CHINESE HERBAL MEDICINE |HERBS WE USE
Raw materials
There are roughly 13,000 medicinals used in Chinese herbal medicine and over 100,000 medicinal recipes recorded in the ancient literature. Plant elements and extracts are by far the most common elements used. In the classic Handbook of Traditional Drugs, 517 drugs were listed and 30 were minerals.
For many plants used as medicinals, detailed instructions have been handed down not only regarding the locations and areas where they grow best but also regarding the best timing of planting and harvesting them.
Below we have listed just a few many of which you will be acquainted with already – why not take a look and see how many you already know?
This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.
Ginseng
Chinese red ginseng roots
The use of ginseng (人参) is well over two thousand years old in Chinese herbal medicine. Ginseng contains ginsenosides. The amount of ginsenosides in ginseng depends on how the plant was cultivated and the age of the root. Wild ginseng is rare and commands the highest prices on the market.
Red Panax ginseng is the most popular form of ginseng and it is usually packaged as a liquid or tea. Ginseng comes in two kinds, red and white. The colour of the ginseng depends on how it is processed. White ginseng is unprocessed and dries naturally. Red ginseng is processed with steam and is believed to be more effective. Native Americans have used American ginseng for dry coughs, constipation, and fevers.
TCM Information: Species: Panax ginseng. Pinyin: Ren Shen. Common Name: Chinese Ginseng. Quality: Sweet, Bitter, Warm. Meridians: Lung, Spleen, Heart. Actions: Tonifies yuan qi to treat collapse of qi, tonifies spleen and lung, generates fluids, mildly tonifies heart qi.
Species: Eleutherococcus senticosus. Pinyin: Ci Wu Jia. Common Name: Siberian Ginseng. Quality: Pungent (Acrid), Slightly bitter, Warm. Meridians: Spleen, Heart, Kidney. Actions: Tonifies spleen and kidney, mildly tonifies heart qi, promote blood circulation, calms shen.
Species: Panax quinquefolius. Pinyin: Xi Yang Shen. Common Name: American Ginseng. Quality: Sweet, Slightly bitter, Cold. Meridians: Heart, Kidney, Lung. Actions: Tonifies lung and spleen qi, tonifies lung yin, cools fire from lung yin deficiency, generates fluids.
Mushrooms
Main article: Medicinal mushrooms
Mushrooms have long been used as a medicinal food and as a tea in Chinese herbology. Clinical, animal, and cellular research has shown some mushrooms may be able to up-regulate aspects of the immune system. Notable mushrooms used in Chinese herbology include Reishi and Shiitake.
Wolfberry
Lycium barbarum,Wolfberry (枸杞子)
Wolfberry (枸杞子) is grown in the Far East and is grown from shrubs with long vines. The shrubs are covered with small trumpet-shaped flowers, which turn into small, bright red berries. The berries are usually fresh and sometimes used when dried.
Chinese herbal medicine Information: Species: Lycium barbarum. Pinyin: Gou Qi Zi. Common Name: Chinese Wolfberry. Quality: Sweet, Neutral. Meridians: Liver, Lung, Kidney. Actions: Tonifies kidney and lung yin, tonifies liver blood, tonifies jing, improves vision.
Dang Gui
Dang Gui (当归, Angelica Sinensis or “female ginseng”) is an aromatic herb that grows in China, Korea, and Japan.[citation needed]
TCM Information: Species: Angelica Sinensis. Pinyin: Dang Gui. Common Name: Chinese Angelica Root. Quality: Sweet, Pungent(Acrid), Warm. Meridians: Liver, Heart, Spleen. Actions: Tonify blood, invigorate blood, regulate menstruation, relieve pain, unblock bowels by moistening intestine.
Astragalus
Astragalus (黄芪) is a root used for immune deficiencies and allergies.
Chinese herbal medicine Information: Species: Astragalus membranaceus. Pinyin: Huang Qi. Common Name: Astragalus Root, Milkvetch Root. Quality: Sweet, Slightly warm. Meridians: Lung, Spleen. Actions: Raise yang qi to treat prolapse, tonify spleen and lung qi, tonify wei qi, increases urination, promotes drainage of pus, generates flesh.
Atractylodes
Atractylodes (白术) is believed to be important in the treatment of digestive disorders and problems of moisture accumulation.
Chinese herbal medicine Information: Species: Atractylodes lancea. Pinyin: Cang Zhu. Common Name: Atractylodes Rhizome. Quality: Pungent(Acrid), Bitter, Warm. Meridians: Spleen, Stomach. Actions: Strong to dry dampness, strengthens the spleen, induce sweating, expel wind-cold, clears damp-heat from lower jiao, improves vision.
Bupleurum
Bupleurum (柴胡) is believed to be useful for
the treatment of liver diseases, skin ailments, arthritis, menopausal syndrome, withdrawal from corticosteroid use, nephritis, stress-induced ulcers, and mental disorders.
It is one of the most commonly used herbs in Chinese herbal remedies. Now modern medicine research also indicates that this is a versatile herb.
Modern pharmacological actions
Bupleurum contains A, B, C, D types of saikosapoins, sterol, essential oils like bupleurumol and eugenol, fatty acids like oleic acid, linoleic acid, palmitic acid, and stearic acid, and polysaccharide, etc.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon (桂枝, 肉桂), mostly gui zhi and rou gui, are twigs and bark from large tropical trees.[citation needed]
Chinese herbal medicine studies show that cinnamon reduces serum glucose, triglyceride, LDL cholesterol, and total cholesterol in people with type 2 diabetes, and the findings suggest that the inclusion of cinnamon in the diet of people with type 2 diabetes will reduce risk factors associated with diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
TCM Information: Species: Cinnamomum cassia. Pinyin: Gui Zhi. Common Name: Cinnamon Twig. Quality: Pungent (Acrid), Sweet, Warm. Meridians: Heart, Lung, Bladder. Actions: Induce sweating, warms and unblocks channels, unblocks yang qi of the chest, treats dysmenorrhea.
- Releases muscle layer and adjusts ying and wei qi levels
- Useful in wind-cold-damp bi syndromes to warm channels and disperse cold
- Resolves blood stagnation particularly from cold – dysmenorrhea
- Unblocks yang qi in the chest – shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations
- Resolve oedema and accumulation of cold phlegm
- Species: Cinnamomum cassia. Pinyin: Rou Gui. Common Name: Cinnamon Bark. Quality: Pungent (Acrid), Sweet, Hot.
- Meridians: Heart, Kidney, Liver, Spleen. Actions: Tonifies kidney yang, leads fire back to its source, disperses cold, encourages generation of qi and blood, promotes blood circulation, alleviates pain due to cold, dysmenorrhea.
Coptis chinensis
Coptis Chinensis (黄莲) is a rhizome that is one of the bitterest herbs used in Chinese herbal medicine.
Chinese herbal medicine Information: Species: Coptis Chinensis. Pinyin: Huang Lian. Common Name: Coptis Rhizome. Qualities: Bitter, Cold. Meridians: Heart, Large Intestine, Liver, Stomach. Actions: Clears heat and drains damp, drains fire(especially from heart and stomach), eliminate toxicity.
Modern pharmacological actions of rhizoma coptidis
- It has a strong antibacterial effect on staphylococcus, streptococcus, pneumococcus, Vibrio cholerae, Bacillus anthracis, and dysentery bacterium except for Shigella sonnei;
- It also has an antibacterial effect on Klebsiella pneumoniae, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Bacillus subtilis, Bordetella pertussis, yersinia pestis, brucellosis, and tuberculosis;
- It has a poor antibacterial effect on E. coli, Proteus, and Salmonella typhi;
- The berberine can stimulate the heart, increase its contractility, and increase coronary blood flow when used in small dose and suppress the heart and weaken its contraction when used in large dose;
- The berberine can reduce the heart rate of toad and stimulate the isolated atria of rabbit, guinea pig, and rat. It can also resist arrhythmia, have good cholagogic action, inhibit gastric secretion, arrest diarrhoea, prevent acute inflammation, fight cancer, reduce tissue metabolism, and so on.
- A small dose of berberine can strengthen the excitability process in a mouse’s cerebral cortex while large dose instead can strengthen the inhibition process;
- Berberine and tetrahydroberberine can reduce myocardial oxygen consumption;
- Berberine and its extracts have an anti-ulcer effect.
Ginger
Ginger is consumed in China as food and as medicine.
Ginger (姜, 薑)Ginger is probably the most widely used and available herb on the planet. Ancient fables and legends abound with tales of ginger and its many, many uses. It is used in nearly two-thirds of Chinese and Japanese herbal remedies.
In Traditional Chinese herbal medicine, ginger is said to “rescue devastated yang,” a condition in which invading cold or infection has reached the interior of the body. Ginger warms the energy channels and stops bleeding, especially uterine bleeding. It is also a detoxifier.
TCM Information:
Species: Zingiber officinalis.
Pinyin: Sheng Jiang (生姜, 生薑).
Common Name: Fresh Ginger Rhizome.
Quality: Pungent(Acrid), Slightly warm.
Meridians: Lung, Spleen, Stomach.
Actions: Release the exterior, expel cold, warm the middle jiao, relieve nausea, transform phlegm, warm lung to stop coughing, treat toxicity, and moderate the toxicity of other herbs.
Species: Zingiber officinalis.
Pinyin: Gan Jiang (干姜, 乾薑).
Common Name: Dried Ginger Rhizome.
Quality: Pungent(Acrid), Hot.
Meridians: Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach.
Actions: Warms the spleen and stomach, restores devastated yang, warms the lung to transform thin mucus, warms and unblocks channels.
A few examples of ginger’s power:
* clears lungs of congestion
* will give relief for congested coughs and lungs
* increases secretions of digestive enzymes
* clears stagnation of food in the digestive tract
* can alleviate nausea and vomiting
* warms up internal cold
* helps with scanty menses
* relief from pain associated with menstrual cramps and ovulation
* assists in lowering cholesterol and high blood pressure
* has bactericidal and fungicidal properties
Liquorice
The use of the liquorice plant (甘草) Glycyrrhiza glabra L. is thought to help treat hepatitis, sore throat, and muscle spasms.
TCM Information:
Species: Glycyrrhiza inflata or Glycyrrhiza glabra.
Pinyin: Gan Cao.
Common Name: Licorice Root.
Quality: Sweet, Neutral.
Meridians: All 12 channels, but mainly Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach.
Actions: Tonify spleen qi, moisten lung for dry cough, clears heat and fire toxicity, tonifies heart qi to regulate a pulse, alleviates spasmodic pain, the antidote for toxicity, moderates the effects of harsh herbs.
Ephedra
Ephedra (麻黄)
TCM Information: Species: Ephedra sinica or Ephedra intermedia. Pinyin: Ma Huang. Common Name: Ephedra Stem. Quality: Pungent(Acrid), Slightly Bitter, Warm. Meridians: Lung, Bladder. Actions: Induce sweating and release exterior for wind-cold invasion with no sweating, promotes urination, move lung qi for wheezing, cough or asthma.
Peony
Peony (白芍, 赤芍) comes in two varieties: bai shao (white) and chi shao (red), the root of the plant is used in both varieties.
TCM Information: Species: Paeonia lactiflora. Pinyin: Bai Shao. Common Name: White Peony Root. Quality: Bitter, Sour, Cool. Meridians: Liver, Spleen. Actions: Tonify liver blood, calms liver yang, alleviates flank/abdominal pain from liver qi stagnation or liver and spleen disharmony, preserves yin and adjusts nutritive and protective levels, regulates menses for blood deficiency problem.
Species: Paeonia lactiflora or Paeonia veitchii. Pinyin: Chi Shao. Common Name: Red Peony Root. Quality: Sour, Bitter, Cool. Meridians: Liver, Spleen. Actions: Clears heat, cools blood, invigorates the blood and dispel stasis to treat irregular menses, dysmenorrhoea, amenorrhea, abdominal pain, and fixed abdominal masses.
Rehmannia
Rehmannia (地黄) is a root where the dark, moist part of the herb is used.
TCM Information: Species: Rehmannia glucinosa. Pinyin: Sheng Di Huang. Common Name: Chinese Foxglove Root. Qualities: Sweet, Bitter, Cold. Meridians: Heart, Kidney, Liver. Actions: Clears heat, cools blood, nourishes yin, generates fluids, treats wasting and thirsting disorder.
Species: Rehmannia glucinosa. Pinyin: Shu Di Huang. Common Name: Chinese Foxglove Root Prepared with Wine. Qualities: Sweet, Slightly warm. Meridians: Heart, Kidney, Liver. Actions: Tonifies blood, tonifies liver and kidney yin, treats wasting and thirsting disorder, nourishes jing.
Rhubarb
Chinese rhubarb depicted by Michał Boym(1655)
Rhubarb (大黄), used medicinally for its root, was one of the first herbs to be imported from China.
TCM Information: Species: Rheum palmatum, Rheum ranguticum, or Rheum officinale. Pinyin: Da Huang. Common Name: Rhubarb Root and Rhizome. Quality: Bitter, Cold. Meridians: Heart, Large Intestine, Liver, Stomach. Actions: Purge accumulation, cool blood, invigorate blood, drain damp-heat.
Saffron (fan hong hua)
Saffron is arguably the most expensive herb in the world, due to the amount of time and energy it takes to harvest. The term saffron actually refers to the dried stigmas and top of the saffron crocus, a type of flower similar to safflower.
In traditional Chinese herbal medicine, saffron has a sweet taste and cold properties and is associated with the Heart and Liver meridians. Its main functions are to invigorate the blood, remove stagnation, clear the meridians and release toxins. It is typically used to treat conditions such as high fevers and related conditions that may be caused by pathogenic heat and to help break up blood clots.
Salvia
Salvia (丹参) are the deep roots of the Chinese sage plant.
TCM Information: Species: Salvia miltiorrhiza. Pinyin: Dan Shen. Common Name: Salvia Root. Qualities: Bitter, Cool. Meridians: Heart, Pericardium, Liver. Actions: Invigorate blood, tonify blood, regulate menstruation, clear heat and soothe irritability.
