[Textual research of chu, huo, huo, and hua]

Origin of Chinese Characters (Shuowen Jiezi) records a large number of drug names, providing rich materials for the study of the history of pharmacy. But in the aftertime circulating process, errors were inevitable, making the ancient scholars disagree on the relationship between some drug names and their referents. This paper would give a textual research on medication names about chu, huo, huo, and hua. Relevant content was analyzed by using Shuowen Jiezi, Er Ya,Yu Pian and previous annotations of these exegesis books, as well as herbal literature. The relationship between the names and referents, as well as their lexical meanings were clarified by comparing textual content in specialized book about Chinese exegetics and previous herbal literature. Their medicinal efficacy was explained, and the value of herbalism in these exegesis books was explored.