Li Shizhen

Li Shizhen was a Ming-dynasty physician, pharmacologist, and naturalist best known for compiling the *Bencao Gangmu* (*Compendium of Materia Medica*). This encyclopedic work organized medicinal substances alongside descriptions, illustrations, and thousands of prescriptions, while also drawing on botanical, zoological, and mineral knowledge. Its systematic scope made Li a major figure in the history of Chinese medicine and natural history.