History of Chinese herbal medicine 
Traditional Chinese Medicine has been around for thousands of years. Although the first recorded history of TCM dates back over 2000 years, it is
believed that the origins of TCM goes back more than 5000 years. Bear in mind that, apart from the recorded documents much of what is said about the
origins of Chinese medicine is more legend than history. According to the legend the origins of traditional Chinese medicine is traced back to the to
three legendary emperors/mythical rulers: Fu Xi, Shen Nong and Huang Di. Historians believe that Shen Nong and Fu Xi were early tribal leaders. Fu Xi
was a cultural hero who developed the trigrams of Yi Jing(I Ching) or Book of Changes. Ancient texts record that "Fu Xi drew the eight trigrams, and
created nine needles." Shen Nong , the legendary emperor who lived 5000
years ago is hailed as the "Divine Cultivator"/ "Divine Farmer" by the Chinese people because he is
attributed as the founder of herbal medicine, and taught people how to farm. In order to determine the nature of different herbal medicines, Shen Nong sampled various kinds of plants,
ingesting them himself for to test and analyses their individual effects. According to the ancient texts, Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs including 70 toxic substances in a single day, in order
to get rid of people's pain form illness. As there were no written records, it is said that the discoveries of Shen Nong was passed down verbally from generation to generation.
The first written documentation on traditional Chinese medicine is the Hung-Di Nei-Jing or Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine. Hung-Di Nei-Jing is the oldest medical textbook in the
world, different opinions date the book back to between 800 BC and 200 BC. Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine lays a primary foundation for the theories of Chinese medicine which
extensively summarizes and systematizes the previous experience of treatment and theories of medicine, such as the meridian theory, as well as many other issues, including, physiology,
pathology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment, acupuncture and moxibustion, tui na etc. Some of the most specific discoveries of Chinese medicine were made during the Zhou dynasty,
including the theoretical foundations of yin and yang, the five elements, the pathogenic factors of external environment as a cause of disease and further
understanding of the meridians of acupuncture. The basic theories of acupuncture were established and stone needles became obsolete, being replaced by metal
needles. Bian Que, a famous doctor/physician at the time of the spring and Autumn Warring States Period, was the first man in the world to use the pulse for
diagnosis. He was reputed to be an excellent diagnostician, excelled in using acupuncture and moxibustion, boiled herbal prescriptions, and massage in internal
medicine, external medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics for the treatment of all kinds of illnesses. Bian Que's own book Nan Jing or The Classic of Difficult Issues
develops and explains the fundamental and difficult parts of the Huang-Di Nei Jing. There are many legends and stories regarding the medical skills of Bian Que. One of the most well
know story is talks about how Bian Que succeeded in curing the crown prince of the Kingdom of Guo of his fatal illness. According to the legend, the prince of Gua was very ill and as he lay
dying, the court physician could do nothing to help. One version of this story has it that Bian Que was summoned to treat the prince, however when he arrived at the palace he found the crown
prince being prepared for the funeral. Despite the funeral arrangements, Bian Que requested examining the prince. His examination confirmed his suspicion that the prince had actually gone
into a deep coma. He gave the prince acupuncture treatment to retrieve him and then applied compresses soaked in a decoction of herbs. Within hours of Bian Que's arrival, the prince was
able to get his feet. The prince was then prescribed boiled herbal compounds to be taken for twenty days, which helped him to fully recover. Soon the rumors spread that Bian Que was a
miracle worker who could bring the dead back to life. Bian Que said "No, I can't bring the dead back to life, the prince wasn't dead. I only treated his illness, and that is what brought him
around."
During the spring and Autumn Warring States Period another famous classic Shen Nong's Classic
of Material Medica or Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing was written. This was the first pharmacopoeia of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, which recorded and describes 365 herbs.
During the Qin Dynasty also known as the period of book burning period there was little progress in the field of medicine. The Han dynasty, which lasted almost four and a half centuries, was a
period of a thriving Chinese culture. Han dynasty was also the era of Confucius and the era that laid the foundations for Taoism. Zhang Zhongjing(150-219 A.D.), the most famous of China's
ancient herbal doctors lived during the Eastern Han dynasty was known for his remarkable medical skill. He wrote a book a medical masterpiece entitled Shang Han Lun or "Treatise on
Febrile Diseases ". To date Zhang Zhongjing's theory and prescriptions are still of great practical
value. It is still used as a standard reference work for traditional Chinese medicine, including moxibustion, needling and herbal medicine. One of the most famous physicians/surgeon of
traditional Chinese medicine was Hua To (110-207 A.D) also lived during the Eastern Han period. Hua To was the first of the Taoist physicians, the most famous doctor in ancient China who
developed/invented the use of anesthetics called Mafei San, and furthered the limited Chinese knowledge of anatomy. He was the first person who used narcotic drug in the world and his skill
in this field was ahead of the west about 1600-1700 years. He also developed the called "Five
Animal Play", exercises that mimics the movements and postures of five animals: tiger, deer, bear, ape, and bird. According to Hu Tao the motion is fundamentally important to health, and by
mimicking the movements of different animals; all parts of the body were exercised and stretched, thereby activating the flow of fluid and energy in the body. There are many stories
and legends regarding the life and healing skills of Hu Tao. Due to his fame as a successful healer has led to his name becoming a brand name for Chinese medical products, such as Hua To
Acupuncture Needles.
After the Han dynasty, Chinese medicine experienced great development from the Jin and Tang
dynasties. Wang Shuhe a well-known physician set down the knowledge of pulse diagnosis in his book Mai Jing (The Classic of the Pulse) that consisted of ten articles in total. It summarizes the
pulses into 24 types, and expounds on the relationship between the pulse, physiology, and pathology.
During the Western Jin dynasty, Huang Fumi(214-282 A.D.), a noted physician completed a book
entitled the "Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing" or The Systematic Classic of Acupuncture and Moxibustion..
This was the oldest/earliest classic devoted to acupuncture and moxibustion, which consisted of 12 volumes, 128 chapters.
The medical expert and the most famous Daoist alchemist Ge Hong (281-341 A.D.) also advocate the application of Acupuncture. He wrote many manuals, among which was Prescriptions from the
Golden Cabinet, containing 100 articles. He was a careful observer of nature; in relation to medicine he provided detailed descriptions of serious diseases (such as smallpox and tuberculosis)
and described formulas for treating serious medical situations in his Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies.
During the Sui Dynasty, Chao Yuanfang, together with others compiled a book called the Zhubing Yuanhou Zonglun or The General Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Disease, which
consisted of 50 volumes, divided into 67 categories, and list 1,700 syndromes. This book had a strong influence on the later development of medicine, expounding on the pathology, signs and
symptoms of various diseases, surgery, gynecology, and pediatrics. The Tang dynasty is often referred to as the second golden age of China. It was during the Tang dynasty when China's first
school of medicine was established. Sun Simiao (581-682 A.D), the most famous physician of the Tang Dynasty devoted his whole life to Chinese medicine starting from a very young age. It is
said that by the age of 15 he not only had a thorough understanding of Taoism and the classics of many of its sects, but also had also deeply researched Buddhist classics. He had mastered all
the Chinese classics by the age 20 and became a well-known medical practitioner and was crowned "King of Herbal Medicine". Besides studying the ancient classics of Chinese medicine, he
also diligently gathered many folk remedies. He wrote two great books called the Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies and A Supplement to the Essential Prescriptions Worth a
Thousand Gold that touched on a broad variety of different medicines. Sun Simiao also created the first colour acupuncture charts of the meridians using used six different colours of ink. Sun
Simiao certainly made great contributions to the development of Chinese medicine. His books were used as teaching materials in many medical schools both in China and abroad.
In 752 A.D, Wang Tao another well-known scholar of Chinese medicine wrote a book called Waitai Miyao or The Medical Secrets of An Official. This book consisted of 40 volumes, 1,104 categories
and discusses over 6,000 herbal prescriptions.
During the Song Dynasty more attention was paid to education in terms of TCM. A new medical
school was established where students treated faculty members and soldiers as part of their practical studies. One of the great events of acupuncture occurred during the song dynasty
when the Court Doctor Wang Weiyi, wrote The Illustrated Classic on Acupuncture and Moxibustion, containing three articles and in 1027 AD, he designed and cast the two life size
bronze statues of the acupuncture meridians and points. During the Yuan Dynasty, China was controlled by Genghis Khan's vast Mongolian empire. During
the period of Mongolian empire Chinese medicine became increasingly specialized and the understanding of acupuncture was further detailed. In 1368, the Chinese regained control of their
land under the Ming dynasty. Li Shizhen, (b1518 A.D. d1593 A.D.) was one of the greatest physician and pharmacologist of the Ming dynasty. His major contribution to medicine was his
forty-year work, which is found in his epic book Ben Cao Gang-mu or The Compendium of Materia Medica. The text contains 1,900,000 Chinese characters and details more than eighteen hundred
drugs, including eleven hundred illustrations and eleven thousand prescriptions, as well as record
of 1,094 herbs, detailing their type, form, flavor, nature and application in treatment. This book was one of the greatest contributions to the development of pharmacology both in China and
throughout the world. Materia Medica has been translated into many different languages and remains as the premier reference work for herbal medicine.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, printing was quite developed, and many comprehensive and specialized texts were produced. By the 18th and 19th centuries, Chinese medicine was
spreading to the countries of Europe and the North America. However, Qing dynast was a time of chaos for the Chinese nation. Western influences pervaded a war-torn China, especially during
the nineteenth century when various Western nations were given 'spheres of influence' on the Chinese mainland. The Qing Emperors regarded acupuncture as 'a bar to progress' and in 1822 a
government decree eliminated acupuncture from the curriculum of the Imperial Medical College and by the beginning of the First World War (1914-1918), the art of acupuncture was close to
cultural extinction in China. The Revolution of 1911 marked the end of the Qing dynasty, and the beginning of the People's
Republic of China. During this time China developed a desire to modernize, and its people began to turn to Western medicine. The government of the time proposed the abolishment of traditional
Chinese medicine and took measures to stop its development and use. In 1928 the Communist party of China was formed, under the leadership of Chairman Mao and in 1949 the Communist
party came to power. As there was very little or no medical services at the time, the new communist government encouraged the use of traditional Chinese remedies because they were
cheap, acceptable to the Chinese, and used the skills already available in the countryside. Finally the traditional Chinese medicine regained popularity by the early to mid 1950s and the use of
acupuncture and herbal medicine became standard medicine in many hospitals. Many hospital opened clinics to provide, teach and investigate the traditional methods, the main research
institutes being in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing. Unfortunately, Chinese medicine, as a reflection of traditional Chinese culture, underwent a period of extreme hardship during the Cultural
Revolution. From 1966 to 1976, traditional doctors were purged from the schools, hospitals and clinics, and many of the old practitioners were jailed or killed. In 1979, the National Association
for Chinese Medicine was established, and many of the traditional texts were edited and republished. In 1980, the World Health Organization released a list of 43 types of pathologies,
which can be effectively treated with acupuncture. Today the traditional Chinese medicine with its many branches has spread far and wide, gaining popularity in all parts of the world.
History of Chinese herbal medicine
Chinese herbal medicine has great antiquity, with therapeutic roots extending back to Zhou Dynasty, Late Bronze/Early Iron Age at about 2500 to 3000 years ago. From its shamanistic
origins, herbalism in archaic China evolved in response to aetiological concepts current at the time. These notions of the causes of disease in human society related directly to the troubled
socio-economic environment that prevailed in early China in the latter half of the first millennium BC. Somewhat euphemistically termed the Warring States period, the general uncertainty of life
during these dark times gave rise to the belief that sickness was due to the malevolent action of demonic forces. Incipient herbal medicine was employed to extirpate these unwanted intruders,
laying the foundation of what was to become traditional Chinese herbal medicine. The earliest extant evidence of nascent herbalism in China comes from two graves from the Han
Era at 202 BCE to 220 CE. In 1973, the grave of a Han aristocrat was found at Mawangdui in Hunan Province. This exciting find included valuable medical data written on silk scrolls. The
herbal literature included reference to 247 substances that were used by these early people for many different maladies. The body had been placed in the grave in 168 BCE. This means that the
medical information is well over 2000 years old and is the oldest extant therapeutic material.  A year earlier, Chinese archaeologists discovered the tomb of a Later
Han (25 to 220 CE) physician in Wu-Wei County, Kansu Province. The grave contained 92 wooden bamboo slips, which provided important
pharmaceutical data. The medical records included a list of some thirty prescriptions, which featured about a hundred drugs. It is evident from
the extant material that some three centuries after the burial of the Han elite at Mawangdui, Chinese herbal medicine had developed to an
increased level of therapeutic sophistication. This development was to continue and in 500 CE, the first extensive materia medica or
compendium of herbal substances was published. It was the work of the Daoist adept Taohong Jing and had 364 entries.
By 1596, the Ben Cao Gang Mu of the Ming medical literatus Li Shizhen (1518-1593) exemplified the apogee of Chinese herbalism. Published three years after his demise, this Grand Materia
Medica contained no less that 1892 entries. In the succeeding centuries of the Imperial Era, Chinese herbal medicine continued to develop. Despite the temporary setbacks incurred following
the collapse of the Manchu Dynasty in 1911, it remains on equal footing with biomedicine in China today. So to, it is now of interest to those seeking a more natural approach to their medical
problems in many countries outside the People's Republic of China.
History of TCM since Liberation (1949)
Traditional Chinese Medicine is an integral part of the glorious culture of the Chinese nation. In the past several thousand years, it has made outstanding contributions to the flourishing and
prosperity of the Chinese nation, and with remarkable efficacy, striking national characteristics, unique diagnostic methods, systematic theoretical system and abundant historical literature
materials ,it stands as an indispensable part of the medical sciences of the world, constituting a common wealth of the medical treasure house of the mankind. The fact that it has not been
declining during the past several thousands of years indicates the vitality of itself. Both of traditional Chinese and Western medicine constitute our socialist medical work, representing the
special feature and the superiority of our medical and health services. Since the founding of the People's Republic, the Party and the People's government have
attached great importance to traditional Chinese medicine, formulating a series of guiding principles and policies to support and promote its development. Especially, since the reform and
the opening to outside world, the Party, under the guidance of the cardinal principle of taking
economic construction as the crux, has made further efforts to implement the policies. "Develop
modern medicine and Chinese traditional medicine" was put into the Constitution and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine was established in 1986. Two years later, on the
basis of the Administration, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology was established. (English name same as before: The State Administration of
Traditional Chinese Medicine).It is responsible for the national management of traditional Chinese
medicine and pharmacology, for formulation of developing strategies, guiding principles, policies, laws and regulations, in charge of TCM therapy, health care and rehabilitation programs of
traditional Chinese medicine, integrated traditional and Western medicine and nationality medicine; and development of scientific techniques, as well as in comprehensive control of the
equilibrium between production, supply and marketing of traditional Chinese drugs. The establishment of the Administration provides a garantee in organization to centralized
management and integration of traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese drugs. After making a thorough investigation, it has put out the policy of "Putting emphasis on both medicine and
pharmacology, combining them and promoting them to develop synchronously and to rejuvenate jointly" and has worked out the eighth five-year plan and ten-year project of TCM, as well as the
industrial policy of traditional Chinese drugs, and presented, in different stages, a serious of guiding principles, which take the construction of institutions as the foundation, speeding up the
training of staff, elevating the academic level, strengthening the scientific management, and take the internal construction as the focal points. With the concern and support from various
departments and various levels of governments, the traditional Chinese medicine has been promptly restored and has made much progress.
Since the 80's,a TCM therapeutic system has been established with TCM hospitals as its main body. Up to 1993,there were 2,457 TCMhospitals,39 hospitals of integration of Chinese and
Western medicine and 129 hospitals of nationality medicine in China. TCM hospitals have been set up in 75% of the counties in China. the coverage rate of TCM therapy is raised and the difficulty
of seeking medical treatment in the vast rural areas preliminarily solved. In TCM hospitals, there are 222,000 beds,249,000 TCM doctors, and more than 7,100 chief physicians specializing in
therapy with integration of Chinese and Western medicine, or in scientific research, and 1,600 doctors specializing in medicine of nationalities. The increase of TCM institutions, beds and
professional personnel is unprecedented since the founding of new China. In addition, the science of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology has rapidly developed and elevated. There
appears a prosperous and flourishing picture "with a hundred schools of thought contend" in the
fields of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese pharmacology, acupuncture, massage and Qigong. In traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology, gratifying achievements have been obtained in
treatment of such common diseases as cardio-cerebro-vascular diseases, immunogenic diseases, tumors, bone fracture, etc., and continuous progress has been made in exploration and
systematization of traditional folk therapies, in cultivation, process, preparation and dose-form modification of Chinese medicinal herbs, and thus, raising the healing capacity of traditional
Chinese medicine and drugs and enlarging the scope of their services. Statistical data show that the record of clinical service given by TCM hospitals to the patient reaches two hundred million
person-times each year, and that of the inpatient service two million and seven hundred thousand person-times each year. Although the TCM hospitals are started later, in smaller scale,
and with relatively poor conditions, their staff are undertaking more clinical work than the staff of
other hospital of similar grade. In the rural areas, TCM in undertaking approximately one third of the clinical work and one fourth of the inpatient services. The resources of Chinese drugs have
been further utilized, representing the superiority and special feature of our health work, making active contributions to health protection of the broad masses of the people.
The TCM education was started after liberation. During the past several decades, it has developed gradually higher and secondary professional education, postgraduate education, as
well as correspondence schools, night schools, self-study examination and schools established with social resources, opening up a broad road to foster TCM and 30 schools of medicine of
nationalities, with 14 professional courses of university and college levels and an enrollment of 37,000 students. The TCM higher education has been expanded in scale and its professional
structure has been rationally regulated. In education of university and college level, with the advance of the reform, some specialized subjects such as TCM foundations, orthopedics and
traumatology, massage, preparation of Chinese drugs have been gradually added on the bases of the subjects of traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese pharmacology and acupuncture. Above the
university and college levels, the departments for doctor's degree and master's degree and the seven-year schooling system have been established. The long-lasting singularity of patterns and
grades in medical education is being modified. Especially,attention has been paid to carry out the focal points of our health work, enforce the
work in rural areas, and stress on training of medical personnel in rural areas. In the eighth five-year plan, one of the targets is to enlarge the ratio of training college and university
students, and give guiding and initiating support in appropriation of funds and investment, in the
hope to foster more qualified medical personnel to meet the need of the society, accelerating the step of educational reform. Remarkable results have been achieved in establishing institutions,
and carrying on reforms in TCM secondary education. At present, there are 51 secondary schools of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology, with an enrollment of more than
29,000students.In order to carry on successfully the school construction and reforms, standards of construction were mapped out and put into effect. This will con-tribute to the standardization
of school construction and teaching programs. In recruiting new students and assignment of work for graduates, stress is laid on rural areas. A large number of personnel have been sent to the
rural areas. The adult education of TCM has had greater development, bringing about a new situation, in which the formal schooling education are combined with the unformed schooling
education and thus, "walking with two feet ",In recent years, on the basis of correspondence
school and night school, various forms of education, such as continuous education, in-service training, self-study examination and tutorial education have been developed and a system of
TCM adult education is preliminarily formed. It is estimated that more than 20,000 people have graduated from the correspondence schools and night schools of TCM universities or colleges;
more than 40,000 people have received the in-service education and more the,4,000 people have got the diploma of university or college by self-study.
Since the founding of the People's Republic, especially since the convention of the Third Plenary Session of Eleven Central Committee of the Party, the scientific work of TCM has made much
progress. To date, there are 77 national independent institutions on scientific research, with wore than 10,000 professional technicians, and about 100 institutions attached to TCM
universities or colleges and provincial hospitals. There appears a system of scientific research
with the national and the provincial scientific research institutions and a number of university and college as its main body, and a rank of scientific technician, with TCM personnel of different
disciplines and different levels as its backbone. In recent years, TCM scientific research of TCM has created a new situation. In the aspect of developing new disciplines, the traditional 13
disciplines has developed into about 30 disciplines. In the aspect of scientific research, both fundamental theoretical research and practical research have entered into their new fields of
re-search. Meridian research has initially revealed objectively the circulating paths of some of the meridians; Zheng-syndrome research has obtained a large number of objective diagnostic
indexes; clinical research has achieved fruitful results by adopting the theories and therapeutic principles of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology and the effectiveness of healing
emergency patients with shock, acute DIC, acute myocardial infarction and acute renal failure
has been greatly enhanced. In treatment of bone fracture, fixation with "small splints" is adopted under the guidance of the theory of combination of mobilization and immobilization.
Non-antibacterial compound prescriptions are used successfully in treatment of bacterial infection. In treatment of cancers ,Fuzheng Guben (Increasing Body resistance and Consolidating
Constitution)compound prescriptions, though devoid of inhibitory effects on cancer cells, could cause the shrink of the mass of cancer. TCM provides a non-surgical approach to treatment of
acute abdomen. The results of researches on acupuncture, acupuncture anesthesia and acupuncture analgesia have promoted the development o acupuncture therapy in the world.
Since the founding of the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) in 1987,Chinese experts in acupuncture have been selected three times the chairman of the
Federation and have made outstanding contributions to the development and popularization of the science of acupuncture. In the 80's,re-markable results were achieved in the aspect of
research on natural and traditional drugs. The extraction of Qinghaosu from Chinese drugs was a breakthrough in research on anti-malarial remedies. Researches on Qinghaosu and treatment of
calculus of urinary system with Chinese drugs have been awarded the Albert Einstein World Science Award. With the impact of the upsurge of "Going back to the nature" and the influence
of transformation of medical patterns, the cultivation, introduction of varieties, process, preparation and dose-form modification of Chinese drugs will open up a new path to find new
drugs for the mankind. In textual research on TCM literature and studies in simple prescription and proved prescription of the traditional folk therapies ,many works have been done to inherit
and develop TCM, enriching the content of traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese materia medica. The achievements of TCM research are great. Since the reform and opening to outside
world, more than 600 programs have won the State-level or the Ministry-level prizes, of which 300 programs were honored in recent five years.
The profession of traditional Chinese drugs is a system of production, supply and marketing with combination of agriculture, industry and commerce, which has been developed since the founding
of the People's republic. In the past forty years, thanks to the concern and support of the Party and the State, the profession has rapidly developed. To date, there are more than 500,000 staff
working in the first, second and third industries. A relatively perfect system of production has been created by taking Chinese crude drug production as its foundation, and Chinese patent
medicine industry as its mainstay, and with industry of prepared medicinal herbs and mechanical industry of Chinese drugs included. Now, production of Chinese drugs had entered into a stage of
scale production. Medicinal materials of TCM, or crude drugs, constitute the foundation of the development of TCM and the production and management of Chinese drugs. In order to ensure
the quality and supply of crude drugs, more than 600 productive bases and 13,000 specialized farms have been set up. With an all-round development of side -line production and diversified
economy, there appear 340,000 specialized households, with 1,800,000 mu of growing area. With a view to promoting the production of high quality crude drugs, a batch of key programs of TCM
agriculture have been set up according to the principle of rational distribution and construction with emphasis on key items. The planting and experimental planting areas are expanding
continuously. In 1993,the planting area of Chinese drugs is 5,200,000 mu. Previously, the State spent a large amount of foreign exchange to import southern drugs, the total of which reaching
several hundred varieties. With development of scientific techniques, introduction of varieties has achieved great success. Now the imported varieties are reduced in great extent. Chinese drugs
Zhenahu (Margarita),Niuhuang (Calculus Bovis),Yunmuxiang (Radix Aucklandiae) and Doukou (Fructus Amomi Rotundus)are produced in a large amount on our own ;they are no longer
imported, but exported instead. The suc-cess in development of TCM industry is more remarkable. In the early days after liberation, the factories of Chinese patent medicine were
running with "a shop in the front and a workshop in the rear". They were equipped with simple tools and using backward techniques. Supported by the Party and the government, a number of
factories of Chinese patent medicine have been established in succession. Reform and open policy brought forth a new lively situation for industry of Chinese drugs. The productive power of
Chinese drugs has been raised to a certain level by way of strengthening technical reforms, improving productive conditions, elevating quality of enterprises, and enforcing quality control.
Now there are more than 800 pharmaceutical factories of Chinese drugs, the total output value of industry of Chinese drugs amounts to 13,870,000 yuan (RMB),and the output is more than
200,000 ton. The pharmaceutical factories in China, with a total productive power of more than 400,000 tom, are capable to produce medicines in more than 40 forms, more than 5,00 varieties
,and high efficacious Chinese patent medicines and health products have been emerging continuously.  Pharma-ceutical industry of TCM has become a complete industrial
system with relatively advanced techniques. In the process of regulating industrial structure, forming scale economy and raising the
profits of TCM industy,124pharmaceutical factories have entered into the rank of enterprises of large or middle scale. A large number of
workshops have reached GMP standards. Advanced techniques bring forth the high-quality products. A large number of Chinese patent
medicines characterized by high-quality, high efficacy, less side-affects and easy to use, have come into existence. Up to date,15 products
have won the gold medal awarded by the State,77 products have won the silver medal awarded by the State and 215 products have won the
ministerial of the provincial prizes. The productive value of the honored products accounts for more than 13% of the total productive value. In 1993,the profit and taxation of TCM industry
amount to 2,320,000,000 yuan, reaching the highest level in history. The investment of hundred yuan could create profit and taxation 15 yuan, the ratio of which exceed the State's standard by
1.45%. The all-staff labor productive reaches 27,000 yuan. With the advent of a prosperous socialist market, the commerce of traditional Chinese drugs is growing rapidly, In the past 30
years, a complete supply and marketing system has been established. There are 44 provincial medicinal materials corporations, more than 300 Chinese drug supply stations, more than 2,400
county of city medicinal materials companies, and 30,000 centers for processing, purchasing and managing Chinese drugs. In 1993,the net profit of sales of Chinese drugs amounts to
13,950,000,000 yuan.
Accompaning the development of reform and opening to the outside word, and with the progress
in TCM work, international exchange and cooperation in the field of TCM is increasing, academic exchanges are frequent, trade is expanding continuously, and thereby the international influence
and status of Chinese traditional medicine are continuously elevated. Now we have established cooperative relationship in therapy, scientific research and academic exchange with more than
100 countries and regions. In 1987,the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies (WFAS),participated by about 100 countries and composed of more than 50,000
members, was established in Beijing. It is the first international academic organization that locates its headquarters in China and to be chaired by China.In1989,International Conference on
Medical Qigong, participated by 29 countries and regions, was held in Beijing. In 1991,Interna-tional Congress on Traditional Medicine, sponsored by China, was held in Beijing. A
"Beijing Declaration" was drafted by dozens of countries and announced by the Congress, which
gave an impetus to the development of traditional medicines in the world." Develop excellent
national culture, rejuvenate Chinese medicine and pharmacology "was the inscription presented to the Congress by General Secretary Jiang Zemin. In recent years, with the rise of natural
medicine and non-drug therapies, the attitude towards traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy across the world has undergone great changes. A large number of experts in TCM have
been invited by countries of organizations in Asia, Europe, America and Oceania to give lectures on TCM or to conduct activities in TCM therapy and scientific research. In China, among the
foreign students specializing in natural sciences, those majoring in traditional Chinese medicine accounts for the highest percentage of the total .WHO has established 7 collaborating centers of
traditional medicine and pharmacology. International training centers have been set up in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing and Xiame to train TCM personnel for the countries all over the
world. College of traditional Chinese medicine and college of acupuncture have been founded in France, US, Italy and Australia. An institute for TCM theoretical research has been set up in the
Mu-nich University of Germany. Our cooperative programs with foreign countries are increasing rapidly. Cooperative relationship has been established between China and Japan, the United
State and Germany. The Kanebao Co., Ltd. of Japan invested in the program to set up the first joint factory of traditional Chinese drugs in Qingdao. This is followed by the joint ventures
participated by Thailand and Hong Kong. The trade on traditional Chinese medicine has been unceasingly enlarged. In 1993,the foreign exchange obtained by export amounts to more than
four hundred million US dollars Along with the development of international exchange, traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacology will make greater contributions to the health of the people of
the whole world. |
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