What the Donguibogam says, what science has confirmed

Traditional medical knowledge placed side by side with modern evidence.

Evidence map

The horizontal axis is evidence grade; the vertical axis is safety signal. The two are independent.

Cross-tabulation of evidence grade (columns) by safety signal (rows).
Safety · Evidence	— Not graded	D Insufficient	C Preclinical only	B Promising	A Established
Harm confirmed	0	0	0	Ephedra	0
Caution	0	Licorice Cassia bark Mulberry leaf	0	Astragalus Turmeric	Ginseng Fresh ginger
Adverse-event literature exists	Cnidium White atractylodes Amur cork tree Chinese asparagus Dahurian angelica Field mint Fo-ti Forsythia fruit Honeysuckle flower Codonopsis Water plantain	Baikal skullcap Pinellia Kudzu root Bupleurum Coptis Goji berry Siler root Chrysanthemum Balloon flower root Achyranthes Eucommia bark Gardenia fruit	Korean angelica Rhubarb Magnolia bark Grassleaf sweetflag	Peony root Rehmannia Poria Jujube Costus root Nut grass Schisandra Thinleaf milkwort Perilla leaf Korean mint Motherwort Sicklepod seed Red sage	Atractylodes
Interaction literature exists	0	0	0	0	0
No signal found	Liriope Japanese catnip	Chinese yam	0	0	0
Not yet assessed	0	0	0	0	0

The axes are independent: strong evidence can coexist with real harm, and safety does not imply evidence. "Not graded" means no indication is specified, so a grade does not apply — it does not mean a low grade.

Grade distribution A 3 B 16 C 4 D 16 E 0 · not graded 13 (no indication specified)

Indications come from the Condition field of registered trials on ClinicalTrials.gov, or from the titles of published systematic reviews and RCTs. They reflect what is currently being studied, not traditional usage, and none have been reviewed.

Herbs: 52target 50
Patterns: 180target 30
Formulas: 68target 15
Concepts: 722target 680