For a long time, from Shennong Materia Medica to Symptomatic Materia Medica and Compendium of Materia Medica, the knowledge of pharmacology has always stayed at the level of experience inheritance, which is a continuous summary and record of experience from generation to generation, and there is little discussion on the mechanism of drug performance. The so-called knowing what it is, I don't know why. This will inevitably affect people's understanding, mastery and application of medicinal pharmacology and the further development of materia medica. The New Materia Medica of China systematically explains and expounds the mechanism of the emergence and formation of medicinal properties of herbs, including materia medica, from different disciplines such as astrophysics and chemistry, and puts forward the viewpoint that herbs and their performance characteristics are environmental products, which are the result of the coexistence of yin and yang and the endowments of time and space. ? —— Preface of President Guo Hongchang

Since the founding of New China, China has reorganized TCM and its theoretical system. Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese pharmacy have become first-class disciplines, and the two disciplines are different. People's way of inheriting Chinese medicine has gradually changed from ancient self-study, family heirloom and learning from teachers to school-based learning, supplemented by other ways. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and scholars of TCM began to study the key scientific problems of their respective disciplines. However, this division has excessively divided the whole knowledge system of TCM theory, resulting in the situation that "doctors don't know doctors and medicines don't know medicines", which makes the scientific research, teaching, production and management of TCM out of touch with clinical application, and college graduates have great similarities and limitations, so the inheritance and development of TCM are facing great difficulties.

This book is rich in content and profound in thought, which provides a new way for the inheritance and learning of traditional Chinese medicine, and a new method and theory for the inheritance and development of traditional Chinese medicine. It is a new herb with important reference value. The author explains the relationship between traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine from a unique perspective, and the relationship between the performance of authentic medicinal materials and geography, environment, microecology and performance, which shows the author's confidence in Chinese medicine culture. Through objective reasoning, the author explains the scientific connotation and philosophical thought contained in traditional Chinese medicine. At the same time, the contents of traditional materia medica are discussed from celestial mechanics, geography, climatology, biology, botany, life science, chemistry, physics and philosophy. Combining the origin, change and development of herbal medicine with the history of human civilization, this paper expounds the life theory of herbal medicine from the perspectives of materia medica, soul, ecology and the integration of man and nature, and expounds the application of herbal medicine in many aspects. In addition, with the help of the "holistic view" of traditional Chinese medicine, the author developed the medicinal properties of herbs into seven parts: cold and heat, moistening dryness, taste, smell, color, potential and image, which are rich in content. Based on the traditional understanding of herbs, the author expounds the theory of medicinal properties of herbs and explains the causes and performance characteristics of medicinal properties of herbs. With the help of "image thinking", the classification image of drugs is explained, and its classification standard is constructed, so that the hidden characteristics of materia medica are revealed.

Mr. Dao Ding's love and research on TCM is worthy of our admiration and study, and the speculative and cognitive perspective of TCM in the book is worth learning from. Compared with professional teaching books, the basis and viewpoint of this book are limited and insufficient, but it promotes the research contention of materia medica. We can't criticize its perfection, but should study this book as an important supplement to the existing teaching materials with an attitude of acceptance, speculation and compromise. The publication of this book will also open up and enrich the academic research of traditional Chinese medicine. ————? Preface of Professor Li Xuelin