Completed in 1578 and printed in 1596, three years after the death of
李时珍. Its 52 scrolls describe 1,892 medicinal substances from plants, minerals and animals, with over 11,000 prescriptions and more than a thousand illustrations.
本草 is the old word for materia medica, and
纲目 'headings and subheadings' names its system of classification.
