Who was LI SHIZHEN? #1

Scholar Worthy of Emulation #1

Li Shizhen was a highly influential figure in Chinese medicine and the author of the revered text Bencao Gangmu (Great Compendium of Herbs). The Bencao Gangmu is one of the most frequently mentioned books in the Chinese herbal tradition, rivaled only by the Shanghan Lun. Li Shizhen’s image (see Figures 1-7) is to be found at every traditional medical college in China and in any illustrated book about the history of Chinese medicine. Li Shizhen was the subject of a 1956 Chinese movie about his life and accomplishments. The modern kung-fu actor Jet Li described Li Shizhen as the person he most looks up to. There is a Li Shizhen award given to doctors and researchers who make valuable contributions to traditional Chinese Medicine. He is further given recognition in the labeling of herb products and there is even a Li Shizhen brand of herbs. One can say that in the pantheon of the greatest scholars of traditional China, Li Shizhen is the last towering figure to be recognized and, by virtue of that position, the main scholar who has been worthy of emulation ever since.

The biographical information presented here about Li Shizhen and his main publication, the Bencao Gangmu, are derived primarily from three sources: the books History and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (1) and Medicine in China: History of Pharmaceutics (2), and the article China’s greatest naturalist (3).

Li Shizhen was born in Waxiaopa, a small village just north of Qizhou on the Yellow River in what was northern Huguang and is today Hubei Province (see maps, Figure 8, 9). He was born in 1518 A.D., at the height of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), which was a time when Neo-Confucianism gained many adherents. This doctrine emphasized the importance of personal behavior, morality, self-cultivation, study, meditation, and careful thought, while it downplayed the value of crafts and technology, including the practice of medicine. Neo-Confucianism was to have a significant influence on Li Shizhen’s life.

Li Shizhen’s grandfather, who died when Shizhen was still an infant, had been an itinerant doctor; he would carry medicine pills and acupuncture needles as he journeyed from place to place, selling his services as a diagnostician and healer (see Figures 10 and 11, paintings depicting itinerant doctors). Such doctors were called lingyi, bell doctors, because they would announce their presence by ringing a bell; they were also called zoufang, wandering doctors, because they offered their services by visiting various places, especially the bazaars where many people gathered. Li Shizhen’s grandfather traveled across the rivers and lakes of the Qizhou region to visit towns at some distance from home.

The itinerant doctors became known for an item they carried called a tiger’s sting, which could serve as the ringing bell (by tilting the ring, thus rotating the ball within it) to announce their presence. The story behind this icon was relayed by Mai Sun in 1890 in his description of itinerant doctors (4):

They hold an iron implement in their hand which is shaped like a round hollow container. In this otherwise empty container, they swing an iron ball around in a circle. The implement has been called a tiger sting since the time of Li Cikou from the Song Period [around the 13th Century, when itinerant doctors are first mentioned in the medical literature]. Cikou was an itinerant doctor. He frequently traveled far into the mountains. Once, he encountered a tiger who had a thorn in his mouth and sought help from Li Cikou. Cikou placed the said implement into the tiger’s mouth in order to pull out the thorn. His art later gained fame everywhere. Those who carry on his art all carry this implement as their symbol and call it "tiger’s sting."

The pills carried by these doctors were the early "patent medicines." The doctors required that the medicines, which were carried about in a bag slung over their shoulder or hung from their waist, had the qualities of being inexpensive, rapidly effective, and convenient. These qualities are today attributed to the Chinese patent medicines produced in large factories. In addition to carrying herbs and acupuncture needles, the doctors would perform moxibustion, pull rotted teeth, and apply salves to skin blemishes.

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