The Monkey and the Inkpot: Natural History and Its Transformations in Early Modern China

本書關於「本草綱目」的研究，評論者說，這還是英語世界的第一本專著，讓人有些驚訝。從介紹看來，內容頗值得期待。附帶一題，在本書作者Carla Nappi教授的學校網頁上，她還說自己正在學習阿拉伯語文，以便將來投入研究中國與伊斯蘭世界的科學文化交流。

The Monkey and the Inkpot: Natural History and Its Transformations in Early Modern China

Carla Nappi

Publisher: Harvard University Press; 1 edition (October 15, 2009)

Reviews

Carla Nappi takes us into one of the greatest Chinese encyclopedias of the natural world and its medicinal properties, the Bencao gangmu, which inspired the vision of the Chinese encyclopedia that haunts the pages of Borges and Foucault. Nappi draws us into the Bencao's complexities, and into the fertile and restless mind of its creator, Li Shizhen. Nappi opens the door on Li's cabinet of wonders.

--Paula Findlen, Stanford University

This first book-length treatment of the [Bencao Gangmu] in English contains a great deal of interest and is undoubtedly a major contribution to its field.

--Steve Moore (Fortean Times )

Product Description

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.

About the Author

Carla Nappi is Assistant Professor of History at the University of British Columbia