Comparison between Traditional Science of Chinese Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy

OBJECTIVE:To distinguish between the traditional science of Chinese materia medica and the pharmacognosy and discuss the developmental direction of the traditional Chinese medicine.METHODS:The differences between the traditional science of Chinese materia medica and the pharmacognosy in rationale,research contents,medical treatment principles and identification of the quality of the traditional Chinese medicine were compared to clarify that the pharmacognosy and traditional science of Chinese materia medica are completely different concepts.RESULTS:At present,the science of Chinese materia medica is constrained by the theory of pharmacognosy,and the traditional science of Chinese materia medica is tended to be gradually replaced by the western-medicine-theory-based pharmacognosy.CONCLUSION:It is necessary to reconsider and discuss the developmental direction of the traditional Chinese medicine.Modern research on Chinese medicine should follow the natural laws of the Chinese medicine itself rather than following the development mode of the western medicines.