What Bencao Dian is
Bencao Dian is an open-access scholarly compilation. It organises — bilingually, and in a form that can be independently verified — the factual contents of two thousand years of Chinese medical literature: herb compositions, meridian entries, actions, formula combinations, pattern differentiations, classical case records. All facts are drawn from long-public-domain classical texts. All modern pharmacology summaries are paraphrases of the cited sources — they are never verbatim copies of any copyrighted work.
Facts are not copyrightable
"Gancao enters the Heart, Lung, Spleen, and Stomach channels" is a fact. "Gui Zhi Tang consists of cinnamon twig, peony, ginger, jujube, and licorice in a 3:3:3:12:2 ratio" is a fact stated in Zhang Zhongjing's Shanghan Lun (~200 CE). Every herb composition, formula combination, meridian entry, dosage, indication, and pattern manifestation recorded in Bencao Dian is a fact that has circulated in the public domain for between several hundred and two thousand years.
Under the copyright law of China, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, and almost every other jurisdiction, facts themselves are not subject to copyright. Anyone is free to compile and state them.
Classical quotations are public domain
The classical sources quoted in Bencao Dian — the Huangdi Neijing, Shanghan Lun, Jingui Yaolüe, Shennong Bencao Jing, Pi Wei Lun, Wenbing Tiao Bian, Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang, Yifang Jijie, Yilin Gaicuo, Linzheng Zhinan Yi'an, and Binhu Maixue — are all texts older than one hundred years and have entered the public domain in every jurisdiction. Their text may be freely reproduced, quoted, translated, annotated, and used commercially.
Every quotation carries a chapter, section, or line citation so that any reader can independently verify it. Quoted text is always the verbatim received reading — never a paraphrase or summary.
What is original to Bencao Dian
The following items are original to Bencao Dian, are protected by copyright, and are openly licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (content) and the MIT license (code):
- English translations of the classical quotations;
- Long-form bilingual descriptions, teaching commentary, and the sovereign-minister-assistant-envoy analysis on every entry;
- Modern pharmacology summaries (paraphrased from the cited sources, never verbatim);
- Hand-authored tongue-state SVGs and pulse waveform diagrams;
- The graph structure and cross-entity relationships among patterns, herbs, formulas, channels, and texts;
- All source code, layout design, data schema, and font subsetting;
- Content and algorithms for the adaptive quiz, differentiation wizard, and learn-path checkpoints.
If you reuse any of the above, please follow the attribution and share-alike terms of CC BY-SA 4.0, or see How to Cite.
Sources for modern pharmacology
Every herb's "modern pharmacology" section cites its source. Bencao Dian uses only the following five widely-recognised references, and every paragraph is a paraphrase of the cited source rather than a verbatim transcription. Any direct quotation is taken under the academic norms of fair use / fair dealing:
- Bensky, Clavey & Stöger — Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd edition (Eastland Press)
- Chen & Chen — Chinese Medical Herbology and Pharmacology (Art of Medicine Press)
- WHO Monographs on Selected Medicinal Plants, vols. 1–4 (World Health Organization)
- Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China 2020
- Brinker — Herbal Contraindications and Drug Interactions, 4th edition (Eclectic Medical Publications)
If you find any passage that constitutes substantial similarity to or verbatim copying of one of these sources, please contact us using the notice-and-takedown procedure below so we can review and correct it.
On pedagogical composite cases
A subset of the entries in the "Cases" section are pedagogical composites — teaching examples written in the clinical style, prescribing habits, and reasoning of a historical master, but not verbatim transcriptions of any single original case. Every such entry is clearly marked at the top of its page with a "Composite case" notice and a link to the original source text. The intent is to provide clear pedagogical examples for learners; the historical authority of these entries differs from that of verbatim cases, and any scholarly citation should be made against the original sources.
Notice and takedown
Bencao Dian aims to respect the rights of all copyright holders. If you are the copyright holder of a work and you believe that an entry on this site reproduces your copyrighted material without authorisation, please contact us through one of the channels below. We will, to the extent reasonably practicable, review the matter promptly upon receipt and take appropriate action — which may include rewriting the passage, removing it, or adding clearer attribution.
Contact channels:
- GitHub issue (preferred): open an issue on the Bencao Dian repository. Issues are public, auditable, and timestamped.
- Email: editorial@bencaodian.org
Please include in your notice:
- the URL of the entry page containing the allegedly infringing material;
- the original work whose copyright you hold (title, edition, page or paragraph reference);
- a statement of your identity and the nature of your interest in the copyright;
- your contact details for our reply.
Reasonable-efforts disclaimer. Bencao Dian is a small scholarly editorial project, not a commercial organisation with a 24-hour abuse desk. We do not commit to any fixed response time, but we do commit to making reasonable, good-faith efforts to review notices promptly upon receipt and to act on them as soon as reasonably practicable. Please understand that responses may be delayed by illness, travel, or other personal matters; emails may occasionally be flagged as spam, and GitHub notifications may be missed. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within a reasonable period, please try the alternative channel.
Where a matter raises legal questions, both parties should attempt to resolve it in good faith first. If escalation is unavoidable, disputes are governed by the law of the jurisdiction in which the Bencao Dian servers are hosted.
Disclaimer
All content on Bencao Dian is provided for scholarly reference and educational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or prescription. Clinical decisions must be made by qualified licensed practitioners based on the individual circumstances of each patient. This site is provided "as is" with no warranty, express or implied, as to accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose. Any action taken on the basis of content from this site is the reader's own responsibility.