Chinese Herbology
2 min readPrinciple of Treatment Based on Different Conditions
Disease is the outcome of the struggle between body resistance and pathogenic factors.
Therefore，in the treatment of a disease，certain factors and conditions should be considered，that is，time（seasonal and climatic conditions），place（geographical location and environment），and personal characteristics（living customs，age，sex，and body constitution）.In the clinical application of medicinal herbs，these factors are particularly important.This is an important therapeutic principle guiding clinical practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Chinese Herbology
Herbology is traditionally one of the more important modalities utilized in Traditional Chinese Medicine.Each herbal medicine prescription is a cocktail of many herbs tailored to the individual patient.In fact，”herbs”used in Chinese medicine are derived from plants，animals and mineral substances.Although plant-derived herbs such as ginseng and ginger are the most common，minerals and animal parts such as oyster shells ，deer antlers ，and bear galbladder are also prescribed.The TCM practitioner usually designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that target the illness，and adds many other ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient’s Yin-Yang conditions.
To use herbs within the scope of Chinese herbology，one must first understand the properties of each herb.Properties have two dimensions-temperature and taste .The possible temperatures are cold，hot，warm，cool，and neutral .The possible tastes are pungent，sweet，sour，bitter，salty，bland，and astringent .
The various combinations of temperature and taste give the herb its properties that can influence the Yin-Yang patterns of the body.For example，sour，bitter and salty tastes are related to Yin，whereas pungent and sweet are attributed to Yang.There are herbs that will warm，cool，tonify，remove stagnation and so on.It is also important to understand that a herb does not possess only one quality.A herb is always a combination of temperatures and tastes and may reach one to asmany as twelve meridians.Learning to prescribe appropriately for each patient is a medical art which takes years to develop.
There are several ways to dispense herbal formulas.The most common methods are herbal pastes，juices，decoctions，infusions，powders，pills，tinctures，liniments，syrups，poultices，medicated oils，ointments，lotions，teas，and more.Each type is good for specific ailments，and often may be used together to take full advantage of the healing attributes of each.
