OBJECTIVE：To explore“internal and external combined”new traditional Chinese medicine（TCM）quality control mode based on support vector machines（SVM）. METHODS：External data were collected with bionic olfaction，vision and taste system，such as property，color，smell，taste；internal data as the content of effective ingredients，moisture，ash content and extracts were collected to establish relational database with SVM；new TCM quality control mode was established on the basis of SVM. Coptis chinensis from Sichuan，Chongqing，Hubei and Yunnan were selected as subject. External and internal data and producing area information were collected to validate the effectiveness of the system. RESULTS & CONCLUSIONS：The recognition rate of 3 methods are all higher than 90％，including internal characteristics，external characteristics and whole internal and external characteristics；the recognition rate of whole internal and external characteristics is higher than that of internal characteristics or external characteristics. Relational and characteristics model of internal and external data are established with SVM method，and realize traditional experience of“identifying quality from appearance”through modern method to“knowing internal quality from external characteristics”；so，more standardized，accurate and objective new TCM quality control mode will be established on the basis of traditional experience.