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Chapter 3 of 20
本草纲目
This chapter is the content of Compendium of Materia Medica: Herbs Section (I), collecting a group of drugs from the herbs section that are primarily used medicinally via their roots and rhizomes, including more than fifty items such as licorice (Gancao), astragalus (Huangqi), ginseng (Renshen), ladybell root (Shashen), platycodon (Jiegeng), polygonatum (Huangjing), anemarrhena (Zhimu), cistanche (Roucongrong), gastrodia (Tianma), white atractylodes (Baizhu), black atractylodes (Cangzhu), coptis (Huanglian), baical skullcap (Huangqin), Chinese angelica (Danggui), and Szechuan lovage (Chuanxiong). Each drug is generally arranged according to the format of "Name Explanation — Qi and Flavor — Indications," with the "Indications" section extensively recording empirical prescriptions, simple formulas, and symptom-based modifications from ancient physicians.
Modern Context Optimization: The drugs in this chapter can be roughly classified into several categories: 🌿 Qi-tonifying drugs such as licorice, astragalus, ginseng, and polygonatum; 🔥 Heat-clearing drugs such as anemarrhena, coptis, baical skullcap, figwort (Xuanshen), sanguisorba (Diyu), pulsatilla (Baitouweng), and gentian (Longdan); 💨 Wind-dispelling and dampness-eliminating drugs such as saposhnikovia (Fangfeng), pubescent angelica (Duhuo), notopterygium (Qianghuo), black atractylodes, and asarum (Xixin); 🩸 Blood-activating and hemostatic drugs such as notoginseng (Sanqi), common bletilla (Baiji), salvia (Danshen), Chinese angelica, Szechuan lovage, and corydalis (Yanhusuo); 🌊 Yin-nourishing and moisture-moistening drugs such as ladybell root, polygonatum odoratum (Weirui), cistanche, and cynomorium (Suoyang); as well as 🧴 Topical detoxifying drugs such as crested iris (Shancigu), stone garlic (Shisuan), dictamnus (Baixian), and chloranthus (Jiji). When ancient physicians used these drugs, they did not simply "treat symptoms based on appearance," but rather selected formulas according to cold, heat, deficiency, excess, exterior, interior, zang-fu organs, and meridians.
Terminology Processing: In the text, "Shaoyin syndrome" (少阴症) refers to a condition in exogenous diseases where the disease location is deeper, with insufficiency of heart-kidney yang qi or yin fluid; ancient physicians believed it could manifest as sore throat, faint pulse, and other signs. "Scrofula" (瘰疬) roughly corresponds to chronic enlargement of lymph nodes in the neck region. "Gan" (疳) mostly refers to pediatric spleen-stomach impairment and chronic malnutrition. "Great wind leprosy" (大风癞) is the ancient term for leprosy-type skin diseases. Multiple instances of "moxibustion licorice" (灸甘草) and "honey-water moxibustion" (蜜水灸过) in the original text should be variant forms of "zhi" (炙, stir-frying with auxiliary materials), referring to the process of stir-frying drugs with honey, wine, vinegar, bile, or other adjuvants—not actually moxibustion.
Below is an overview of the main drugs in this chapter, provided solely for classical text study and not representing modern medication recommendations.
| Drug | Qi and Flavor (Original Text) | Functional Classification | Representative Indications/Ancient Formulas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licorice (Gancao) | Sweet, neutral, non-toxic | Tonifies middle and boosts qi; clears heat and resolves toxins; dispels phlegm and stops cough; relieves spasm and pain; harmonizes all drugs | Licorice Decoction, Licorice-Ginger Decoction, Guolao Paste |
| Astragalus (Huangqi) | Sweet, slightly warm, non-toxic | Tonifies qi and secures exterior; promotes diuresis and reduces edema; supports tissue regeneration and discharges pus | Astragalus Liuyi Decoction, Danggui Buxue Decoction |
| Ginseng (Renshen) | Sweet, slightly cold, non-toxic | Greatly tonifies primordial qi; engenders fluids and quenches thirst; calms the spirit and benefits wisdom | Four Gentlemen Decoction, Regulate the Middle Decoction, Ginseng Paste |
| Ladybell Root (Shashen) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Nourishes yin and clears the lungs; benefits the stomach and engenders fluids | Lung heat cough, women's leukorrhea |
| Adenophora (Qini) | Sweet, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat, nourishes yin, resolves toxins | Shizi Qini Decoction, Qini Pill |
| Platycodon (Jiegeng) | Acrid, slightly warm, mildly toxic | Disperses the lungs and benefits the throat; dispels phlegm and expels pus | Platycodon Decoction, Platycodon-Pinellia Decoction |
| Changsong | Sweet, warm, non-toxic | Tonifies and dispels wind | Used in compound formulas soaked in wine in ancient formulas |
| Polygonatum (Huangjing) | Sweet, neutral, non-toxic | Tonifies the spleen and moistens the lungs; benefits essence and fills marrow | Supplements the liver and brightens the eyes; spleen-stomach weakness |
| Polygonatum Odoratum / Yuzhu | Sweet, neutral, non-toxic | Nourishes yin and moistens dryness; engenders fluids and quenches thirst | Red, painful eyes; difficult painful urination |
| Anemarrhena (Zhimu) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and drains fire; nourishes yin and moistens dryness | Ermu Powder; treats chronic cough with wheezing |
| Cistanche (Roucongrong) | Sweet, slightly warm, non-toxic | Tonifies kidney yang, benefits essence and blood; moistens the intestines to move stool | Kidney deficiency with turbid urine; elderly constipation |
| Broomrape (Liedang) | Sweet, warm, non-toxic | Tonifies the kidneys and strengthens yang | Men's seven impairments and five strains; impotence |
| Gastrodia (Chijian/Tianma) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Calms the liver and extinguishes wind; unblocks meridians and stops pain | Tianma Pill; dizziness and vertigo |
| White Atractylodes (Baizhu) | Sweet, warm, non-toxic | Fortifies the spleen and dries dampness; stops sweating and calms the fetus | Four Gentlemen Decoction, Kuanzhong Pill, Beizhu Pill |
| Black Atractylodes (Cangzhu) | Bitter, warm, non-toxic | Dries dampness and fortifies the spleen; dispels wind and cold; brightens the eyes | Quzhu Pill, Jiaozhu Pill |
| Cibotium (Gouji) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Tonifies liver and kidneys; strengthens lower back and knees; dispels wind-dampness | Sibao Pill; women's leukorrhea |
| Cyrtomium (Guanzhong) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and resolves toxins; cools blood and stops bleeding; kills parasites | Metrorrhagia, lower GI bleeding, fish bone stuck in throat |
| Morinda (Bajitian) | Acrid, sweet, slightly warm, non-toxic | Tonifies kidney yang, strengthens sinews and bones; dispels wind-dampness | Wind-dampness, beriberi (jiaoqi), kidney deficiency impotence |
| Polygala (Yuanzhi) | Bitter, warm, non-toxic | Calms the spirit and benefits wisdom; dispels phlegm and opens the orifices; reduces swelling | Forgetfulness, chest bi with heart pain, carbuncles |
| Epimedium (Yinyanghuo) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Tonifies the kidneys and strengthens yang; dispels wind and eliminates dampness | Xianlingpi Wine; hemiplegia due to wind |
| Curculigo (Xianmao) | Acrid, warm, toxic | Warms the kidneys and strengthens yang; dispels cold and eliminates dampness | Xianmao Pill; impotence with cold sperm |
| Figwort (Xuanshen) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Cools blood and nourishes yin; drains fire and resolves toxins | Scrofula, macules with sore throat, throat blockage |
| Sanguisorba (Diyu) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Cools blood and stops bleeding; resolves toxins and closes sores | Hematemesis, bloody dysentery, scalds and burns |
| Salvia (Danshen) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Activates blood and disperses stasis; cools blood and reduces carbuncles; clears the heart and relieves irritability | Danshen Powder, Danshen Massage Paste |
| Purple Sage (Zishen) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat, cools blood, activates blood | Dysentery, hematemesis, acne |
| Gromwell (Zicao) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Cools blood, activates blood, resolves toxins and promotes eruption | Infant measles and pox, carbuncle with constipation |
| Pulsatilla (Baitouweng) | Bitter, warm, non-toxic | Clears heat and resolves toxins; cools blood and stops dysentery | Heat dysentery with tenesmus; dysentery with sore throat |
| Common Bletilla (Baiji) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Astringes and stops bleeding; reduces swelling and engenders flesh | Knife wounds, fractures, chapped skin, lung-stomach bleeding |
| Notoginseng (Sanqi) | Sweet, slightly bitter, warm, non-toxic | Transforms stasis and stops bleeding; activates blood and settles pain | Hematemesis, hemoptysis, traumatic injury, unnamed abscess |
| Coptis (Huanglian) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and dries dampness; drains fire and resolves toxins | Xianglian Pill, Huanglong Pill, Sanbu Pill |
| Picrorhiza (Huhuanglian) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Retreats deficiency heat, eliminates gan heat, clears damp-heat | Pediatric gan fever, bloody dysentery, hemorrhoids |
| Baical Skullcap (Huangqin) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Clears heat and dries dampness; drains fire and resolves toxins; calms the fetus | Sanhuang Pill, Sanbu Pill, fetus-calming heat-clearing |
| Gentiana Macrophylla (Qinjiao) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Dispels wind-dampness, clears deficiency heat, retreats jaundice | Jaundice, bone-steaming tidal fever, difficult urination |
| Bupleurum (Chaihu) | Bitter, neutral, non-toxic | Harmonizes and retreats fever; soothes the liver and raises yang | Residual fever after cold damage, consumptive fever, damp-heat jaundice |
| Peucedanum (Qianhu) | Bitter, slightly cold, non-toxic | Descends qi and transforms phlegm; disperses wind-heat | Lung heat with phlegm-heat, wind headache, vomiting |
| Saposhnikovia (Fangfeng) | Sweet, warm, non-toxic | Dispels wind and releases the exterior; overcomes dampness and stops pain; stops spasms | Spontaneous sweating, night sweats, unilateral headache, tetanus |
| Pubescent Angelica (Duhuo) | Bitter, sweet, neutral, non-toxic | Dispels wind-dampness, stops pain, releases the exterior | Wind stroke, postpartum wind stroke, joint pain |
| Cimicifuga (Shengma) | Sweet, bitter, neutral, slightly cold, non-toxic | Releases the exterior and promotes eruption; clears heat and resolves toxins; raises yang and lifts sinking | Macular sores, throat blockage, stomach heat toothache |
| Sophora Flavescens (Kushen) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and dries dampness; kills parasites and promotes urination | Heat disease with mania, bloody dysentery, scabies and tinea |
| Dictamnus (Baixian) | Bitter, cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and dries dampness; dispels wind and resolves toxins | Head wind, jaundice, wind sores, scabies and tinea |
| Corydalis (Yanhusuo) | Acrid, neutral, non-toxic | Activates blood, moves qi, stops pain | Heart pain, hernia, irregular menstruation, lower back pain |
| Fritillaria (Beimu) | Acrid, neutral, non-toxic | Transforms phlegm and stops cough; clears heat and disperses nodules | Ermu Powder, breast carbuncle, whooping cough |
| Crested Iris (Shancigu) | Sweet, slightly acrid, mildly toxic | Clears heat and resolves toxins; reduces carbuncles and disperses nodules | Carbuncles, furuncles, wind-phlegm, insect and snake toxins |
| Stone Garlic (Shisuan) | Acrid, sweet, warm, mildly toxic | Resolves toxins and reduces swelling; induces vomiting of phlegm | Hardening of toxic sores, postpartum uterine prolapse |
| Cogongrass (Baimao) | Sweet, cold, non-toxic | Cools blood and stops bleeding; clears heat and promotes urination | Hematemesis, epistaxis, edema, heat strangury |
| Gentian (Longdan) | Bitter, astringent, greatly cold, non-toxic | Clears heat and dries dampness; drains liver-gallbladder fire | Cold damage with mania, dry eyes, roundworm attacking the heart |
| Asarum (Xixin) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Dispels wind and cold; opens the orifices and stops pain; warms the lungs and transforms rheum | Wind stroke, mouth and tongue sores, nasal polyps, deafness |
| Chloranthus (Jiji) | Bitter, neutral, toxic | Resolves toxins and kills parasites; dispels wind and stops pain | Malignant sores, scabies with crusts, skin parasite itching |
| Cynanchum Paniculatum (Xuchangqing) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Dispels wind and transforms dampness; stops pain and relieves itching | Urinary retention, motion sickness, epidemic diseases |
| Cynanchum Atratum (Baiwei) | Bitter, salty, neutral, non-toxic | Clears heat and cools blood; promotes urination and unblocks strangury; resolves toxins and treats sores | Lung excess with nasal congestion, women's enuresis, blood strangury |
| Cynanchum Stauntonii (Baiqian) | Bitter, slightly warm, non-toxic | Descends qi, transforms phlegm, stops cough | Chronic cough with hemoptysis, chronic cough with qi congestion |
| Jindiluo (Sundew) | Bitter, slightly warm, non-toxic | Resolves toxins | Mountain miasma toxins, sore toxins |
| Sandalwood (Tanxiang) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Moves qi and warms the middle; dispels cold and stops pain | Heart-stomach pain, dysphagia, wind-heat toxic swelling |
| Cynomorium (Suoyang) | Sweet, warm, non-toxic | Tonifies kidney yang, benefits essence and blood; moistens the intestines | Deficiency constipation, weakness and atrophy |
| Iron Wire Grass (Tiexiancao) | Bitter, slightly warm, non-toxic | Dispels wind | Various wind conditions in men and women, postpartum wind |
| Chinese Angelica (Danggui) | Bitter, warm, non-toxic | Tonifies blood and activates blood; regulates menstruation and stops pain; moistens the intestines | Danggui Buxue Decoction, Shengjin Pill |
| Szechuan Lovage (Chuanxiong) | Acrid, warm, non-toxic | Activates blood and moves qi; dispels wind and stops pain | Headache, pregnancy testing, postpartum breast suspension |
This chapter embodies the most important pharmaceutical philosophy of the Compendium of Materia Medica: determining drug properties through "qi and flavor," demonstrating functions through "indications," and addressing complex pathology through "syndrome-based combination."
The Four Qi and Five Flavors serve as the overarching framework for drug action. For example, licorice, astragalus, and ginseng are sweet in flavor, capable of tonifying and slowing; coptis, baical skullcap, and gentian are bitter and cold, capable of clearing heat and drying dampness; asarum, Szechuan lovage, and saposhnikovia are acrid and warm, capable of dispersing, moving qi, and dispelling wind; anemarrhena, ladybell root, and figwort are sweet-cold or bitter-cold, capable of nourishing yin, moistening dryness, and clearing deficiency heat. Ancient physicians did not merely look at isolated symptoms but judged the general direction a drug would take after entering the human body based on its qi and flavor.
Tonification and pathogen elimination are given equal weight. This chapter contains both numerous qi-tonifying, blood-tonifying, and yang-tonifying drugs, as well as numerous heat-clearing, wind-dispelling, blood-activating, phlegm-transforming, and parasite-killing drugs. This reflects the TCM principle of "tonify deficiency, drain excess." For example, astragalus and ginseng lean toward tonifying qi and securing the root; coptis, baical skullcap, and sophora flavescens lean toward clearing damp-heat; Chinese angelica, Szechuan lovage, and salvia lean toward regulating blood; saposhnikovia, pubescent angelica, and black atractylodes lean toward dispelling wind and overcoming dampness.
Formula-drug correspondence, rather than mechanical drug-symptom matching. Many "indications" in the original text are accompanied by specific formula names, such as "Licorice Decoction," "Four Gentlemen Decoction," "Danggui Buxue Decoction," "Xianglian Pill," and so on. This shows that Li Shizhen recorded not just single drugs, but the directional roles of drugs within compound formulas. For instance, astragalus paired with Chinese angelica was considered by the ancients to "tonify qi and generate blood"; coptis paired with muxiang (aucklandia) clears heat, dries dampness, moves qi, and stops dysentery; anemarrhena paired with fritillaria clears the lungs, moistens dryness, transforms phlegm, and stops cough.
The content of this chapter holds significant value in philology, materia medica, and TCM theory, but it should also be viewed rationally within its historical context.
Value: Li Shizhen systematically compiled a vast body of drug knowledge from before the 16th century, preserving many TCM resources still under study today. Modern pharmacological research has indeed found that some drugs contain corresponding active components, such as glycyrrhizic acid in licorice, berberine in coptis, saponins in notoginseng, volatile oils and ferulic acid in Chinese angelica and Szechuan lovage, and flavonoids in baical skullcap. These studies provide a modern perspective on some traditional effects.
Limitations: Many indications in classical texts are empirical summaries, not modern clinically verified conclusions; adjuvants and processing methods such as "boy's urine," "pig bile," "human milk," and "burning to retain nature" reflect the historical conditions and understanding of the time and cannot be directly equated with modern safety and efficacy. Some drugs such as stone garlic, chloranthus, curculigo, and asarum are already marked as "toxic" or "mildly toxic" in the original text, and modern use requires even greater vigilance regarding their toxic side effects. Furthermore, disease names in classical texts such as "great wind leprosy," "scrofula," "gan," and "wasting-thirst" do not correspond exactly to modern medical conditions and should not be simply equated.
Although this chapter is about medicinal substances, it still offers some general lifestyle-level inspiration for daily health maintenance:
Identify physical constitution tendencies rather than blindly supplementing. The ancients used sweet-warm qi-tonifying products such as astragalus, ginseng, and licorice primarily for people with qi deficiency and debility; if one already has a damp-heat, phlegm-fire, or yin-deficiency-with-fire constitution, unselective warming tonification may instead generate heat, promote dampness, and cause上火 (shanghuo). Daily dietary care should also begin with a general understanding of one's own constitution, rather than everyone being suitable for warming supplementation.
Cold-hot bias deserves attention. Bitter-cold drugs such as coptis, baical skullcap, and gentian were considered by the ancients to clear heat and dry dampness, but prolonged or excessive use can easily damage the spleen and stomach; acrid-warm drugs such as asarum, Szechuan lovage, and saposhnikovia can disperse and move, but they lean toward dryness and dissipation. This reminds us in daily diet that overly cold or overly acrid-dry foods should not be consumed to excess over long periods.
Value daily routines over reliance on medication. Many disease conditions in the original text are related to dietary intemperance, irregular daily living, and emotional imbalance. The ancients spoke of "moderation in diet, regularity in daily life, and not overexerting oneself," which are more fundamental forms of health maintenance than medication. Regular sleep, emotional stability, and moderate exercise are no less important to health than medication.
Related Concepts:
Further Reading:
Note from Bugu: This content is based on classical Chinese medicine texts and is provided solely for traditional cultural study and research. It does not constitute any medical diagnosis, medication, or treatment recommendation. If you feel unwell, please seek medical attention in a timely manner.
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