Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume 6: Vegetables & Fruits in Healing Traditions

The Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica), compiled by Li Shizhen (1518–1593), is the most comprehensive encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine. Volume 6 translates Chapters 26–33, focusing entirely on vegetables and fruits — foods that remain central to health, diet, and medicine today. This volume captures not only the nutritional and therapeutic uses of everyday crops but also the cultural and symbolic value they held in Ming China.

Why It’s Tough Enough for Tough Kraut
• Focus on Everyday Foods: This volume explores the medicinal and dietary role of vegetables and fruits, bridging food and medicine in traditional practice.
• Practical & Accessible: Unlike exotic remedies or minerals, these entries highlight common plants that still appear in gardens, orchards, and kitchens worldwide.
• UNESCO-Registered Heritage: As part of the Ben Cao Gang Mu, recognized by UNESCO in 2011, this work preserves centuries of food-as-medicine wisdom.
• Living Relevance: For gardeners, homesteaders, and herbalists, it demonstrates how ordinary crops can be powerful tools for resilience and health.

Proven Finishing Touches
• Cultural Significance: Fruits and vegetables were described not only for physical health but also for seasonal balance and symbolic meaning.
• Trusted Translation: Paul Unschuld’s annotated edition ensures clarity, with the original Chinese text presented alongside English commentary.
• Praised for Practicality: Readers highlight how this volume bridges historical insight with familiar foods we still grow and eat.

Why We Love It
At Tough Kraut, this volume feels closest to home. Just like Li Shizhen documented the healing role of fruits and vegetables in the 16th century, we see them as cornerstones of a resilient homestead today. From garden beds to food forests, these plants embody the connection between nourishment and medicine. This book reminds us that health often starts in the soil and on the plate.

Get Yours Now
Ready to rediscover vegetables and fruits as medicine? Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume 6 is available through University of California Press and on Amazon in your region, including the United States, United Kingdom, Spain and Germany.

Specifications
• Title: Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume 6: Vegetables, Fruits
• Author: Li Shizhen (1518–1593)
• Translator/Editor: Paul Unschuld
• Publisher: University of California Press
• Series: Ben Cao Gang Mu (9 volumes, 10 books)
• First Draft Completed: 1578 (Ming Dynasty)
• UNESCO Registration Year: 2011
• ISBN: 978-0520395176