| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 234 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Prologue -- Conception: Birth of a naturalist -- Generation: Anantomy of a naturalist -- (Interlude) Here be dragons: A reader's guide to the Bencao gangmu -- Transformation: Elements of change -- Transformation: Sprouts of change -- Transformation: Bodies of change -- Transformation: Creatures of change -- Conclusion. Rot and rebirth: The afterlife and reincarnation of a naturalist -- Appendices. A: Li Shizhen, Lidai zhujia bencao [Bencao works through the ages]; B: Contents of the Bencao gangmu [Systematic materia medica] |
| Summary |
"This is the story of a Chinese doctor, his book, and the creatures that danced within its pages. The Monkey and the Inkpot introduces natural history in sixteenth-century China through the iconic Bencao gangmu (Systematic materia medica) of Li Shizhen (1518-1593)." "The encyclopedic Bencao gangmu is widely lauded as a classic embodiment of pre-modern Chinese medical thought. In the first book-length study in English of Li's text, Carla Nappi reveals a "cabinet of curiosities" of gems, beasts, and oddities whose author was devoted to using natural history to guide the application of natural and artificial objects as medical drugs. Nappi examines the making of facts and weighing of evidence in a massive collection where tales of wildmen and dragons were recorded alongside recipes for ginseng and peonies." "Nappi challenges the idea of a monolithic tradition of Chinese herbal medicine by showing the importance of debate and disagreement in early modern scholarly and medical culture. The Monkey and the Inkpot also illuminates the modern fate of a book that continues to shape alternative healing practices, global pharmaceutical markets, and Chinese culture."--Jacket |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-205) and index |
| Notes |
In English |
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Print version record |
| Subject |
Li, Shizhen, 1518-1593. Ben cao gang mu.
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Li, Shizhen, 1518-1593 -- Influence
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Li, Shizhen, 1518-1593.
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Li, Shizhen, 1518-1593 |
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Li, Shizhen 1518-1593 Bencao gangmu |
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Li, Shizhen. Bencao gangmu. |
| SUBJECT |
Ben cao gang mu (Li, Shizhen) fast |
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China Zusammenstellung gnd |
| Subject |
Natural history -- China -- History
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Medicine, Chinese -- History -- 16th century
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Naturalists -- China -- Biography
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Physicians -- China -- Biography
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Scholars -- China -- Biography
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Learning and scholarship -- China -- History -- 16th century
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Education -- history
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History, Early Modern 1451-1600
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Medicine, Chinese Traditional -- history
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Physicians -- history
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NATURE -- Essays.
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NATURE -- Reference.
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TRAVEL -- Special Interest -- Ecotourism.
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HISTORY -- Modern -- 16th Century.
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Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
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Intellectual life
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Learning and scholarship
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Medicine, Chinese
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Natural history
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Naturalists
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Physicians
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Scholars
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Arzneibuch
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Medizin -- China -- Geschichte 16. Jh.
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China -- Intellectual life -- 960-1644.
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China |
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China
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China
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| Genre/Form |
Biographies
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History
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| LC no. |
2009009041 |
| ISBN |
9780674054356 |
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0674054350 |
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