There are 2,711 Chinese Medicine herbs listed in the official Pharmacopoeia of China, compiled by the Pharmacopoeia Commission of the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China.
These herbs are further classified into 3 categories:
- Herbs classified as food (this list). These are the safest.
- Herbs classified as dietary supplements. Please see list here.
- Herbs classified as medicine, which you cannot get without a doctor's prescription.
The list below are the 110 herbs that were classified as food in the latest 2020 edition of the pharmacopoeia. In China this means that these ingredients are regulated as food and can be freely sold as such. As such they're considered the safest herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
This list can be extremely useful to anyone living in Western countries because many of these ingredients have been little studied in these countries. For instance in WebMD, a leading US health information website, it is currently written for chrysanthemum flowers (Ju Hua) that "there isn't enough information to know if chrysanthemum is safe". This would sound totally ridiculous to millions of Chinese who drink it daily as a tea and have done so for centuries!
At the end of the day, China remains the best source of information for Chinese herbs because it is were all these ingredients have been studied in depth and used for centuries.
Without further due, please find the list below. Please note that any herb with an asterisk * is recommended in the pharmacopoeia to be used as food only in limited dosage.
| Name | Pinyin | Chinese |
| Adzuki Bean | Chì Xiao Dòu | 赤小豆 |
| American ginseng | Xī Yánɡ Shēn | 西洋参 |
| Amomum villosum pods | Shā rén | 砂仁 |
| Angular Solomon's seal root (polygonatum odoratum) | Yù zhú | 玉竹 |
| Apricot kernel | Xìngrén | 杏仁 |
| Balloon flower roots (platycodon) | Jiégeng | 桔梗 |
| Dadai orange flowers | Dài dài huā | 代代花 |
| Black pepper | Hēi hújiāo | 黑胡椒 |
| Black sesame seeds | Hēi zhīma | 黑芝麻 |
| Black-tail Snake | Wū shāo shé | 乌梢蛇 |
| Brown mustard seeds (brassica juncea) | Huáng jièzi | 黄芥子 |
| Buddha's hand (finger citron) | Fóshou | 佛手 |
| Japanese bush cherry seeds (pruni semen) | Yùlirén | 郁李仁 |
| Cao guo (amomum tsao-ko)* | Cao guo | 草果 |
| Cape jasmine fruit (gardenia jasminoides) | Zhī zi | 栀子 |
| Chicken Gizzard skin | Jī nèi jīni | 鸡内金 |
| Chicory | Jújù | 菊苣 |
| Chinese cinnamon (cinnamomum cassia) | Ròuguì | 肉桂 |
| Chinese liquorice (glycyrrhiza uralensis) | Gāncao | 甘草 |
| Chinese nutmeg (torreya grandis) | Feizi | 榧子 |
| Chinese plum (prunus mume) | Wūméi | 乌梅 |
| Chinese quince (pseudocydonia sinensis) | Mùguā | 木瓜 |
| Star anise | Bājiao huíxiāng | 八角茴香 |
| Chinese white olive (canarium album) | Qīngguo | 青果 |
| Chrysanthemum flowers | Júhuā | 菊花 |
| Cilantro* | Yánsuī | 芫荽 |
| Clove | Dīngxiāng | 丁香 |
| Codonopsis roots* | Dang Shēn | 党参 |
| Common purslane | Ma chi xiàn | 马齿苋 |
| Common reed rhizome (phragmites communis) | Xiān lú gēn | 鲜芦根 |
| Cornelian cherries* | Shān Zhū Yú | 山茱萸 |
| Dahurian angelica root | Báizhi | 白芷 |
| Dandelion | Púgōngyīng | 蒲公英 |
| Dendrobium* | Shí Hú | 石斛 |
| Desert Living Cistanche* | Ròu Cōng Róng | 肉苁蓉 |
| Dong quai (angelica sinensis)* | Dāngguī | 当归 |
| Donkey-hide gelatin (angelica sinensis) | Ē Jiāo | 阿胶 |
| Dried citron (citrus medica) | Gān Jiāng | 干姜 |
| Dried ginger(citrus medica) | Xiāng yuán | 香橼 |
| Dried nanfengmiju mandarin | Jú hóng | 桔红 |
| Dried nanfengmiju mandarin peel | Jú pí | 橘皮 |
| Eucommia leaf* | Dù Zhòng Yè | 杜仲叶 |
| Fennel seeds | Xiao huíxiāng | 小茴香 |
| Fermented soybean | Dàn dòuchi | 淡豆豉 |
| Field thistle (cirsium setosum) | Xiao jì | 小蓟 |
| Foxnut seeds (euryale ferox) | Qiànshí | 芡实 |
| Gastrodia rhizomes (euryale ferox)* | Tiān Má | 天麻 |
| Ginger | Jiāng | 姜 |
| Ginkgo seeds | Báiguo | 白果 |
| Ginseng* | Rénshēn | 人参 |
| Goji berry | Gouqi zi | 枸杞子 |
| Greater burdock seeds (arctium lappa) | Niú péng zi | 牛篣子 |
| Hawthorn berry | Shānzhā | 山楂 |
| Heal-all (prunella vulgaris)* | Xià kūcao | 夏枯草 |
| Hemp seeds | Huo má rén | 火麻仁 |
| Honey | Fēngmì | 蜂蜜 |
| Honeysuckle flowers* | Shān yín huā | 山银花 |
| Houttuynia herb (houttuynia cordata) | Yú xīng cao | 鱼腥草 |
| Hyacinth beans (lablab beans) | Bái biandòu | 白扁豆 |
| Indian gooseberry (phyllanthus emblica) | Yú gānzi | 余甘子 |
| Japanese honeysuckle flowers (lonicera japonica) | Jīnyínhuā | 金银花 |
| Job's tears (coix lacryma-jobi) | Yìyi rén | 薏苡仁 |
| Jujube dates | Zao | 枣 |
| Jujube seeds | Suānzao rén | 酸枣仁 |
| Kencur root (kaempferia galanga)* | Shānnài | 山奈 |
| King Solomon's seal root (polygonatum kingianum) | Huángjīng | 黄精 |
| Kombu (kelp) | Kūnbù | 昆布 |
| Korean mint (agastache rugosa) | Huò xiāng | 藿香 |
| Kudzu root* | Gégēn | 葛根 |
| Kudzu root powder | Fen gé | 粉葛 |
| Lablab flowers | Bái biandòu huā | 白扁豆花 |
| Lalang grass rhizome (imperata cylindrica) | Xiān bái máogēn | 鲜白茅根 |
| Lesser galangal root (alpinia officinarum) | Gāoliáng jiāng | 高良姜 |
| Lily bulb | Baihé | 百合 |
| Lingzhi mushroom* | Línɡ Zhī | 灵芝 |
| Long pepper (piper longum)* | Bì bá | 荜茇 |
| Long-stamen onion bulb (allium macrostemon) | Xièbái | 薤白 |
| Longan fruit | Lóngyan ròu | 龙眼肉 |
| Lophatherum gracile herb (lophatherum gracile) | Dànzhú yè | 淡竹叶 |
| Lotus leaf | Hé yè | 荷叶 |
| Lotus seeds | Liánzi | 莲子 |
| Malt | Màiyá | 麦芽 |
| Malva nut (scaphium affine) | Pàng dàhai | 胖大海 |
| Masson's pine pollen* | Huáng Qí | 黄芪 |
| Milkvetch roots* | Sōng huāfen | 松花粉 |
| Monk fruit (siraitia grosvenorii) | Luóhànguo | 罗汉果 |
| Mulberry fruit | Sāngrèn | 桑葚 |
| Mulberry leaves | Sāng yè | 桑叶 |
| Nutmeg | Ròu dòukòu | 肉豆蔻 |
| Pagoda tree flowers (sophora japonica) | Huái mi | 槐米 |
| Palmleaf raspberry fruit (rubus chingii hu) | Fù pénzi | 覆盆子 |
| Peach seeds | Táorén | 桃仁 |
| Peppermint | Bòhé | 薄荷 |
| Perilla leaves (perilla frutescens) | Zi sū | 紫苏 |
| Perilla seeds (perilla frutescens) | Zi sū zi | 紫苏籽 |
| Poria mushroom (wolfiporia extensa) | Fúlíng | 茯苓 |
| Radish seeds (semen raphani) | Láifú zi | 莱菔子 |
| Rose flowers (rosa rugosa)* | Méiguī huā | 玫瑰花 |
| Saffron* | Xī hóng huā | 西红花 |
| Sea buckthorn fruit | Shājí | 沙棘 |
| Sharp-leaf galangal fruit (alpinia oxyphylla) | Yì zhì rén | 益智仁 |
| Shiral leaves (microcos paniculata)* | Bù zhā yè | 布渣叶 |
| Sichuan pepper | Huājiāo | 花椒 |
| Sicklepod seeds (senna obtusifolia) | Juémíngzi | 决明子 |
| Sponge gourd (luffa cylindrica) | Sīguā | 丝瓜 |
| Sword bean (canavalia gladiata) | Dāo dòu | 刀豆 |
| Turmeric root* | Jiānghuáng | 姜黄 |
| Vietnamese balm (elsholtzia ciliata) | Xiāngrú | 香薷 |
| Viper snake | Fù shé | 蝮蛇 |
| Yam | Shānyào | 山药 |
