Li Shizhen

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2019

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of Li Shizhen (1518-1593) whose compendium of natural medicines is celebrated in China as the most complete survey of natural remedies of its time. He trained as a doctor and worked at the Ming court before spending almost 30 years travelling in China, inspecting local plants and animals for their properties, trying them out on himself and then describing his findings in his Compendium of Materia Medica or Bencao Gangmu, in 53 volumes. He's been called the uncrowned king of Chinese naturalists, and became a scientific hero in the 20th century after the revolution. With Craig Clunas Professor Emeritus in the History of Art at the University of Oxford Anne Gerritsen Professor in History at the University of Warwick And Roel Sterckx Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History at the University of Cambridge Producer: Simon Tillotson

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:04.8	Thanks for downloading this episode of In Our Time.
0:07.4	There's a reading list to go with it on our website,
0:09.5	and you can get news about our programs if you follow us on Twitter
0:12.9	at BBC In Our Time.
0:14.8	I hope you enjoyed the programs.
0:16.8	Hello, in China, the name of Lee Shujun, 1518 to 1593,
0:21.6	is as famous as Isaac Newton's name is here.
0:24.8	He was a medical doctor and he scarred his country
0:27.3	for thousands of natural remedies
0:29.0	for almost 30 years, classifying them and compiling them
0:32.0	into a great work of two million characters.
0:34.8	His compendium set a standard for centuries,
0:37.3	and even as modern medicine was spreading after the revolution,
0:40.3	Mao celebrated him as the learned barefoot doctor
0:43.7	offering treatment from door to door,
0:45.6	and an example to others from the age of the Ming.
0:48.8	We met with the discuss Lee Shujun, our rule-stirks,
0:51.7	Joseph Newton Professor of Chinese History at the University
0:54.2	of Cambridge, and a Gerritan Professor in History
0:57.1	at the University of Warwick, and Craig Cloonis,
0:59.3	Professor Emeritus in the History of Art at the University
	...

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