Chinese herbs have been used for centuries. The first herbalist in Chinese tradition is Shennong, a mythical personage, who is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs and imparted his knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants to the agricultural people. The first Chinese manual on pharmacology, the Shennong Bencao Jing (Shennong Emperors Classic of Materia Medica), lists some 365 medicines of which 252 are herbs, and dates back the early Han dynasty (202 BC). Since then, lots of empirical herbal formulae had been archived by ancient Chinese. The most important work among them was the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) compiled during the Ming dynasty by Li Shizhen, which is still used today for consultation and reference.

Herbal treatments are traditionally one of the most important modalities utilized in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Each herbal treatment is a cocktail of many herbs tailored to the individual patient. The practitioner designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that target the illness. Then the practitioner adds other ingredients to adjust the formula according to the patients yin yang conditions. Sometimes, ingredients are needed to cancel out toxicity or side effects of the main ingredients. Some herbs require the use of other ingredients as catalyst otherwise they would be ineffective. The latter steps require great experience and knowledge, and make the difference between a good Chinese herbal doctor and an amateur. Unlike Western medications, the balance and interaction of all the ingredients are considered more important than the effect of individual ingredients.

TCM herbal treatment often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem, flower, root, and also include ingredients from animals and minerals. Many herbal manufacturers have discontinued the use of any parts from endangered animals. Chinese physicians use several methods to classify traditional Chinese herbs: Four Natures, Five Tastes, and Meridians.

The herbs can be classified to four categories (the Four Natures) according their yin yang property, ranging from cold (extreme yin), cool, neutral, to warm and hot (extreme yang). The patients internal balance of yin and yang is taken into account when the herbs are selected. For example, medicinal herbs of "hot", yang nature are used when the person is suffering from internal cold that is required to be purged, or when the patient has a general cold constituency. Sometimes an ingredient is added to offset the extreme effect of one herb.

Based on the five elements theory, herbs can be classified into five categories (the Five Tastes). The five tastes are pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty, each of which characterizes their functions and properties. For example, pungent herbs are used to generate sweat and to direct and vitalize qi and the blood. Sweet-tasting herbs often tonify or harmonize bodily systems. Some sweet-tasting herbs exhibit a bland taste, which helps drain dampness through diuresis. Sour taste most often is astringent, while bitter taste dispels heat, purges the bowels and gets rid of dampness by drying them out. Salty herbs soften hard masses as well as purge and open the bowels.

Meridians, or channels, are invisible pathways through which Qi flows and form an energy network that connects all parts of the body. There are twelve major meridians in our body. Each one is related to a specific Organ System. Herbs can also be classified according to which meridians or organs it acts upon. For example, menthol is pungent, cool and is linked with the lung and the liver. Since the lung is the organ which protects the body from invasion from cold and influenza, menthol can help promote coldness in the lungs and suppress heat toxins caused by hot "wind".

Detailed information about Chinese herbs can be found at herb database.