Genuine Chinese people have found thousands of plants and herbs associated With the treatment of diseases, so herbal medicine is really a large system. Doctors would analyze¹ their nature or property such as “cold and hot” or “yin and yang”, use all sorts of raw materials, and mix them to cure disease. Thus it is also different from the western medicine.

 

About the classification, in the Compendium（纲）of Material Medical by Li Shizhen in the Tang Dynasty （618-907）, there are 1892 types recorded. Today we can briefly² divide them into roots, rhizome, leaf, flower, seeds, grass, vines, and so on.

 

Of course these raw herbs cannot be eaten when put before you; they need your own hand to prepare. What patients take is decoction（煎汁）of the herbs.

 

The quality is concerned with the decocting jar, quantity of water, and the frequency of decoction. Doctors suggest that water amount be controlled according to the nature of absorbing. Because the herbs bought from the chemist’s are usually dry, most of them need to be immersed into the water for 1-3 hours before decocting. The effect after 2 or 3 times’ decoction is better than once. The mount patients will take is about 200-300 mi for children and 400-600 ml for adults.

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