Xinxiu bencao explained

The Xinxiu bencao, also known as the Tang bencao, is a Chinese pharmacopoeia written in the Tang dynasty by a team of officials and physicians headed by editor-in-chief . It borrowed heavily from—and expanded upon—the earlier by Tao Hongjing. The text was first published in 659; although it is now considered lost in China, at least one copy exists in Japan, where the text had been transmitted to in 721.

Contents

Comprising fifty-three or fifty-four juan (Chinese: 卷) or "chapters", the text ostensibly contained both tujing (Chinese: 圖經) or "illustrated descriptions" and yaotu (Chinese: 藥圖) or "drug pictures", although these illustrations are no longer extant. In total, some 850 drugs are listed in the text, including thirty foreign ingredients that were imported into China via the Silk Road, such as benzoin, oak galls, and peppercorn.

Publication history

The idea of a bencao (pharmacopoeia) that would copy and expand on Tao Hongjing's was first mooted in 657 by court counsellor (Chinese: 蘇敬).[1] The project was eventually approved by Emperor Gaozong, following which a team of some twenty-two officials and physicians, including Xu Jingzong, Lü Cai, Li Chunfeng,, and .[2] Li Shiji oversaw the final draft.[3]

According to the Tang huiyao, the Xinxiu bencao was completed on the 17th day of the first lunar month ofthe fourth year of the Xianqing era (656–661).[4] The text was first published in 659, making it the first state-sponsored pharmacopoeia in China, as well as one of the earliest known illustrated pharmaceutical texts.

The Xinxiu bencao was one of the most comprehensive works of its time. It was designated by the Tang government as the "official standard with regard to drug usage", although it is unclear how widespread its readership was, given the lack of a printing press then. By the Song dynasty, the text had become lost in China, although at least one copy still exists in Japan, where it had been transmitted to in 721, and fully translated into Japanese as Honzō wamyō in 1918 by palace doctor Fukane no Sukehito. In the modern era, fragments of the Xinxiu bencao have also been discovered from a book depository in a cave in Dunhuang, Gansu.

References

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. , vol. 82: "顯慶二年，右監門府長史蘇敬上言。陶宏景所撰本草，事多舛謬，請加刪補"
  2. , vol. 26: "詔令檢校中書令許敬宗、太常寺丞呂才、太史令李淳風、禮部郎中孔志約、尚藥奉御許孝崇、并諸名醫等二十人。"
  3. , vol. 26: "仍令司空李勣總監定之。"
  4. , vol. 82: "至四年正月十七日撰成。"

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