I occasionally get questions asking me to translate a herb name for them.

The list is in alphabetical order from PIN YIN. Let me explain quickly why we use Chinese names and not English names when working with Chinese herbs.
English names for herbs usually use the Latin names or other common names for herbs. This poses a problem because English names can use family names and ‘slang’ names. Lets take Angelica for example. Now there are 3 different types of Angelica. Now if you only use Western Herbs you may only use 1 type, if you use Chinese Herbs you will only use 2 but if you use both Western and Chinese Herbs you have 3 different types. Using the English name of Angelica there is no difference. This is a Family name, and using Latin is difficult to remember. Now in Chinese Angelica is Bai Zhi and Du Huo. As you see 2 totally different names.
Next, example is the fact that we don’t use the hole part of where the herb came from. For example Dandelion has a root, leaves, and flower. Well if you say Dandelion there are some issues on what you are using. In fact, separate parts of herbs have different properties. When you use Chinese names it is inclusive on the usage. For instance Pu Gong Ying doesn’t mean Dandelion, but rather is a Chinese herbal name for Dandelion which uses the leaves and Roots.
Lastly, this takes away the nicknames that herbs get to save confusion: Knitbone/ Comfrey, Lycii Berries/ Goji Berries/ Gou Qi Zi, etc…

Now, I didn’t take a huge list and copy it over. I just pasted the list that I use which covers the herbs that I use. This isn’t an exhaustive list and I don’t have all the blanks filled in, but I’m posting up what I have. Anyone can feel free to email me more info and what would be great is the characters.

AI WEI                            ASAFOETIDA                            FERULA ASAFOETIDA
AI YE                              MUGWORT                                ARTEMISIA ARGYI
BAI DOU KOU              CARDAMOM                              AMOMUM COMPACTUM
BAI GUO YE XTRCT   GINKO LEAF EXTRACT         GINKO BILOB EXTRACT
BAI GUO YE                 GINKO LEAF                             GINKO BILOB
BAI GUO                       GINKO NUT                               GINKO BILOB
BAI SHAO                     WHITE PEONY                          PAEONIA LACTIFLORA
BAI ZHI                        ANGELICA                                  ANGELICA DAHURICA
BAI ZHU                       WHITE ATRACTYLODES        ATRACYLODES MACROC
BAN BIAN LIAN         CHINESE LOBELIA                   LOBELIA CHINESIS
BAN LAN GEN             ISATIS                                         ISATIS TINCTORIA
BI BA                             LONG PEPPER FRUIT              PIPER SYLVATICUM
BI MA ZI                      CASTOR                                        RICINUS COMMUNIS
BING PIAN                  CAMPHOR RESIN                      CINNAMOMUM CAMPHORA
BO HE                           MINT                                            MENTHA HAPLOCALYX
BU GU ZHI                   psoralea                                        psoralea corylifolia
CANG ZHU                  BLACK ATRACTYLODES          ATRACTYLODES LANCEA
CAO GUO                    CARDAMOM                                 A TSAO-KO
CAO WU                       Aconite                                           aconiti asrestis
CHAI HU                     BUPLEURUM                               BUPLEURUM CHINESIS
CHE QIAN CAO         PLANTAIN                                    PLANTAGO ASIATICA
CHEN PI                     CITRUS PEEL, AGED                   CITRUS RETICULATA
CHI SHAO                  RED PEONY                                   PAEONIA RUBRAE
CHIH SHIH                CITRUS BITTER                          CITRUS RETICULATA
CHUAN LIAN ZI       melia fruit                                       melia toosendan
CHUAN HUA JIAO   PRICKLY ASH                               Z BUNGEANUM
CHUAN NIU XI         CYATHULA                                   CYATHULA OFFICINALIS
CHUAN WU                Aconite                                            aconiti carmichaeli
CHUAN XIN LIAN    ANDOFRAPHIS                            ANDROGRAPHIS Pniculatap
CHUAN XIONG         LIGUSTICUM                               LIGUSTICUM WALLICHII
DA HUANG                 RHUBARB                                      RHEUM PALMATUM
DA SUAN                    GARLIC                                          ALLIUM SATIVUM
DA ZAO                       JUJUBE DATES                            ZIZIPHUS JUJUBA
DAN SHEN                 SALVIA                                           SALVIA MILTIORRHIZA
DANG GUI                 DANG GUI                                     ANGELICA SINESIS
DANG SHEN-MED   CODONOPSIS-MED                       CODONOPSIS PILOSULA
DING XIANG            CLOVE FLOWER BUD                  SYZYGIUM AROMATICUM
DONG CHONG XIA CAO    CORDYCEPS                       CORDYCEPS SINESIS
DONG QUAI SEE DANG GUI
DU ZHONG                           EUCOMMIA                        EUCOMMIA ULMOIDES
DU HUO                                ANGELICA                          ANGELICA PUBESCENS
FANG FENG                         SILER                                   LEDEBOURIELLA Divaricatad
FU LING                               PORIA COCOS                    PORIA COCOS
FU PEN ZI                            RASPBERRY                       RUBUS CHINGII
FU ZI                                    ACONITE PREPARED       ACONITUM CARMICHAELI
GAN CAO                             LICORICE RAW                 GLYCYRRHIZA URALENSIS
GAN JIANG                         GINGER DRIED                 ZINGIBERIS OFFICNALIS
GE GEN                                PUERARIA                          PUERARIA LOBATA
GOU QI ZI                           LYCII BERRIES
GOU TENG                          GAMBIR
GU SUI BU                          drynaria                               drynaria rhizome
GUA LOU                            HEAVENLY FLOWER      TRICHOSANTHES KIRILOWII
GUI ZHI                              CINNAMON TWIGS           Cinnamomum Cassia
HE HUAN HUA                  ALBIZZIA FLOWER
HE HUAN PI                      ALBIZZIA BARK                  albizzia julibrissin
HE SHOU WU                    HE SHOU WU
HE ZI                                                                                   A MYOBALAN
HONG HUA                        SAFFLOWER
Hong Jing Tian                  Rhodiola Rosea
HOU PO                              MAGNOLIA BARK              magnolia officinalis
HU JIAO                             BLACK PEPPER
HU LU BA                           FENUGREEK
HU TAO REN                    WALNUT
Hu Zhang                            Japanese Bushy Knotweed
HUO XIANG                      AGASTACHE
HUAI NIU XI                    OX-KNEE ROOT                  ACHYRANTHES BIDENTATA
HUANG BAI                      CORK TREE BARK               PHELLODENDRONCH BARK
HUANG LIAN                   COPTIS                                  COPTIS CHINESEIS
HUANG QI                        ASTRAGALUS                 ASTRAGALUS MEMBRANACEUS
HUANG QIN                     SCUTELLARIA                      SCUTELLARIA BAICALENSIS
JI CAI                                SHEPHERD’S PURSE
JIE GENG                         PLATYCODON
JIANG HUANG               TURMERIC RHIZOME         curcuma longa
JIN YIN HUA                  HONEYSUCKLE
JU HE                               CITRUS TANGERINE SEED
JU HUA                            CHRYSANTHEMUM
KUAN DONG HUA         COLTSFOOT                           FARFAICA FLOWER
LIAN QIAO                     FORSYTHIA                            Forsythia suspensa fruit
LING ZHI                        REISHI                                      Ganoderma lucidum
LIU JI NU                                                                           herba artemisiae
LONG DAN CAO            GENTIAN
LONG YAN ROU            LONGAN                                   DIMOCARPUS LONGAN
LU HUI                            ALOE
LU LU TONG                  taiwanese sweetgum fruit       liquidambar taiwaniana
LU RONG                        DEER ANTLER
MA HUANG                    EPHEDRA                                  ephedra sinica
MAI MEN DONG           OPHIOPOGON                         OPHIOPOGON JAPONICS
MAN JING ZI                 VITEX                                        Viticis Fruit
MO YAO                          MYRRH                                      mmiphora myrrha resin
MU DAN PI                     PEONY TREE, MT
MU GUA                          QUINCE FRUIT                       CHAENOMELES SPECIOSA
MU LI                              OYSTER SHELL
MU XIANG                     COSTUS ROOT                SAUSSUREAE SEN VLADIMIRIAE
NIU BANG ZI                 BURDOCK SEEDS
PI PA YE                         LOQUAT
PU GONG YING            DANDELION                    TARAXACUM MONGOLICUM
QIANG HUO                                                              notopterygium incisum
QING PI                          CITGRUS GREEN
REN SHEN – MED         GINSENG – MED            PANAX GINSENG MED ROOT
ROU GUI                        CINNAMON BARK         cinnamomum Cassia Bark
RU XIANG                     FRANKINCENSE             Boswellia carterii resin
SAN QI TIEN QI, TIAN QI, TIENCHI, TIAN SAN QI     panax notoginseng
SAN LENG                     sparganium                        stoloniferum rhizoma
SANG BAI PI                MULBERRY ROOT BARK
SANG SHEN                 MULBERRY FRUIT
SANG YE                       MULBERRY LEAF
SANG ZHI                     MULBERRY TWIGS
SHA REN                      chinese amomum                 amomum fructus
SHAN YAO                    WILD YAM CHINESE       DIOSCOREA ROOD – MEDIUM
SHAN ZHA                    HAWTHORN
SHAN ZHU YU             CORNUS
SHEN JIN CAO             japanese club moss             lycopodium japonica
SHENG DI HUANG      REHMANNIA RAW           rehmannia glutinosa raw
SHENG JIANG             GINGER FRESH
SHENG MA                   BLACK COHOSH
SHU DI HUANG           RHEMANIA PREP              rehmanmia glutinosa prepared
SU MU                           sappan wood                         caesalpinia sappan
SUAN ZAO REN          JUJUBE SEEDS                    ZIZIPHUS JUJUBA SEED
TANG KUEI SEE DANG GUI
TAO REN                       peach kernel                         Prunus persica seed
TIAN MEN DONG      ASPARAGUS                     ASPARAGUS COCHINCHINESNSIS
TIAN QI SEE SAN QI
TIEN QI SEE SAN QI
TOU GU CAO                                                                soeranskia speranskia tuberculata
TU BIE CHONG           WINGLESS COCKAROACH  eupolyphaga sinesis
TU FU LING                SARSAPARILLA CHINESE    chinese smilax rhizoma
TU SI ZI                       CUSCUTA                                 dodder sead cuscuta chinensis
WEI LING XIAN         chinese clematis root               clematis chinensis
WU JIA PI                   FIVE-BARK ROOT    ELEUTHEROCOCCUS GRACILISTYLIS
WU WEI ZI                  Schisandra Berry                      Schisandra Chinenisis
XI YANG SHEN          AMERICAN GINSENG
XIAN HE CAO             ARGIMONY                              agrimonia pilosa
XIANG FU                   CYPERUS  nutgrass                 cyperus rotundus
XIAO HUI XIANG      FENNEL                                    foeniculum vulgare
XIN YI HUA                MAGNOLIA FLOWER
XING REN                   APRICOT                                  PRUNUS ARMENIACA SEED
XU DUAN                     sichuan teasel root                   dipsacus asper
XUAN FU HUA            ELECAMPANE
XUE JIE                        DRAGONS BLOOD                 CALAMUS DRACO
XUE YU TAN                                                                  CRINIS CARBONISATHUS
YAN HU SUO               CORYDALIS                            CORYDALIS YANHUSUO
YI MU CAO                  MOTHERWORT
YI YI REN                    COIX
YIN GUO YE                GINKO LEAF
YIN YANG HUO         EPIMEDIUM                             Epimedium
YU JIN                         TUMERIC TUBER                    radix curcuma spp
YUAN ZHI                   POLYGALA                               POLYGALA TENUIFOLIA
ZE LAN                        BUGLEWEED                            LYCOPUS LUCIDUS
ZE XIE                          ALISMA
ZHANG MU
ZHANG NAO              CAMPHOR                                 CINNAMOMUM CAMPHORA
ZHI GAN CAO            LICORICE HONEY
ZHI SHI                       CITRUS IMMATURE
ZHI ZI                          GARDENIA                               GARDENIA JASMINOIDES
ZI JING PI                                                                      cortex kadsurae radicis
ZI RAN TONG             pyrite                                        pyritum