Professor Zhao Zhongzhen’s Story

Awards and Achievements

Prof. Zhao Zhongzhen previously served as the Associate Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU); he is honored as a Professor Emeritus at HKBU. Prof. Zhao also serves as a Distinguished Professor at the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, where he is the Founding Director of the Institute of Bencao Gangmu Research. He is also a Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioner in Hong Kong.

Dr. Zhao received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine in 1982, and his Master’s Degree from the China Academy of Chinese Medicine in 1985. He obtained his PhD from the Tokyo University of Pharmacy in 1992. Dr. Zhao previously served as the Deputy Director of Chinese Medicinal Research and as the Director of the Pharmacognosy Center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. He is currently a member of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Committee, the American Herbal Pharmacopoeia Committee, and the International Advisory Committee of the Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica Standards; he also serves as a Senior Chinese Medicine Consultant for the Department of Health in Hong Kong.

For more than 40 years, Dr. Zhao has been devoted to herbal medicine research. His research on herbal medicine has brought him to over 30 provinces throughout China, and more than 40 countries across all seven continents. Dr. Zhao was awarded the Second Prize for National Scientific and Technological Progress in 1991, and his “Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants” received China’s national Book Prize for outstanding publications in 2011. Prof. Zhao was awarded a Medal of Honor from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in 2014, and he received the Second Prize for International Contributions in Scientific and Technological Progress from the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies in 2019. His book “Zhongzhen Discusses Materia Medica” was recognized by the Chinese Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine with an award for the top “Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Book of 2023”, and was recognized as one of the “Top Ten Best Books of 2023” by the Joint Publishing Group. His illustrated masterpiece “Chinese Medicinal Identification has been translated into ten languages, including English, Russian, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Vietnamese, and has been published worldwide. His “200 Lectures on Health Wisdom from the Bencao Gangmu” on Himalaya Audio was an international multimedia sensation.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Traditional knowledge surrounding the identification and quality of medicinal materials has been essential throughout history. In China, ancient materia medica texts (known as “bencao”) recorded descriptions, properties, and illustrations of medicinal plants, and prominent historical authors focused extensively on issues related to proper identification and botanical adulterants. Modern experts such as Zhao Zhongzhen serve as a link between this long history of Chinese materia medica scholarship and modern science, simultaneously preserving traditional knowledge while pioneering new innovations.

By the early 20th century, texts dedicated to the scientific discipline of pharmacognosy began to appear in China. In 1905, a Chinese scholar named Zhao Yuhuang launched the Qizhou Medicinal Journal, which was the first Chinese resource to organize materia medica knowledge based on Latin taxonomy. He established the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association in 1907 and served as a distinguished professor of pharmacognosy in Beijing.

Later generations of scholars continued to advance the discipline of pharmacognosy in China, incorporating botany, chemistry, and microscopy to systematically evaluate the herbs used in Chinese medicine. Early pioneers such as Xie Zongwan combined extensive field research with textual investigation to systematically investigate China’s natural resources and address key issues related to herbal identification and safety.

As one of Xie’s gifted students, Zhao Zhongzhen brings this approach of scholarship and field research into the 21st century. His unique integration of field research with classical scholarship has caused him to be widely known within the materia medica community as a “modern-day Li Shizhen.”

Professor Zhao Zhongzhen is a rare gift in our world today. As a scholar, teacher, and researcher, he exemplifies a level of rigor, dedication, and service to humanity that inspires people worldwide. His dedication to healthy living, scholarship, and his kind moral character illustrates the essence of traditional Chinese culture and virtue, while his academic and multimedia work inspires experts as well as the public. Prof. Zhao’s contributions to science, medicine, and culture have already been felt across the world, and will continue to inspire others throughout the future to come.