傳統本草學乃運用陰陽五行學說甄定藥物的屬性與療效，因此透過探討本草學對藥理與物性的分疏，適可檢討陰陽五行學說在理論與應用間的辯證關係。本文首先檢覈本草學中「陰陽」、「五行」概念所指涉的主要義涵，進而探討陰陽與五行兩個詮釋系統如何在本草 學中配應與整合。 本草從不孤立地檢視藥物的質性，相反地，任何藥物的孕育環境與煉製過程往往是其藥性的關鍵所在。本草對藥物的分析，乃著意於「體」（輕重虛實）、「色」（青亦黃白黑）、「味」（酸苦甘辛鹹）、「氣」（溫熱寒涼），以及孕育、焙製甚至服藥過程裡藥物所處的溫度高低。率此皆有影萬物所遍具之質素，分而言之，自有陰、陰可別；合而言之，各質素之間，則會因彼此的互動而變化消長，或相生相輔，或相消相抵，終而決定本草整體的屬性與療效。此等有機變化的「陰陽屬性」，正是傳統本草學之所以根究辨析各藥性各種可能差異，並以之適用到每個體千差萬別的體質症候。傳統醫家採擇藥材的判準正在於：將本草的陰陽、五行屬性與人體的陰陽、五行屬性相參互補，務求原為一小宇宙的藥物與所納入作為一大宇宙的人身，產生有機的作用，使服藥後的人體機能復轉陰陽合和、五行相濟的動態平衡。

　　　　　For thousands of years, both of the yin/yang and the Five-phase (wuxing) theories have been widely employed to define and determine the nature of Chinese medicine. Thus the scholarship of the Materia Medica (Bencao) provides us a key to examine the dialectic relation of these two systems in terms of their applications and variations. This study explores how the yin/yang dualism integrates with the quinary wuxing theory in characterizing Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine is not treated as an isolated substance with fixed possessions. Instead, the property of each material of medicinal value is determined not only by its physical shape, small, and color, but also by the environment in which it is cultivated. Traditional scholars of the Materia Medica pay special attention to where, when and howo the medicinal material is grown, nurtured and produced. Any change in the surroundings and/or during the course of production would crucially affect the interaction of yin and yang within the medicine and thus its effect of medication. Since, according to the traditional Chinese medical thought, the health of a human body is interpreted in terms of the dynamic equilibrium of yin and yang and the organic integration of the five phases, the use of a medicine is to entrench or retrieve the balance and the harmony of these interacting forces.