"Discovered in 1973, in the richest cache of ancient manuscripts ever unearthed in China, the seven medical manuscripts from Mawangdui Tomb 3 in Changsha, Hunan Province....The manuscripts were buried in 168 B.C. along with their owner, a man who belonged to the local elite. The medical manuscripts reveal for the first time the breadth of medical knowledge in third and early-second century B.C. China. There is also unprecedented documentation of magic in the medical manuscripts, of the use of incantations, rituals, and charms to treat ailments and to serve other human needs.
Donald Harper's translation of the Mawangdui medical manuscripts is the first complete translation in any language. Based on the photographic reproduction of the manuscripts and transcription published in Chinese in Beijing in 1985, the translation is thoroughly annotated and incorporates corrections of transcription errors in the Beijing edition. In addition, Harper provides new transcriptions of three texts based on textual evidence that became available after publication of the Beijing edition" (publisher).

Detailed historical analysis and English translation of medical manuscripts buried with their owner in 168 BCE and unearthed in Mawangdui, Hunan, in 1973, representing Chinese medical traditions from the 4th to 2nd centuries BCE. Before these texts were unearthed the earliest extant medical text from China was the Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor compiled in the first century BCE.