Consisting of five volumes, this encyclopedia is a unique comprehensive monograph dealing with external therapy with Chinese drugs. It nearly covers all the clinical departments of TCM such as medicine, surgery, gynecology, pediatrics, dermatology, orthopedics, proctology, ophthalmology, otology, rhinology, laryngology, stomatology and dentology; deals with nearly all the main external therapeutic methods with Chinese drugs such as Yan Xun Fa method of drug-smoking, Xun Xi Fa method of steaming and drip washing with drug decoction, Tie Fa method of sticking a plaster to the skin, Fu Fa method of coating the affected part with drug paste, Tu Fa method of painting the affected part with drug paste, Re Hong Fa method of drug-toasting, Qi Wu Ji Xi Ru Fa method of aerosol inhalation, Se Ru Fa method of tucking drug into a cavity, etc.; introduces the external treatment of 167 diseases with Chinese drugs, and involves more than 600 prescriptions. In other words, not a single clinical department is not included, not a single common or frequently-encountered disease is not dealt with, not a single chief prescription for external use is not interpreted, and not a single chief external therapeutic method with Chinese drugs is not referred to.

As a monograph dealing with external therapy with Chinese drugs, this encyclopedia centers not only on prescriptions for external use not only on external therapeutic methods with Chinese drugs as some other books of the same kind. It introduces not only "prescription" and "method" but also "disease." And in the book "disease" comes first, "prescription" second, and "method" third. That is, before a method, a prescription is given; before a prescription, a disease is discussed. The purpose is to enable the reader not only to select a prescription according to the disease but also to choose a method according to the prescription. And the prescription selected in such a way would be applicable to the disease, and the method chosen in such a way would be a sound one. In this structure, a disease is presented by its "name first in Western Medicine then in Chinese Medicine," followed by its "etiology and pathogenesis," "clinical manifestations," and its "differentiation and treatment." "Differentiation and treatment" are presented by "main symptoms," "method of treatment," and "prescription." "Prescription" is presented by "recipe," "ingredient," "preparation," "application," and relevant "notes." And "ingredient" is presented by its latinized "Chinese name" (in Pinyin) followed by its "Latin name," and "dosage."

In this encyclopedia, how to make up a prescription, how to process a medicinal paste, ointment, powder, etc., how to apply and conserve a prepared medicine, how to make a dressing change, how attention should be paid when a particular medicine is prepared or applied or a dressing change should be made, what are the relationships between an external treatment and an internal one and the parallel therapeutic method of Western medicine, what are the effects of a certain prescription or method and why it works, ... are all introduced explicitly under the headings of "ingredient," "preparation," "application" and "Notes." This, as a creative feature among literature of this kind, is a distinguished merit of this book. It is a good reference book of a medical workers and a good consultant of a patient. They can put what is written in the book into practical use.