傳統中醫學為中國地區千年來所累積以及實踐的經驗醫學，具有完整理論和實踐體系，今日視其為替代醫學的方案之一。中醫學因為發展歷史久遠，多數理論建立於傳統中國哲學，諸如陰陽、五行等思想之上，故較難用現代科學的角度作為解釋，成為了理解中醫學運作機轉的難題。為提供更可信、更有說服力的解釋來闡述中醫學，許多學者與研究單位都致力於以現代科學解釋中醫理論的工作，將傳統中醫的語言轉譯為現代的科學思維。中草藥是中醫主要的治療手段之一，亦是我們感興趣的研究主題。傳統的中草藥分類法則為四性、五味、歸經等，分別表示人體服用藥物後的反應、味覺、及作用部位。中醫認為具有類似藥性的藥材會有相仿的療效，但如此的歸類方式缺乏解釋且過於直觀。我們構想繪製一個以中草藥為主軸的物種演化樹，希望藉此瀏覽各物種之間的關係，並對其藥性分布與物種親緣性進行分析，觀察是否藥物性質具有物種相關性。透過物種演化樹表現的物種與藥性分布，我們希望能提供一個客觀且量化的觀點，進一步做為解釋中草藥藥性的代表性意義基礎。我們所繪製的中草藥演化樹展示於網頁平台：http://epigenomics.ncu.edu.tw/TCM_portal/index.php Traditional Chinese Medicine（TCM）, is a well known treatment which has developed in China for thousands of years and is regarded as an alternative medical science today. It is based on the old Chinese philosophy, such as Yin, Yang, and Five Elements, which are hard to explain by modern science. Translating TCM logics to modern words is an important work to understand how TCM works, and this could also persuade more people to accept TCM. The main treatments of TCM are Chinese herbs. Herbs are collected and categorized by their properties, which are called Natures, Flavors, and Meridians. They are determined subjectively by how they affect human body, what they taste like, and where they act upon. We have an idea to build a phylogenetic tree for common Chinese herbs, which is drawn by the DNA evidence, to reveal the relationship between each species. Calculating whether closer species have closer properties, Natures, Flavors, and Meridians, could provide a view for what those properties might be based on. These works suggest an objective and quantitative sight that the properties of herbs are evolutionary conserved and make herb replacement a possible work. Our TCM phylogenetic tree is shown on our website platform：http://epigenomics.ncu.edu.tw/TCM_portal/index.php
