How to Read a TCM Entry

Every reference entry on this site follows a fixed format. The headings are the same on each page so that a herb, an acupoint and a formula can be read the same way — and so that you can compare two entries without relearning the layout each time. This page explains what each heading means.

This page is about how to read the entries. It is not medical advice and it has not been medically reviewed. See the medical disclaimer.

Reading a herb entry

Name: The herb as it is written in English, with its pinyin romanisation and, where the pharmacognosy name differs, the Latin name. Chinese herbal texts index herbs by a name that describes the part used and the source plant, so a single substance often appears under three names at once. This site gives all three together because the English name alone is not enough to identify what is being discussed.
Property (性味 xìngwèi): The classical description in four parts: the flavour or flavours, the nature (cold, cool, neutral, warm or hot), any declared toxicity, and the meridians or channels the herb is said to enter. A property line is a summary of how the tradition classified the substance, not a measurement.
Actions (功效 gōngxiào): What the herb is said to do, in the vocabulary of TCM physiology: tonify qi, clear heat, move blood, transform phlegm. These are descriptions inside a theoretical system. They are not the same as the language of diagnoses.
Indications (主治 zhǔzhì): The patterns and complaints the herb is classically associated with. A pattern is a constellation of signs, not a disease name, which is why one entry can list several at once.
Dosage and Administrations: The classical route and the customary range. These are traditional figures, not a personal prescription. A practitioner adjusts them, and some ingredients are restricted or harmful at the wrong dose.
Cautions: The contraindications and warnings recorded for that herb. This is the heading to read first if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescription medicine, or considering anything for a child. Every caution on this site is also collected in one place on the herb safety index.
Processing, Harvest, Sources, Origin: Where the entry records it: how the material is prepared before use, when it is collected, and which sources the entry was compiled from. Some herbs are treated as toxic until processed, so the processing note is a safety statement as much as a practical one.

Reading an acupoint entry

Location (定位 dìngwèi): Where the point sits on the body surface, described by bony landmarks rather than by a fixed measurement, because bodies differ.
Cun (寸): A proportional unit, not a fixed length. One cun is the width of the thumb at the joint, or the distance between two finger joints on the same hand. Every location is expressed relative to the body it is on, which is why the same point is “2 cun below” something on everyone.
Needling: The classical insertion depth and method. Acupressure and acupuncture are not the same thing. Needling is a clinical procedure with real risks — it is not something to attempt at home, and this site does not teach it.
Indications (主治 zhǔzhì): The complaints the point is classically associated with. As with herbs, these are descriptions within a theoretical system.

Reading a formula entry

Source: Which classical text the formula comes from. Formulas are dated and attributed in a way individual herbs often are not, and the source tells you which era of practice the formula belongs to.
Ingredients: The composition, with the quantity recorded in the source. Quantities in classical formulas are given in units that have changed meaning over centuries; a modern practitioner converts and adjusts rather than following the number literally.
Explanation: How the ingredients are said to work together — which are considered chief, which assist, and which moderate. This is the part of TCM that is genuinely a system of reasoning rather than a list of ingredients.

The two vocabularies, and why the difference matters

Entries use two kinds of statement and it is worth knowing which is which:

Pattern terms — “deficiency-cold”, “yin deficiency with effulgent fire”, “liver qi constraint”. These describe a pattern in traditional theory. They are not diagnoses and do not correspond to conditions in modern medicine.
Modern safety statements — blood pressure, warfarin, bleeding disorders, pregnancy, restricted substances. These are the ones a practitioner or a pharmacist needs to see, and they are the reason the caution headings exist.

What every entry on this site is not

None of these entries is a diagnosis, a prescription or a treatment plan. The site names its sources on each page and publishes its correction policy in the editorial policy. If a statement looks wrong, or a herb you would expect to find is missing, tell us — corrections are logged.

Health education only. Not medical advice. See the medical disclaimer.