Year: 2006
Sort: Traditional Medicine
Area: Central
Serial No.:IX-4
Declarer: Chinese Academy of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine)
Chinese Medicine Association

Processing TCM can greatly aid in directly preventing and treating disease. The most representative traditional forms have been pills, powders, ointments and pellets. Traditional preparation methods are a cultural treasure.

In ancient time, Chinese ancestors invented medicated alcohol, and discovered qu ji (a kind of decoction extracting from alcohol). In the Shang Dynasty (1523-1027 BC), decoction has been widely applied. In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) people establish the theory of medicine processing and pointed out dosage forms should be made according to the character of herbs.

Li Shizhen, a famous TCM scholar in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), made a large contribution to Chinese medicine. He summarized the preparation methods of the previous 16 centuries, and recorded more than 40 kinds of dosage forms.

Modern science and technology is aiding the emergence of new dosage forms, however, the traditional preparation methods are being lost or eliminated. It is necessary to protect these methods, and to continue to use and develop them, inheriting and developing continually.