Li Shizhen (1518-1593) was an outstanding
medical expert in the 16th century. Born in Qizhou (today's Qichun),
he liked iatrology since childhood. He began to practice medicine when young,
and gained fame as a doctor. In order to correct mistakes and missing parts of
the medical books at that time, Li Shizhen spent over 30 years in writing a
famous iatrology book, called Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia
Medica). In the course of compiling the book, he amended his scripts three
times. After the publication of the book, it was gradually translated or
extracted into many kinds of editions, including Japanese, Korea, English, and
German. It is of great importance in the world's scientific history.
In order to commemorate the great iatrology
expert, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, local people built
a mausoleum for him in his hometown. The mausoleum is located on the bank of the
Rain Lake. The newly built bluestone memorial archway loftily stands near the
water, with four big characters on the bluestone meaning Master of Iatrology.
The mausoleum is located in a place, with the front facing the north, surrounded
by green hills and green trees. A water lily pond was newly built in front of
the mausoleum. Red and white flowers are in full bloom.
The statue of Li Shizhen is standing tall
and upright in the mausoleum, and on the base is engraved the autography
epigraph by Mr. Guo Moruo (a famous Chinese writer). Two pavilions with green
titles and flying eaves were built on the two sides of statues. The co-buried
tomb of Li Shizhen and his wife, Mrs. Wu, was behind the statue. There are other
buildings in the mausoleum, such as lotus pond, arch bridge, balcony, parterre,
medicine gardens and hexagonal pavilions.