The invention relates to a preservative composition containing Chinese medicinal herbs and application thereof, belonging to the technical field of preservatives. The preservative composition is prepared by adopting the steps of: 1, weighting 0.1-0.78 percent of goldthread, 0-1 percent of the tuber of stemona, 0.1-0.84 percent of golden cypress, 0-0.58 percent of liquorice root, 0.1-1.5 percent of liquorice, 0-0.8 percent of poria cocos and 94.6-99.6 percent of water according to the weight proportion, uniformly stirring, soaking for 6-8h, heating to 110-130 DEG C, preserving the temperature for 30-50min, decocting, press-filtering, and collecting filtrate for later use; and 2, adding alcohol, which is 1.5-2.5 times the volume of the filtrate, in the filtrate, standing at a temperature of4 DEG C for 24-26h, filtering out sediment, decompressing and recycling the alcohol at a temperature of 75 DEG C, carrying out rotary distillation and condensation at a temperature of 85 DEG C until the volume is 8-15 percent of the original volume. The prepared preservative is natural and non-toxic, has no residual, good rot proofing effect on the foods, refreshing efficacy, low production cost and wide application range, and is safe in use.