Voyage of Ben Cao, Part Ⅱ:Development of Chinese Medicinal Specimens in the British Museum

1 Introduction In 2015, an on-site field investigation was conducted by the authors' research group to authenticate a batch of ancient Chinese medicinal decoction pieces that have been preserved in a rare collection at the Natural History Museum in London. These treasured artifacts comprise a portion of the Sloane Collection, and the nearly 100 Chinese medicinal specimens examined within provide an objective record of the real situation regarding Chinese medicinal materi-als in commercial circulation 300 years ago. The precious data from this collection provide an extremely valuable reference for research into the history of medicinal exchange between China and the West during the Age of Exploration, shedding light on the evolution and historical changes in the species used in Chinese medicine as well as the history of medicinal processing and decoction pieces.