Introduction
"Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China"
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
The official national drug standard of the People's Republic of China, first published in 1953 and revised approximately every five years. The 2020 edition (current) is the statutory basis for 中成药 quality, identification, assay, and "functional indication" (功能主治) of every officially listed formula.
Compiled by the Pharmacopoeia Commission of the PRC (国家药典委员会) under the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), the Pharmacopoeia has been revised approximately every five years since 1953. The 2020 edition (一部) lists hundreds of Chinese-medicine 中成药 with monographs specifying formula composition, quality markers, dosage forms, and the official "functional indication" (功能主治) used on labels and clinical guidance. For modern formulas that have no classical source text (such as modern 中成药 developed in the 1950s-1970s), the Pharmacopoeia monograph is the primary editorial source for both the formula and its "功能主治" statement.
Historical background
The Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国药典) was first published in 1953, soon after the founding of the PRC, as the state's first unified national drug standard. The text is compiled by the Pharmacopoeia Commission of the PRC (国家药典委员会) under the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), drawing on a panel of experts from Chinese medicine, Western medicine, and pharmaceutical sciences. Since 1953 the Pharmacopoeia has been revised approximately every five years (1953, 1963, 1977, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2020), with each edition issuing statutory monographs for raw materials, processed slices, and 中成药 preparations. From the 2005 edition onward the work has been published in a divided structure (一部, 二部, 三部) by category of drug.…
Formulas recorded in this text· 5
Formula · Chuān Bèi Pí Pá Gāo
Chuanbei Loquat Syrup
川贝枇杷膏
A flagship "runfei zhi-ke" loquat-and-fritillaria syrup from the 1956 Pharmacopoeia, the more "classical" sibling of the modern honey-refined Strong Loquat Syrup.
Formula · Chuān Bèi Pí Pá Lù
Chuanbei Loquat Syrup (Loquat Dew)
川贝枇杷露
A modern "runfei zhi-ke" (moisten the lung and stop cough) syrup standardized in the 1956 Pharmacopoeia, the "dew" (lu) form of the Chuanbei-Pipaye pairing, lighter and waterier than the classic gao (paste).
Formula · Qiáng Lì Pí Pá Gāo
Strong Loquat Syrup
强力枇杷膏（蜜炼）
A honey-refined "runfei zhi-ke" (moisten the lung and stop cough) syrup from the 1969 Pharmacopoeia, widely sold over the counter in Chinese pharmacies for dry, tickling cough.
Formula · Ān Shén Bǔ Xīn Wán
Calm-Spirit Heart-Tonifying
安神补心丸
A modern "yang-xin an-shen" (nourish the heart and calm the spirit) formula standardized in the 1977 Pharmacopoeia, the most widely sold TCM "insomnia + heart-flutter" formula in mainland China.
Formula · Huáng Lián Sù Piàn
Berberine Tablets
黄连素片
A modern "qing-re zao-shi" (clear heat and dry dampness) single-component preparation from the 1977 Pharmacopoeia, essentially the isolated alkaloid berberine HCl extracted from Coptis (huanglian).