Traditional Chinese medicine has four qi and five flavors.
The Four Qi, also known as the Four Qualities, refers to the medicinal properties of cold, heat, warmth, and coolness.
The five flavors refer to the spiciness, sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness of drugs. Chinese herbal medicine has different qi and taste, and its therapeutic effects also vary.
There are various forms of application of Chinese herbal medicine, including decoctions made by boiling useful drugs with water to remove residue and retain juice, powders ground into powder, pills, ointments, wine, tablets, granules, injections, etc.