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This book collects the commonly used and effective formulas of physicians and folk remedies at that time. The dosage forms are mostly pills and powders, which are convenient for taking and preserving, making it a formula manual of that era. It was first published between 1078 and 1085 (during the Yuanfeng period of the Song Dynasty); by 1107 to 1110 (during the Daguan period of the Song Dynasty), it was revised by renowned physicians of the time, including Chen Cheng, Pei Zongyuan, and Chen Shi-wen, with additions and amendments to the content. It was further revised multiple times between 1131 and 1161 (during the Shaoxing period of the Song Dynasty), 1225 and 1227 (during the Baoqing period of the Song Dynasty), and 1241 and 1252 (during the Chunyou period of the Song Dynasty), with each revision adding new content and adjusting the book's title and volume count.

The Heji Bureau was a government-established pharmacy during the Song Dynasty, specializing in the management of medicinal materials and pharmaceutical operations. This book served as a formulary for the Heji Bureau. During the Shaoxing period of the Southern Song Dynasty, the pharmacy was renamed the "Taiping People's Welfare Bureau," and henceforth, this book became known as Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang. It gained widespread circulation and significant influence, becoming one of the renowned medical texts since the Song Dynasty. The extant version consists of 10 volumes, with an additional General Guide Theory in 3 volumes, divided into 14 categories, containing 788 formulas.

Volumes 1 to 6 cover formulas for internal medicine conditions. Volume 1 treats various wind disorders (including beriberi) with 94 formulas such as Supreme Treasured Pill, Lingbao Dan, Runti Pill, Wuxi Pill, and Bovine Bezoar Heart-Clearing Pill. Volume 2 addresses cold-damage disease (including summerheat stroke) with 72 formulas like Ginseng Toxin-Vanquishing Powder, Minor Bupleurum Decoction, Ephedra Decoction, Minor Green-Blue Dragon Decoction, and Five Accumulations Powder. Volume 3 treats all qi disorders (spleen, stomach, and abdominal masses) with 113 formulas including Styrax Pill, Benzoin Pill, Dingchen Pill, Large Aquilaria Pill, and Middle-Regulating Pill. Volume 4 deals with phlegm-fluid retention (including cough) with 49 formulas such as Beizhu Pill, Xiaoyin Pill, Cinnabar Phlegm-Resolving Pill, Platycodon Decoction, and Beiji Wusu Pill. Volume 5 treats various deficiencies (including steaming bone fever) with 69 formulas like Dodder Seed Pill, Fleeceflower Pill, Ginseng Huangqi Powder, Huangqi Jianzhong Decoction, and Wubi Shanyu Pill; it also addresses chronic cold (including consumptive thirst) with 30 formulas such as Erqi Dan, Cui's Aconite Mother Root Pill, Aconite Middle-Regulating Pill, Ginseng Yangrong Pill, and Shenxiang Powder. Volume 6 treats accumulated heat with 31 formulas like Hongxue Tongzhong Powder, Diaphragm-Cooling Powder, Eight-Ingredient Rectification Powder, Miaoxiang Pill, and Dragon-Embracing Pill; it also addresses diarrhea and dysentery (including constipation) with 61 formulas such as Chaozhen Pill, Zhuche Pill, Large Warm Spleen Pill, Coptis and Ass Hide Glue Pill, and Efficacious Sand Pill. Volumes 7 to 10 cover formulas for conditions related to the five sense organs, external medicine, gynecology, and pediatrics. Volume 7 treats eye disorders with 29 formulas like Jinjiu Pill, Permanent Eyesight Pill, and Pale Butterflybush Flower Powder; it also addresses throat, mouth, and tooth disorders with 19 formulas such as Longshi Powder, Rusheng Decoction, and Yuping Wuyou Powder. Volume 8 treats miscellaneous diseases with 34 formulas like Shenying Pill, Detoxifying Realgar Pill, and Mume Pill; it also addresses sores, swellings, and injuries with 38 formulas such as Small Rhinoceros Horn Pill, Fleeceflower Powder, and Yulong Ointment. Volume 9 treats various women's disorders with 91 formulas like Shugan Rehmannia Pill, Ginseng and Schizonepeta Powder, and Peony Decocted Pill. Volume 10 treats various pediatric disorders with 98 formulas such as Fahun Dan, Dingming Dan, and Wugan Baotong Pill; it also includes 29 soup formulas like Aucklandia Root Soup, Sweet Osmanthus Flower Soup, and Whitefruit Amomim Fruit Soup; and 4 aromatic formulas including Fenji Xiang, Ya Xiang, Acronychia Pedunculata, and Qingyuan Xiang.

Finally, the book is appended with the General Guide Theory in three volumes (upper, middle, and lower), compiled by Xu Hong of the Song Dynasty. The upper volume discusses formula methods, compounding methods, administration methods, medication methods, the antagonism of three-grade medicines, dietary incompatibilities, and the processing of three-grade medicinal stones. The middle volume covers apoplexy symptoms, cold-damage disease symptoms, miasmic malaria symptoms, and ten admonitions for cold-damage disease. The lower volume addresses various qi symptoms, phlegm-fluid retention and cough, deficiency symptoms, accumulated heat symptoms, diarrhea and dysentery symptoms, Yongju symptoms, women's disorders, and pediatric disorders.

This book was compiled by the "Imperial Medical Bureau" of the Song Dynasty, which was commissioned by the imperial court to widely collect clinically effective prescriptions from the public. After repeated testing and confirmation of their efficacy, these prescriptions were selected and compiled into a volume, which was then handed over to the "Heji Bureau," the institution responsible for managing and distributing medicinal products at the time. The bureau standardized the formulations or processed them into pills, powders, and ointments for sale. The prescriptions recorded in this book were not only widely cited by various medical texts after the Song Dynasty, but some of the formulas have also been passed down as standard prescriptions to this day. It is an essential reference for researchers in Chinese medicine.

Major extant editions: the Yuan Dynasty Jian'an period Zongwen Shutang Zheng Tianze woodblock edition; the Japanese Sh?h? 4th year (1647) Murakami Heiraku woodblock edition; the 1925 Shanghai Jiaojingshanfang lithographic edition; the 1959 People's Medical Publishing House lead type edition; the October 1985 People's Medical Publishing House collated and punctuated edition.