The General Office of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine ("NATCM") and the Department of General Affairs of the National Medical Products Administration ("NMPA") have recently enacted and issued the Principles for Textual Research of Key Information in Ancient Classical Prescriptions (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") and the Table of Key Information in Ancient Classical Prescriptions (for Seven Prescriptions) (Draft for Comment) for public comment by June 10, 2020.
The Draft for Comment touches upon major contents in two aspects. The first is laying out the basic principles for establishing key information with consensus among experts, including the general principles for textual research of key information and the specific work of textual research of key information. The second is clarifying what the key information contained in ancient classical prescriptions is. The key information contained in each prescription includes two parts, namely, the basic information and the modern counterparts of medicinal materials. The basic information contains the source of a prescription, components of the prescription, how to make the preparation, and its usage, and is consistent with that specified in the Catalog of Ancient Classical Prescriptions (First Batch). The modern counterparts involve the names of medicines, the origin and the parts with medicinal value, the processing method, the converted dosage, and main functions, on which experts have reached consensus.