紫草作为药用,首见于《神农本草经》,但未见其活血之说。其活血作用,约始见于明代李时珍《本草纲目》,言其“治斑疹,痘毒,活血凉血,利大肠。”自此以后的本草著作多从不疑,如《医林纂要》、谢观等编纂的《中国医学大辞典》、目前高等医药院校教材《中药学》等皆是。但经考,任何本草著作都未言其治疗什么样的淤血病证,即使是列有“活血”者,也没有举出利用“活血”作用而治疗的具体病例,此其一。其二,紫草乃清热凉血药中一植物药材。以全国中等卫生学校试用教材1979年版《中药 Lithospermum was used as a medicinal herb and it was first seen in the “Shen Nong’s Materia Medica”, but its blood circulation was not seen. Its blood circulation effect was first seen in the Ming Dynasty Li Shizhen’s “Compendium of Materia Medica”, saying that “treating rashes, pox poisoning, blood circulation, cooling blood, benefit the large intestine.” Since then, the herbalist works have never doubted, such as The “Chinese Medical Dictionary” compiled by Xie Guan and others, and the current “Chinese Medicine” textbook for higher medical institutions are all examples. However, after the examination, any of the Materia Medica did not say what kind of congestive syndrome they treated. Even if they listed “blood”, they did not cite the specific case of treatment using the “blood” effect. This is one of them. Second, Lithospermum is a herbal medicine in heat-cooling blood medicine. A trial textbook for the National School of Secondary Health in 1979.