The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) originated from the strong roots of the ancient Chinese herbs which are followed for over 5000 years. The main concept over using the Chinese herbs as medicines was to maintain a proper balance between the nature and the other forms of the environment to maintain a good health. This knowledge of using herbs for a healthy body is one of the best gifts for the mankind. This ancient knowledge about herbs and their herbal remedies have been passed out from one generation to the next generation.

Huang Di Nei Jing- The Yellow Emperor‘s classic of internal medicine is considered to be the oldest medical book which mentions the use of herbs as medicine for various ailments. This ancient book consisting of medical theories and the various medical practices is believed to be used by the ancient Chinese people somewhere between 800 BC and 200 BC. Around 500 AD, another medical book named as The Divine Husbandman’s Classic was published. This book contained references and other textual materials about the properties of herbs, the first ever classification of the herbs other than the classification based on the taste of the herbs. In this classification, the herbs were classified into three main categories namely:

• Superior herbs- The herbs which nourish our life were categorized under this section.
• Middle herbs- Under this category, the herbs which correct our constitution were categorized
• Inferior herbs- In this final category, the herbs which help to eradicate various diseases were categorized.

This book on herbal plants and there uses also had the herbs grouped variedly based on their tastes and temperature and also mentioned about the toxic herbs. The book Grand Materia Medica had about 1892 entries which was further extended to about 5,767 until 1977 AD.

The Chinese herbal remedies include hundreds of different organic ingredients which work hand in hand to create the desired effect in the patient’s body. These herbal medicines are created from the roots, bark, seeds, leaves and flowers of the herbal plants. Each of these parts of the herbal plant has different organic ingredients which have specific effects on the body.

Today, the use of Chinese herbs has increased tremendously due to its great medicinal properties. According to the recent studies it has also been proved that the chemically synthesized, synthetic medicines have some or the other side effects but at the same time the Chinese herbs don’t have any side effects. Thus due to their simple yet powerful effects, Chinese herbs have become quite famous for their usage and effectiveness against the varied diseases. Even the most common medicines such as aspirin and other chemotherapy treatments have their strong roots from some of the most important herbal composition.

Mo yao (Commiphora abyssinica), A li shan wu wei zi (Schisandra arissanensis Hayata) etc. are some of the Chinese herbs that are used to treat various ailments.