing, Properties, Entered Channels, Characteristics, Actions, Clinical Applications, Dosage & Administration, Cautions & Contraindications, Ingredients, and Pharmacological Research. Its aim is to show the herbs from as many aspects as we could, the traditional development and the contemporary new findings, the cultural legacy and the scientific evidence, the positive side and the negative side.We are sorry that the DVD content are not included.

One of the cornerstones of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), herbal medicine has evolved over centuries of clinical practice and empirical results into a vast body of knowledge encompassing more than 6,000 substances, most of whose effects and uses have been documented and researched. The literature on Chinese medicinal herbs is unparalleled and unsurpassed in the world's medical knowledge; the earliest known pharmacological work was composed before the end of the third century B.C. The first classical Chinese materia medica appeared during the late Han dynasty (25-22- A.D.) and included 365 entries of botanical, zoological, and mineral substances, listing their properties and effects. Subsequent materia medica were assembled during virtually every dynasty from the Liang (456-536 A.D.) to the Qing (1645-1911). Among the major treatments published during these centuries was the 30-volume Materia Medica Arranged According to Pattern, which had 1558 entries, more than 3,000 formulae, and became the official pharmacopoeia of herbal medicine in China for 500 years. n Illustrated Chinese Materia Medica brings to the English language a lavishly illustrated atlas of the 320 herbs used most frequently in traditional Chinese medical practice. Each substance is profiled authoritatively in monographs that provide pharmaceutical, botanical and English names; flavor properties and channel tropisms; functions; clinical uses and major combinations; dosage and administration; and precautions. Intended for medicinal and pharmaceutical chemists as well as practitioners of homeopathic and alternative medicines, this materia medica offers a unique blend of authenticity that is derived from knowledge of classical Chinese literature with a clearly practical objective of persenting valuable information in a straightforward, easily comprehensible style.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

This book aims to provide readers with adequate knowledge for clinical application of Chinese medicine, which is in line with the fundamental principle of “correspondence of Chinese medicinals and patterns.” It contains a brief introduction to relative theories, divides these medicinals by actions into categories such as exterior-releasing, heat-clearing, purgative, dampness-dispelling, fluid retention-disinhibiting, interior-warming, qi-regulating, blood-invigorating, blood-stanching, food accumulation-relieving, phlegm, cough- and wheezing-arresting, mind-tranquilizing, liver-calming, orifices-opening, tonifying, astringing, and worm-dispelling, and elaborates each herb in terms of its actions, quality, indications, usage, and dosage. Furthermore, mnemonics and simple and effective formulas are included to help readers effectively grasp the concepts behind practical applications, and precautions and daily practices are specifically designed to support readers in easily understanding and retaining the information.