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Chinese Traditional Medicines Hospital

Materia medica

Knowing each herb

A reference to the herbs our practitioners work with — nature and flavour, the channels they enter, their traditional functions and the cautions that go with them. Written to explain Chinese medicine, not to guide self-medication.

Before you read on

Chinese medicine prescribes by pattern, not by symptom. The same complaint in two different people can call for herbs that pull in opposite directions. So the functions listed here are how the tradition CLASSIFIES a herb — not a statement of what you would feel if you took it, and not something to match against your own symptoms and act on.

Several of these interact with western medication — angelica and goji with warfarin among them — and several are unsuitable in particular constitutions or in pregnancy. Ask a registered practitioner before taking any Chinese herb.

No herb entries yet.

The cover of Bauhinia Health (紫荊養生): a brown cover with the title in gold, subtitled “health, leisure, art” and marked as the special edition for the 2025 Hong Kong International Traditional Chinese Medicine Congress, with a photograph of the congress ribbon-cutting ceremony across the lower third.

Reading at the clinic

Bauhinia Health

A copy of Bauhinia Health (紫荊養生) is kept in the waiting area. It is a Chinese medicine culture journal published by Bauhinia Culture Group; the issue shown is the special edition for the 2025 Hong Kong International Traditional Chinese Medicine Congress.

The journal is published by Bauhinia Culture Group, not by this clinic, and nothing in it constitutes advice from us. If you have questions about anything you read in it, please ask one of our registered practitioners.