Japanese Ben Cao

Preface to the Annotated Japanese Translation of the Compendium of Materia Medica, Volume Two

This volume contains the entirety of the Compendium of Materia Medica original: "Bencao Gangmu," the definitive 16th-century Chinese pharmaceutical encyclopedia by Li Shizhen, Volume 3 (Parts 1 and 2) and Volume 4 (Parts 1, 2, and 3), specifically the section titled "Main Treatments for All Diseases." The headnotes explanatory notes at the top of the page were primarily written by our supervisor, Dr. Mitsutaro Shirai. However, regarding this specific volume, our consultant, the physician original: "kokushu," a respectful term for a doctor Hiroaki Kimura, also dedicated much of his spare time away from his busy medical practice original: "tokei," a literary term for the medical profession to review the entire manuscript and personally add many annotations.

1. In the so-called "old editions," the "Main Treatment Medicines" were merely attached as part of the introductory examples, with the properties of Cold, Hot, Warm, or Cool simply noted under the drug names. However, when Li Dongbi the courtesy name of Li Shizhen, the author edited the Compendium of Materia Medica and created a system of natural scientific classification, he separated these from the introductory examples and established a dedicated category for them. He extracted all the medicinal items from the "Attached Prescriptions" of each main entry. In the annotations, he removed the temperature properties and instead listed the methods of use, creating a comprehensive symptomatic index that leaves almost nothing out. Because his overview was so extensive and erudite, it was inevitable that some minor confusion would occur. Occasionally, one may find discrepancies between the notes in the "Main Treatments" and the descriptions in the "Attached Prescriptions" of the main entries; there are also redundancies and doubtful variations in the characters used. However, these are merely "small flaws in a magnificent gem" a metaphor for minor defects in an otherwise perfect work, and one should rather observe the painstaking effort put into its organization. In producing this translation, we have avoided making forced revisions to these points and have instead endeavored to preserve the original character of the text.