The bright future of Chinese herbal medicine: only after a twisty road

Abstract

This article discusses the fundamental theory and history of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) and points out that a series of problems and debates arise about CHM. In order to solve these problems, we need to answer the following three questions for the future development of CHM: Is CHM safe? Is CHM effective? Which ingredient is effective or noxious? Meanwhile, we need to properly handle the relationship between inheritance and innovation during the development of CHM.