Like Chinese medicine as a whole, Chinese herbal medicine has a long history dating back some 4000 years. Nearly 2300 years ago the mythic sage Shen Nung harvested and codified wild herbal medicine. Since then, Chinese herbal medicine has been under constant development and refinement. Unlike Western herbs, Chinese herbs consist not only of plants, but also of animals and minerals.

Mastery of Chinese herbal medicine is incredibly intricate. It involves the knowledge of hundreds of herbs and formulae. In most cases herbs are not used alone but are used in combination, with a prescription usually centering around a main ingredient. The formula may consist of 10-15 or more ingredients, each having a functional relationship to the others. One of the advantages of putting together a prescription of individual dry herbs is that the prescription can be created specifically for each patient and adjusted on a regular basis in relation to improvement or change in the patient's condition.

Herbal prescription begins with the classification of herbal ingredients according to their essential nature and primary effects. To formulate a prescription for a specific syndrome or condition, the doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine must be able to first translate symptoms and signs into patterns of disharmony. In this process it is essential to be able to differentiate between ingredients which manifest in similar effects. The final prescription is then based upon the nature of the herbs used, the nature of the disease to be treated, along with the patient's own physical condition.

This prescription of dry ingredients is soaked in water and then cooked into a tea. Chinese herbs can also be prescribed and taken as powder or pill.