Know Your Remedies: Pharmacy and Culture in Early Modern China

This book explores early modern China’s cultural transformation through the lens of pharmacy.

Author He Bian argues that pharmacy’s history in early modern China was dynamic, influenced by elite and popular culture. Decentralizing trends in book culture and fiscal policy in the sixteenth century centralize pharmacy’s role in late Ming public discourse. Amateur pharmacology flourished among the literati before the Qing conquest. The eighteenth century saw a shift from pharmacopeias to a demedicalized natural history, facilitated by long-distance trade and the rise of urban pharmacy shops.Drawing on primary sources, this book is suitable for anyone interested in the history of alternative medicine and non-western medicine.

(This book may contain a sharpie mark on the top or bottom edge and may show mild signs of shelfwear.)