ABSTRACT
In ancient Chinese medical literature, the term Bencao (literally ‘roots and herbs’) is used as an equivalent to the modern term ‘pharmacology’. In the biography of Lou Hu in the Hanshu (History of the Former Han), it is said that he ‘had mastered several tens of thousands of words [of books relating to] medical canons, Bencao and special arts’.1 Here Bencao refers to pharmacological works. Accordingly ancient pharmacological works frequently have ‘Bencao’ in their titles.
