Book excerpt: At TCM colleges in China, undergraduates learn a basic repertoire of between 50 and 100 herbal formulas. This includes one or two formulas from each of 21 major categories. By learning to modify this core group of formulas with additions and subtractions, one will have a basic repertoire of formulas for most clinical occasions. This book is not meant to replace or compete with Bensky & Barolet's Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies. It is meant as an outline for prioritized study and use by under-graduates and new practitioners.