What is the earliest medicine book in ancient China?

Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica is the oldest existing pharmacological monograph in China, the first systematic summary of early clinical medication experience in China, and is known as a classic work of traditional Chinese medicine.

Most of the ancient Chinese medicines in China are plant medicines, so it is called Materia Medica, and this book is also named after Materia Medica.

Shennong's herbal classics originated from Shennong, and Yan Di Shennong was the ancestor of China's pharmacy. He was the first person who tasted herbs all over his body recorded in ancient documents in China. His research achievements in pharmacy and later generations' medication experience were written into China's first pharmaceutical book, Shennong Herbal Classic.

Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica was not written by one era or several people, but a masterpiece of pharmaceutical knowledge about Shennong and his descendants in ancient Yan Di mastered by several times and several people.

Extended data

The mausoleum of Emperor Yandi Shennong is located in Gaoping County, Shanxi Province. There are many legends about Yandi Shennong tasting a hundred herbs.

According to legend, in order to master the performance and efficacy of drugs, Emperor Yan often tasted herbs and collected medicinal materials in Yangtoushan, Gaoping County, and encountered many kinds of poisons such as "seventy poisons a day" and "hundreds of deaths and hundreds of births". One day, he was poisoned by an unknown herb and died of abdominal pain. Later generations called this herb "heartbroken grass".

Legend has it that Emperor Yan took Lysimachia christinae when collecting herbs, and felt unbearable abdominal pain, so he hurried back by horse. After a long walk, I couldn't ride any more, so I had to dismount and let people carry me. Later, this place was called "changing horses", which is today's changing horse village. After a long walk, people found that Emperor Yan was in a different situation and called for help. But Emperor Yan was seriously ill and called for help many times. Later, this place was called "Wu", and later it was homophonic as "Beiying", which is now Beiying Village.

People carried Emperor Yan to a sheltered ravine, put him down to check his illness and found that he had passed away. This place is conveniently called "Wolong Bay". People carried Emperor Yan back to the palace and dressed him for burial. Later, this place was conveniently called "Packaging" and later renamed "Lizhuang", which is now lizhuang village. After the death of Emperor Yan, Emperor Yan's mount moaned all night and ran along the mountain, so this mountain was called "Happy Valley".

Yan Di Shennong has tasted all kinds of herbs and mastered the properties and functions of many drugs. With the evolution of history, society and culture, medical knowledge and experience have become more and more abundant, especially after the appearance of words, the way of recording and disseminating these knowledge has developed from the initial word of mouth to written records, thus producing the earliest existing pharmaceutical book Shennong Herbal Classic in China.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Shennong Herbal Classic