Chinese herbal soup is the most commonly used form of preparation, and the quality of soup is directly related to the clinical treatment effect. Therefore, we must master the correct decoction method of Chinese herbal soup in order to maximize its therapeutic effect. In the process of decocting herbal medicines at home, we must pay attention to the following aspects. The best apparatus for decocting herbs is a casserole. A casserole belongs to pottery, which is the best choice for decocting Chinese medicine because of its uniform heat conduction, stable chemical properties, less susceptible to chemical changes with drug ingredients, and warmth. If there is no pottery, white enamelware and stainless steel pots can be used instead. But do not use utensils made of copper, iron, tin, aluminum and so on. This is because iron, copper, tin itself is also a class of Chinese medicine, the use of fear and disease; secondly, these metal elements and the chemical composition of Chinese medicine is easy to react, lightly reduce the efficacy, serious toxic side effects, such as iron pot decoction, often generate an insoluble iron tannic acid, so that the liquid becomes black and green, the taste of medicine and astringent and fishy. Make changes in the taste of drugs, not only can not cure diseases, and can even produce toxicity, endangering life. 2, decoction before soaking with water before decoction, conducive to the decoction of active ingredients. This is because when herbal medicine is dried, water is evaporated, cell walls and ducts are crumpled, cellular fluid is dried up, and the substances therein exist in the cells as crystals or amorphous precipitates. Soaking before decoction can make the cells swell up again, and when the moisture is further infiltrated, the cells can swell up and rupture, so that a large amount of active ingredients can be released. Soaking time before decoction is 30 to 60 minutes, and 60 minutes for seeds, fruits and root-based medicines. In summer, the temperature is high, soaking time can be shorter; conversely, winter can be longer. Soaking water, room temperature or warm water (25 ℃ ~ 50 ℃) is appropriate, do not use boiling water. 3, the amount of decoction water general amount of water for the herbs under pressure, the liquid surface did not exceed two horizontal fingers (about 2 cm) is appropriate. Among them, aromatic easy to volatile and loose texture of the drug, can only submerge the drug for the degree; hard and viscous texture of the drug need to be long decoction, the amount of water can be slightly more. Scientific water addition: First decoction water addition = total amount of drugs in the formula (grams) + 150 ml + dosage (adult dosage is 150-300 ml). The second decoction of water: the amount of consumption + 200 ml. 4.Fire and time Generally, use large fire (martial fire) when it is not boiling, and use small fire to keep it slightly boiling after boiling (civil fire), so as not to overflow the medicine or boil it dry too quickly. The decoction time should be determined by the nature of the drug. 10 to 15 minutes after the first decoction is appropriate, 5 to 10 minutes after the second decoction is appropriate; 40 to 60 minutes after the first decoction is appropriate for tonic drugs, 30 to 40 minutes after the second decoction is appropriate; for other drugs, 20 to 30 minutes after the first decoction is appropriate, 15 to 25 minutes after the second decoction is appropriate. There is first decoction of the drug should be decocted for 10-30 minutes before adding other drugs to the same decoction, and the latter should be added to the pot in the last 5-10 minutes. (Snake six valley, Sheng Nan Xing, Sheng Han Xia, etc. need to be decocted first for 2 hours.) 5, the number of decoction Generally speaking, a dose of medicine can be decocted three times, and should be decocted at least twice. This is because the active ingredients of the drug will first be dissolved in the aqueous solution entering the tissue of the herb when decocted, and then diffused into the aqueous solution outside the herb. By the time the concentration of the solution inside and outside the herb reaches equilibrium, the active ingredient will no longer be dissolved because of the osmotic pressure balance. At this point, the only way for the active ingredient to continue to dissolve is to filter out the medicinal solution and add water to the decoction again. In order to make full use of the herbs and avoid waste, it is best to decoct a dose of medicine twice or three times. It is recommended to decoct twice. 6.Method of taking medicine Clinically, it is usually 1 dose per day, and each dose is divided into 2 or 3 doses. If the disease is acute, it can be taken once every 4 hours or so, day and night, so that the medicine can be sustained. Generally, the soup is taken more warm. For those who vomit, it is appropriate to take small amounts frequently. For pills, pans and other Chinese medicine preparations, generally swallowed with warm water. For those who need to take more than one for a long time, decoction can be taken as tea, regardless of the time of day. In the case of malaria, it should be taken 2 hours before the onset of the disease. For gastrointestinal diseases, it is advisable to take the medicine before meals. Because the stomach is empty before meals, the drug can enter the small intestine faster to maintain a higher concentration, so that the drug is not blocked by food and can fully and timely exert its effect. Tonic drugs should also be taken before meals, in order to facilitate digestion and absorption. Drugs that stimulate the gastrointestinal tract should be taken after meals, as there is more food in the stomach after meals, which can reduce the stimulation of drugs. For stomachic drugs, it is advisable to take them in time after eating, so that the drug and food can be fully mixed to maximize the medicinal effect. It is advisable to take the Chinese medicine that drives away worms or laxatives, such as senna, on an empty stomach. When fasting, there is no food in the stomach and duodenum, so after taking the medicine, it can avoid mixing with food and can enter the intestine quickly and be effective. Other Chinese medicines, such as tranquilizers and sedatives, should be taken 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime in order to function in a timely manner. 7. The general method of decoction of drugs can be done at the same time, but some drugs require different decoction time due to their nature, performance and clinical use. Some of them need special treatment, and even the same drug has different performance and clinical application due to different decoction time. Therefore, the decoction method should also pay attention to the human medicine. First decoction: The purpose of first decoction is to increase the solubility of the drug, reduce the toxicity of the drug, and give full play to the therapeutic effect. The following three cases need to be decocted first. (1) Ores: Shells and horns and nails must be decocted first because they are hard and the active ingredients are not easy to be decocted. Such as raw gypsum, cold water stone, red stone fat, Ling magnetite, ochre, sea floating stone, pores, natural copper, oyster, stone cassia, mother of pearl, sea clam shell, corrugated seeds, turtle plate, turtle shell, piercing nail, dragon bone, dragon tooth, turtle shell, buffalo horn, etc., can be broken first decoction 30 minutes. (2) Toxic drugs: such as aconite, sophora, shanglu, etc., should be decocted for 1 to 2 hours first, and the first decoction and long decoction can achieve the purpose of reducing or removing toxicity. (3) Certain botanicals: such as geranium, fire hemp, dendrobium, only effective if decocted first. After the next: flowers, leaves and some roots and tubers and other drugs are not resistant to decoction because their active ingredients are easy to volatilize or destroy when decocted, the purpose is to reduce the loss of volatile oil, the active ingredients from decomposition and destruction. (4) Drugs with aromatic smell and volatile oil, such as peppermint, patchouli, wood, cardamom, sand, grass cardamom, sandalwood, incense, incense, artemisia, pine, etc. should be decocted afterwards, usually 5 to 10 minutes before the decoction of Chinese medicine. (5) Drugs that should not be decocted for a long time, such as hooked vine, almond, rhubarb, senna, etc. should be decocted afterwards. Wrapping: Wrapping a certain medicine in gauze and then decocting it together with other medicines. There are three main types of drugs that need to be wrapped for decoction, one is the small seeds, such as Che Qian Zi, Scapularia, Celosia, etc., which are particularly sticky when decocted, and if not wrapped, they will stick to the pot and the juice will not be easily filtered out; secondly, some drugs, such as Pu Huang, Qing Dai, Hai Jin Sha, Zao Xin Tu, etc., will easily overflow or precipitate when decocted, so they need to be wrapped for decoction; thirdly, some drugs with fluffy hair, such as Cyclamen, Loquat leaves, etc., will not be easily filtered out after decoction if not wrapped. If the decoction is not wrapped, it will not be easy to filter out, which will irritate the throat and cause side effects such as coughing and vomiting after serving. Separate decoction: Some valuable Chinese medicines such as ginseng, American ginseng, cordyceps, deer antler, etc. should be decocted alone or finely ground, otherwise it is easy to cause waste. Melting: Colloidal drugs such as antler gum, gum, etc. should not be decocted with other general medicines, but should be stewed in a separate container with water, or boiled with a small amount of water, and then taken with other drugs. Decoction of soup instead of water: Generally, drugs with large water absorption such as loofah, zaoxintu, money grass, glutinous rice root, etc. should be decocted with water first, and the resulting juice should be drenched before decocting other drugs. Dissolve: such as mannitol, xuanming powder, etc. can also be dissolved and rushed into the soup application. Raw juice into: such as fresh raw ground juice, raw lotus root, pear juice, leek juice, ginger juice, white foxglove juice, bamboo leach, etc., should not be into the decoction can be mixed into the boiled soup to take. Combination of drugs: certain valuable drugs whose active ingredients are not dissolved in water or drugs whose active ingredients are easily decomposed after heating, such as ginseng powder, niuhuang powder, antelope powder, panax ginseng powder, musk powder, whole scorpion powder, cinnamon powder, gansui powder, etc., will be combined with the decoction and stirred into the decoction and taken.