In 1070, Su Song and a team of scholars compiled and edited the Bencao Tujing ('Illustrated Pharmacopoeia', original source material from 1058–1061), which was a groundbreaking treatise on pharmaceutical botany, zoology, and mineralogy.
In compiling information for pharmaceutical knowledge, Su Song worked with such notable scholars as Zhang Yuxi, Lin Yi, Zhang Dong, and many others.

This treatise documented a wide range of pharmaceutical practices, including the use of ephedrine as a drug.
It includes valuable information on metallurgy and the steel and iron industries during 11th century China.
He created a systematic approach to listing various different minerals and their use in medicinal concoctions, such as all the variously known forms of mica that could be used to cure ills through digestion.
He wrote of the subconchoidal fracture of native cinnabar, signs of ore beds, and provided description on crystal form.
Similar to the ore channels formed by circulation of ground water written of by the later German scientist Georgius Agricola, Su Song made similar statements concerning copper carbonate, as did the earlier Rihua Bencao of 970 with copper sulphate.
Su's book was also the first pharmaceutical treatise written in China to describe the flax, Urtica thunbergiana, and Corchoropsis tomentosa (crenata) plants.
According to Edward H. Schafer, Su accurately described the translucent quality of fine realgar, its origin from pods found in rocky river gorges, its matrix being pitted with holes and having a deep red, almost purple color, and that the mineral varied in sizes ranging from the size of a pea to a walnut.

Citing evidence from an ancient work by Zheng Xuan (127–200), Su believed that physicians of the ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) used realgar as a remedy for ulcers.
As believed in Su's day, the "five poisons" used by Zhou era physicians for this purpose were thought to be cinnabar, realgar, chalcanthite, alum, and magnetite.
Su made systematic descriptions of animals and the environmental regions they could be found, such as different species of freshwater, marine, and shore crabs.
For example, he noted that the freshwater crab species Eriocher sinensis could be found in the Huai River running through Anhui, in waterways near the capital city, as well as reservoirs and marshes of Hebei.
Su's book was preserved and copied into the Bencao Gangmu of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) physician and pharmacologist Li Shizhen (1518–1593).
In 1070, Su Song and a team of scholars compiled and edited the Bencao Tujing ('Illustrated Pharmacopoeia', original source material from 1058–1061), which was a groundbreaking treatise on pharmaceutical botany, zoology, and mineralogy. In compiling information for pharmaceutical knowledge, Su Song worked with such notable scholars as Zhang Yuxi, Lin Yi, Zhang Dong, and many others.
This treatise documented a wide range of pharmaceutical practices, including the use of ephedrine as a drug. It includes valuable information on metallurgy and the steel and iron industries during 11th century China. He created a systematic approach to listing various different minerals and their use in medicinal concoctions, such as all the variously known forms of mica that could be used to cure ills through digestion. He wrote of the subconchoidal fracture of native cinnabar, signs of ore beds, and provided description on crystal form. Similar to the ore channels formed by circulation of ground water written of by the later German scientist Georgius Agricola, Su Song made similar statements concerning copper carbonate, as did the earlier Rihua Bencao of 970 with copper sulphate. Su's book was also the first pharmaceutical treatise written in China to describe the flax, Urtica thunbergiana, and Corchoropsis tomentosa (crenata) plants. According to Edward H. Schafer, Su accurately described the translucent quality of fine realgar, its origin from pods found in rocky river gorges, its matrix being pitted with holes and having a deep red, almost purple color, and that the mineral varied in sizes ranging from the size of a pea to a walnut.
Citing evidence from an ancient work by Zheng Xuan (127–200), Su believed that physicians of the ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) used realgar as a remedy for ulcers. As believed in Su's day, the "five poisons" used by Zhou era physicians for this purpose were thought to be cinnabar, realgar, chalcanthite, alum, and magnetite. Su made systematic descriptions of animals and the environmental regions they could be found, such as different species of freshwater, marine, and shore crabs. For example, he noted that the freshwater crab species Eriocher sinensis could be found in the Huai River running through Anhui, in waterways near the capital city, as well as reservoirs and marshes of Hebei. Su's book was preserved and copied into the Bencao Gangmu of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) physician and pharmacologist Li Shizhen (1518–1593).
Su Song