Huang Gongxiu (circa 1736–1795), courtesy name Jinfang, was a native of Yihuang, Fuzhou, Jiangxi during the Qing Dynasty. Born into a family of Confucian physicians, he was erudite and well-versed in medicine. Troubled by the state of materia medica texts at the time, which he found to be "unclear in theory and obscure in meaning," and further criticized for their "vague descriptions of tonification and purgation, or the use of indirect and convoluted explanations to feign profundity," he sought to rectify these flaws. Drawing from his own clinical experience and the essence of various medical traditions, he compiled the ten-volume *Bencao Qiuzhen* (Seeking Truth in Materia Medica), which was published in the 34th year of the Qianlong era (1769).