Herbal medicine is the mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine.
Its origins date to prehistoric times. It reflects ancient, agrarian cultural values as well as knowledge about the nature of plants and animals in the environment and their use as medicinals. In time, a lore accumulated that was passed from generation to generation. After centuries of such transmission, the knowledge of herbal ingredients became distilled and refined. We find the basic theories of herbal medicine already well developed in texts that date to the second century BCE discovered at Ma Wang Dui in Chang Sha in Hunan province.