Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c6.s2.t3.11

v1.c6.s2.t3.11

Meanwhile, Tao Hongjing, on the basis of reviewing and revising *Chinese Ephedra from Shen Nong’s Chinese Materia Medica*, added some new knowledge on medicine found at his time into his book *Collective Notes to the Canon of Materia medica*, another classic for the development of the Chinese traditional medicine and herbalism. The book is available in the three volume or seven volume version, collecting 730 kinds of drugs which are first categorised in accordance with the property of a medicine and include such seven categories as “Jade and Stone”, “Herb”, “Insect and Beast”, “Fruit”, “Vegetable”, “Food” and “Disused”. Now, there are two editions of *Collective Notes to the Canon of Materia Medica* available in the world, one is collected in the library of Ryukoku University in Japan, a manuscript of Buddhist texts from Dunhuang Caves Temple discovered by Otani Expedition during their third exploration. The front of the original volume (the serial number is Dragon 530) is *Collective Notes to the Canon of Materia medica* and *Mahaprajnaparamita Upadesha* while the back is *Dharmagupta-vinaya Buddhist Monk Pratimoksa*. This is the foreword of Volume I of the book and its contents were basically completely preserved. The other edition is collected in the National Library of Germany, the fragmented pieces of *Collective Notes to the Canon of Materia Medica* unearthed in Turpan, codenamed as ch. 1036v. This is the Volume III of the book, transcribed at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (the start of seventh century). The other books written by Tao Hongjing include *Essentials of Nature Cultivation and Longevity*, *Zhen Gao* and *Supplementary Records of Famous Physicians* and so on. About more studies on Tao Hongjing, please refer to *Collected Essays on Tao Hongjing* (Qilu Publishing House, 2003).