Objective: To summarize the composition principles of prescriptions for infertility from Prescription Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Method: Prescriptions used for infertility were selected from the Prescription Dictionary of Traditional Chinese Medicine

and input into the Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support System (V2.5). Then by using data mining methods

composition principles of the prescriptions were analyzed;and the methods of association rules with apriori algorithm and complex system entropy cluster were used to determine the usage frequency of herbs and association rules between the herbs. Result: The 136 eligible prescriptions were selected and the herbs with high usage frequency in the prescriptions for infertility included ‘Lycii Fructus’

‘Rehmanniae Radix Preparata’

‘Angelicae Radix Sinensis’

‘Semen Cuscutae’

‘Poria’

and ‘Dioscoreae Rhizoma’. The herb combinations with high usage frequency were ‘Lycii Fructus

Cuscutae Semen’

‘Lycii Fructus

Rehmanniae Radix Preparata’

‘Angelicae Radix Sinensis

Rehmanniae Radix Preparata’

and ‘Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus

Cuscutae Semen’. The association rules with high confidence coefficient included ‘Dioscoreae Rhizoma

Rehmanniae Radix Preparata-> Corni Fructus’

‘Dioscoreae Rhizoma

Cuscutae Semen->Lycii Fructus’

and ‘Achyranthis Radix Bidentatae-> Lycii Fructus’. Four new prescriptions were obtained based on the composition principles and rules

including ‘Rehmanniae Radix Preparata

Ophiopogonis Radix

Asparagi Radix

Polygalae Radix

Morindae Officinalis Radix

Eucommiae Cortex’

‘Rehmanniae Radix Preparata

Ophiopogonis Radix

Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma

Halitum

Zanthoxyli Pericarpium

Cera Flava’

‘Allii Tuberosi Semen

Os Draconis

Rubi Fructus

Cuscutae Semen

Corni Fructus

Schisandrae Chinensis Fructus

Dioscoreae Rhizoma’

‘Polygalae Radix

Morindae Officinalis Radix

Cistanches Herba

Ophiopogonis Radix

Phellodendri Chinensis Cortex

Rehmanniae Radix

Ophiopogonis Radix’. Conclusion: The common used herbs for infertility are sweet and warm-natured and go into the channels of kidney

liver and heart

and the Chinese medicine applied in the prescriptions for infertility mostly have the tonifying effects

invigorating Yin

Yang and Qi

and most of the prescriptions could tonify liver and kidney simultaneously. The new prescriptions for infertility are mainly of tonifying effects

with the characteristics of ‘invigorating the kidney and strengthening Yang’ and ‘restoring normal coordination between heart and kidney’. This pattern will provide new prescription ideas and thoughts for clinical practice.