Just as food must be cooked to suit people's stomachs, the animals, vegetables, and minerals that go into Chinese medicine also must go through processes passed down from the ancestors.
就像食物必須經過烹調才能合於人類的脾胃一樣，成為中藥材的動、植、礦物，也必須經過一些祖先流傳下來的處理方法，才能成為治病救人的藥物，而這過程，就叫做「炮製」。