Li Shizhen’s Work of Looking Closely
In Qichun, Li Shizhen’s life and the Compendium of Materia Medica connect local plant knowledge with a long work of collecting and comparison.
Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen was born in 1518 at Qizhou, in present-day Qichun County, Huanggang. Medicine was part of his family’s work. His name is now inseparable from the Bencao Gangmu, known in English as the Compendium of Materia Medica. The connection gives Qichun a human entry into the history of medical writing: a local physician examining received knowledge rather than simply inheriting a finished book.
Li Shizhen
Photo credits and rights
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The entrance bearing the name of Li Shizhen Memorial Museum in Qichun.中共湖北省委宣传部（专题页主办；摄影者未署名） · Rights information Photo source ↗ Orientation normalized from EXIF; resized proportionally without cropping; WebP quality 88; public derivatives contain no source EXIF.
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A statue of Li Shizhen in the memorial museum grounds at Qizhou, Qichun.中共湖北省委宣传部（专题页主办；摄影者未署名） · Rights information Photo source ↗ Orientation normalized from EXIF; resized proportionally without cropping; WebP quality 88; public derivatives contain no source EXIF.