The New Materia Medica, also known as Yinggong Materia Medica, was edited by Shi Li, a British official at that time. It is the earliest pharmaceutical monograph with legal effect promulgated by the state power organs in the world. It was written in the fourth year of Tang Xianqing (659) and is considered as the earliest pharmacopoeia in the world.

The newly revised style of Materia Medica comes from Notes on Materia Medica, which divides plants, insects and beasts into four parts: grass, wood, birds and beasts, insects and fish. The text of New Materia Medica contains 850 kinds of drugs, and 1 14 kinds of drugs are more than the Notes on Materia Medica written by Tao Hongjing, a pharmacologist of the previous generation, which supplements the contents that ancient books do not have. If the content is wrong, it will be revised again, adding new drugs such as borneol, benzoin, pepper, turmeric and terminalia chebula, and also including Wu Zetian's beauty secret recipe.

As the legal and academic basis for clinical medication, Newly Revised Materia Medica has been circulated for more than 400 years since its official promulgation, representing a milestone in the development of traditional Chinese medicine in medieval China. Japan's "Regulations" record: "All doctors read Su Jingxin's revised materia medica". "Those who study medical classics are limited to 460 days in Tai Su and 3 10 days in newly-established materia medica".

Extended data:

Book writing background

In the third year of Xian Qing (658), Shi Daoqiu, director of the right supervision office, studied materia medica. Ming Taizu ordered 22 people, including Wuji, Xu, Li and Kong Zhiyue, to co-compile New Materia Medica, which was written from the second year of Tang Xianqing (657) to the first year of Tang Xianqing (659).

The book consists of 54 volumes, which are divided into three parts: text, drug map and illustration. "Text" is generally called "Newly Revised Materia Medica" in 20 volumes, with 1 volume in the catalogue; Medical Map Volume 25, Catalogue Volume1; The Book of Maps (7 volumes). "Newly Revised Materia Medica" pioneered the graphic comparison, "Danqing Qi Huan, prepare the ordinary things", but unfortunately, the medicinal maps and illustrations were lost after the Song Dynasty.

There are also mistakes in the newly revised materia medica. For example, Su Jing and others mistook Liquidambar formosana for Liquidambar formosana, and "alchemy" was listed as the top grade. Chen Zangqi made an addendum to the book and compiled it into Notes on Materia Medica. After the Five Dynasties, Shu revised and reprinted Sogo Yinggong Herbal Medicine, which is usually called Shu Herbal Medicine. Manuscripts have been found in Dunhuang Grottoes, and now only remnants are left in the British Museum and the Paris Library. Japan's Gangxi compiled 10 volume "Newly Revised Materia Medica".

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