It is a photocopy version as the original has been kept in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, or the National library of Italy, for over 200 years.

The codex, which has similar significance with the Compendium of Materia Medical, was compiled by 49 people in 1503 under the command of Emperor Xiaozong (1470-1505), the 10th emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The codex embodies 1,815 kinds of medicine, which were categorized into 10 parts, such as fruit, wood and stone.

To cater to the emperor, who was a painting and calligraphy fan, the compiler gave up the advanced engraving printing technique and turned to hand writing.

There were eight royal painters and 14 copyists in charge of the codex. With more than 1,350 color sketches, it was believed to be the first color book in China.

The emperor died just two months after the codex's completion and a dozen people from the compilation team were sent to jail.

The codex was subsequently banned and had been kept in the royal library ever since.

It was not found until 1700 when Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ordered a copy be turned into a paperback without the paintings.

The Ming copy later went to Prince Yunxiang, the 13th son of Emperor Kangxi, who kept it until a bishop took it to Rome in the middle of the 18th century.

(China Daily October 11, 2002)