[Textual research on the literature sources, its related names and medicinal part of Lonicera japonica Thunb].

The "jin yin hua" (Lonicera japonica Thunb.) used in the clinic nowadays is the flower of honeysuckle, excluding its stem, leave, branch, vine or the whole plant. In the early time, the name of "ren dong" (honeysuckle) or "ren dong teng" (Caulis lonicerae) didn't refer exclusively to the flower of honeysuckle. A few early literature, such as Xin xiu ben cao (Newly Revised Materia Medica) recorded briefly the flower, yet only mentions its time of blossom and shape without mentioning the medicinal use of its flower, nor the title of "jin yin hua", as the identification for this plant. Therefore, it cannot be regarded as the primary source of "jin yin hua". This research points out that the first appearance of the name of "jin yin hua" should be in Su shen liang fang (Su-Shen's Effective Prescriptions) of the Song Dynasty, and the first usage of the flower "jin yin hua" as a single drug was in Wai ke jing yao (Essence of External Diseases) of the Song Dynasty. Thus, the conclusion that "jin yin hua" is first seen in Xin xiu ben cao or lv chan yan ben cao (Mountainous Materia Medica) quoted in the ninth edition of teaching material of Traditional Chinese Pharmacology, and Chinese Materia Medica are all wrong and should be corrected accordingly.