Artemisia argyi leaves are the commonly used Chinese medicinal material with a history of more than two thousand years.They have the functions of warming the meridian,stopping bleeding,dispelling cold and relieving pain.In many ancient traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) books,there are records of fresh,raw,cooked,and aged A.argyi leaves,and there has been a long view of longer preservation of A.argyi leaves leads to better efficacy.A.argyi leaves are included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia of current edition and local regulations,but there are no relevant specified standards for fresh and aged A.argyi leaves.To clarify the customary specifications and processing methods of A.Argyi leaves in history,and to explore the rationality and scientificity of the existing quality standards,this paper systematically reviewed the differences between fresh and aged A.argyi leaves and analyzed the rationality and necessity of dividing A.argyi leaves into the two specifications based on ancient books,modern regulations and modern research on the composition,efficacy and side effects of fresh and aged A.argyi leaves.The paper provided ancient and modern literature basis for improving the quality standard of A.argyi leaves.