Most of the drugs contained in this book are folk drugs that were not included in Compendium of Materia Medica, or were used in other medical books at that time. At the same time, it also includes some imported drugs, such as cinchona, Japanese ginseng, American ginseng, opium smoke, Japanese essential oil, vanilla, smelly grass, tobacco and so on.
Zhao Xuemin has also made innovations in drug classification. According to Compendium of Materia Medica, he divided plants into grass, wood, fruit, valley and vegetable, and also set up "flower part" and "vine part".
He thinks that Compendium of Materia Medica has no vines, and it is unreasonable for vines to return to vines. Woody vines and herbs are vines, so don't confuse them. Rattan should stand. He also focuses on all kinds of plants famous for their flowers. In addition, he was very dissatisfied with the basis for the establishment of the "Ministry of People", so he deleted the "Ministry of People" in his works.
Compendium of Materia Medica is a very important reference book for studying Compendium of Materia Medica and the development of pharmacology since Ming Dynasty. It is an important herbal work in Qing dynasty, which marks the new development of medicinal zoology and botany in China and has attracted the attention of scholars at home and abroad.