Soaking in cold water softens the drug and expands the cell walls, so that the active ingredients of the drug can easily penetrate into the water. Then decoction, so that with the gradual increase of water temperature, the active ingredients will be more easily decocted. Soaking time is generally about 20 minutes for flowers, leaves and stems, and 30 to 60 minutes for roots, seeds and fruits. If you add too much water, the concentration of the juice is too low and the liquid is too much, which is inconvenient to take; if you add too little water, not only is it not easy to decoct the active ingredients of the drug, but also easy to fry. Generally, the amount of water used for decoction of Chinese medicine is 2 to 3 cm. However, depending on the size of the drug, water absorption and the length of time required for decoction, it should be increased or decreased. 3. Decoction fire is divided into two types: martial fire (i.e. large fire) and civil fire (i.e. small fire). According to the different nature of drugs and treatment needs, two methods of decoction are used: rapid decoction with martial fire and slow decoction with civil fire. Generally speaking, the decoction time for cold and flu medicine, heat-clearing medicine and aromatic medicine is short, so it should be decocted sharply with wu hua fire, while the decoction time for thick tonic medicine is long, so it should be decocted slowly with wen hua fire. The water evaporates quickly and the juice overflows easily, so it is often combined with wu and then wen, i.e., first decocted sharply with wu fire, and then slowly decocted with wen fire after the water boils. 4, decoction time should be determined according to the disease and the nature of the drug, can be divided into three kinds of decoction time ① light pungent dispersant drugs: most of these drugs for the treatment of exogenous diseases of sweating drugs, mostly flowers, leaves, whole herbs, etc., the nature of light Yang dispersant, taste aromatic, containing more volatile oil, so the decoction time should be short, so the first decoction from the boil and then decoction about 10 minutes, the second boil about 5 minutes. ②Tonic medicine: Most of these medicines are tonic medicines for the body’s qi, blood, yin and yang, and contain a lot of nutrients, so the decoction time is the longest, so the first decoction is boiled for 30-60 minutes, and the second decoction is boiled for 20-30 minutes. ③General medicine: the first decoction is boiled for 15 to 20 minutes, and the second decoction is boiled for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the medicinal juice to filter the best while the liquid is still cold. Covering the bowl with two layers of clean gauze and then straining the medicine can ensure the removal of impurities and make the liquid clear. Some people who decoct Chinese medicine like to divide the liquid into several times to eat, and if they can’t finish it on the same day, they will leave it for the next day, which is not good from the medical health point of view. The correct way to take Chinese medicine is to mix the first decoction and the second decoction and divide it into two parts equally, and take it once in the morning and once in the evening, one and a half hours after meals. This is the best way to absorb the herbal solution in a semi-empty stomach.