1518-1593

Chinese Pharmacologist and Physician

Li Shih Chen was born in the Hupeh province in northeast China, into a family whose male ancestors were educated in medicine and practiced pharmacy. His father was a medical officer who wrote five treatises, one of them on smallpox. Li Shih Chen's major work is called the Pen Ts'ao or Pen Ts'ao kang mu.

Like European Renaissance notables, great thinkers in China were compiling knowledge of the past and creating encyclopedic works and collections. Li Shih Chen was born during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a time known for its brilliance and prosperity. Yung Lo, the third emperor, built grand temples and palaces in Peking, architectural wonders that awed the rest of the world.

Li's father encouraged him to become a civil servant like himself, but Li was unable to progress. His interests lay in medicine, and his father...