The construction of traditional theory of Chinese herbalism cannot do without the accumulated understanding of herb effect in clinical practice. Meanwhile

it closely relates to the natural history of using different theories of herb property to explain effect and mechanism at different stages. The compilation of Inner Canon of Yellow Emperor（ 《黄帝内经》） and Shennong Bencao Jing（ 《神农本草经》） represent the initial formation of traditional herbalism in Chinese medicine. These two books have a relatively complete description of property and effects of herbs

but with different focus of concerning. After Shennong Bencao Jing

explaining the effect from property of herbs gradually become the developing trend and basic characteristics of herbalism. During the Ming-Qing Dynasties

publication of a large number of herbal annotation works further highlights this feature.