In this article, a comment on the achievement & development of the
pharmacology of
Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) in the 20th
century was made. It was suggested that the CMM
pharmacology study may divided into 5 stages, the main characters of these stages and its relationship with the forming as a branch of learning was discussed. The main achievement of CMM pharmacology studies including: individual drug studies, compound drug studies and drug property studies. In individual drug studies, 104 commonly used drugs, which have been studied well, are listed in table. Among them, 14 drugs studied successfully and popularised were further discussed as examples. In compound drug studies, it was discussed in 3 aspects: the traditional formulas, modern experienced formulas, and compatibility study among drugs. In drug property studies, the pharmacological basic characters for cool cold drugs and warm hot drugs were briefly introduced, other more, the common effects of drugs which have the property of Heat Clearing and Detoxicating, Promoting Blood Circulation and Removing Blood Stasis, Tonics, Regulating Qi, Yang Tonifying, Purgative effect and Antirheumatics were briefly infroduced, these may reflect the fundamental attributes of drug properties. Finally, the technical shortages on CMM pharmacology study in the 20th century were discussed briefly.