Bencao Gangmu: Vegetables Section
Overall Paraphrase
Pugua explains first: The following is a collated study of the Bencao Gangmu·Vegetables Section as a philological review of classical literature, not modern therapeutic advice.
This entire chapter records dozens of edible plants, gourds, fruits, fungi, and algae. The original text follows the structure of "Explanations of Names—Qi and Flavor—Indications." "Qi and Flavor" refers to the four natures and five flavors (cold, hot, warm, cool as the four natures; sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty as the five flavors), while "Indications" records empirical experience from antiquity. Overall, the Vegetables Section centers on the principle of medicine and food sharing the same origin, holding that "the five vegetables serve as supplements," meaning vegetables can assist the five grains, unblock the intestines and stomach, and regulate the movement of qi.
🌿 I. Pungent-Warm Dispersing and Unblocking Category
Vegetables in this category are mostly pungent and warm in nature. Ancient physicians believed they could disperse wind-cold, activate yang qi, stop vomiting, and relieve pain.
- Chinese Chives (Jiu): Pungent, mildly sour, warm, astringent. Ancient physicians held that chive juice could unblock chest yang and move stagnant blood, used for chest bi syndrome (chest oppression and pain, which the ancients described as obstruction in the chest) with acute pain; chive root stops night sweats; chive seeds lean toward warming the kidneys and supporting yang. For external use, applied to lacquer sores and knife wounds.
- Scallion (Cong): Scallion white is pungent and neutral; the leaves are warm. It excels at unblocking yang, inducing sweating, dispersing cold, and relieving pain. For example, scallion white combined with fermented soybean steeped in hot water to induce sweating is a method for the early stage of external contraction; scallion white stir-fried hot and applied to the navel was used in ancient emergency treatment for "yang depletion," an external therapy method.
- Chinese Garlic Chive (Xie): Xie bai is pungent, bitter, warm, and slippery. It excels at unblocking yang and dispersing nodulations. Ancient physicians commonly used Trichosanthes fruit, xie bai, and white wine together to treat chest bi, following the logic of the "Gualou Xiebai Decoction."
- Garlic (Suan, Hu): Small garlic is pungent, warm, with slight toxicity; large garlic is pungent, warm, and toxic. In antiquity, it was used for seasonal epidemic warmth disorders, cholera, dysentery, and abscesses; garlic applied externally with moxibustion was used for back sores. Ancient texts also warn that "long-term consumption of garlic harms the eyes."
- Fresh Ginger and Dried Ginger (Shengjiang, Ganjiang): Fresh ginger is pungent and mildly warm, dispersing cold and stopping vomiting, and neutralizing drug toxicity; dried ginger is pungent and hot, leaning toward warming the middle and restoring yang, stopping diarrhea and bleeding. Both are representative of the pungent-warm method.
- Coriander and Fennel (Husui, Huixiang): Coriander is pungent, warm, with slight toxicity; it helps rashes erupt and opens the appetite. Fennel is pungent and neutral, warming the liver, regulating qi, and relieving pain, commonly used for hernia, lower back pain, and hypochondriac pain.
- Oil Rape, Mustard, and White Mustard (Yuntai, Jie, Baijie): Rapeseed is pungent and warm, applied externally for erysipelas and heat sores; white mustard seed is pungent and warm, dispelling phlegm and dispersing nodules. The ancients used it for phlegm vertigo, vomiting, and the early stages of swellings and toxins.
🌊 II. Sweet-Bland, Slippery, Heat-Clearing and Dampness-Resolving Category
Vegetables in this category are mostly sweet-cold or bitter-cold. Ancient physicians believed they could clear heat, promote diuresis, unblock the bowels, and reduce swelling.
- Radish (Laifu): Root is pungent-sweet; leaves are pungent-bitter; nature is warm. Used raw, it leans toward clearing heat and generating fluids; used cooked, it leans toward sending qi downward, resolving phlegm, aiding digestion, and unblocking the bowels. Radish seeds also direct qi downward and resolve phlegm.
- Wax Gourd (Donggua): Sweet, mildly cold; promotes diuresis to reduce swelling, clears heat and relieves restlessness. The flesh, inner pulp, and seeds are used separately; wax gourd seeds lean toward moistening the lungs, resolving phlegm, and brightening the eyes.
- Luffa (Sigua): Sweet, neutral. Clears heat, cools blood, unblocks meridians, and promotes lactation. Old luffa burnt to retain its nature (an ancient processing method of burning until the exterior is charred while the interior retains medicinal properties) is a commonly used ancient method for stopping bleeding and relieving pain.
- Bottle Gourd and Bitter Gourd (Hulu, Kugu): The sweet and smooth variety promotes diuresis and reduces swelling; bitter gourd is bitter, cold, and toxic. In antiquity it was used for edema and jaundice, but its toxicity is significant and it must never be used on one's own.
- Cucumber (Hugua): Sweet, cold, slightly toxic; clears heat and promotes diuresis.
- Bamboo Shoot (Zhusun): Sweet, mildly cold; resolves heat, dispels phlegm, and refreshes the stomach.
- Bitter Melon (Kugua): Bitter, cold; clears the heart and brightens the eyes.
- Purslane, Sow Thistle, Lettuce, Dandelion, Houttuynia, Potentilla, Water Celery, Amaranth, Bracken, Vetch, Clover, and Water Clover (Machixian, Kucai, Woju, Pugongying, Yuxingcao, Fanbaicao, Shuiqin, Xian, Jue, Wei, Qiaoyao, Shuicai): Mostly bitter-cold or sweet-cold in nature; their main actions are clearing heat toxins, resolving dampness, and promoting diuresis to treat stranguria. In antiquity they were commonly used for sores and abscesses, dysentery, difficult urination, and bloody stranguria.
🍠 III. Sweet-Neutral Tonifying and Supplementing Category
Vegetables in this category are mostly sweet-neutral or sweet-warm. Ancient physicians believed they could tonify the middle and supplement qi, moisten the lungs and calm the spirit, brighten the eyes, and benefit the stomach.
- Chinese Yam (Shuyu): Sweet, warm, neutral; supplements the spleen and stomach, benefits the lungs and kidneys. In antiquity it was used for deficiency distension, diarrhea, frequent urination, and spleen-stomach weakness.
- Sweet Potato (Ganshu): Sweet, neutral; supplements deficiency and fatigue, boosts qi and strength, fortifies the spleen and stomach, and strengthens kidney yin.
- Lily (Baihe): Sweet, neutral; moistens the lungs and stops cough, clears the heart and calms the spirit. Classical formulas include Baihe Zhimu Decoction, Baihe Dihuang Decoction, etc., used to treat lily disease (an ancient disease name resembling post-febrile disorder of the spirit, appetite, and sleep), embodying the method of nourishing yin and clearing heat.
- Turnip (Wujing/Manjing): Root and leaves are bitter-warm; seeds are bitter-pungent-neutral. It brightens the eyes, boosts qi, and supplements the liver; in antiquity it was also used to treat jaundice and urinary and bowel obstruction.
- Shepherd's Purse, Field Pennycress, Chickweed, Alfalfa, and Spinach (Jicai, Xi, Jichangcao, Muxu, Bocai): Mostly harmonize the middle, benefit the liver, brighten the eyes, and moisten dryness.
🍄 IV. Fungi, Algae, and Others
- Reishi (Zhi): Classified by five colors into green, red, yellow, white, black, and purple reishi. The ancients, following the five-element correlative system, held that each tonifies the corresponding organ, calms the spirit, and boosts essence qi.
- Wood Ear (Muer): Sweet, neutral, slightly toxic; cools blood and stops bleeding. Mulberry ear, locust ear, and thorn tree ear differ in use depending on their host tree.
- Shiitake, Mushroom, and Termite Fungus (Xiangxun, Moguxun, Jijun): Mostly sweet-neutral or sweet-cold; benefit the stomach, resolve phlegm, and clear the spirit.
- Soil Fungus (Tujun): Sweet, cold, toxic; for external use only. Honeylocust fungus is pungent and toxic.
- Nostoc (Ground Ear) and Stone Ear (Di'er, Shi'er): Sweet, neutral; brighten the eyes, boost qi, and tonify the kidneys.
⚠️ When reading this chapter, special attention should be paid to the fact that the "Indications" section of the original text collects many classical formulas and emergency methods, such as scallion white ironed on the navel, chive juice administered orally, and gourd pulp stuffed into the nostrils. These represent the compiled experience of Li Shizhen's era. Some of the substances used therein—such as mouse urine, child's urine, lead powder, cinnabar, Euphorbia kansui, and Euphorbia pekinensis—cannot be applied as written by modern standards; statements such as "the dead fetus will be delivered immediately" or "eradicates the root cause" should also be approached with rational skepticism. The value of this chapter lies primarily in its philosophy of medicine and food sharing the same origin and its therapeutic principles, rather than in specific operational instructions.
🧠 Deep Understanding
Core Principles and Methods 💡
The core philosophy of the Bencao Gangmu·Vegetables Section is medicine and food sharing the same origin and the five vegetables as supplements. Li Shizhen incorporated everyday vegetables into the materia medica system, demonstrating that the ancients recognized early on: diet is not merely for satisfying hunger, but can also regulate the body's qi and blood, cold and heat, and deficiency and excess.
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The Four Natures and Five Flavors Guide Vegetable Selection
Ancient physicians classified vegetables according to the four natures and five flavors. Pungent-warm items such as scallion, ginger, garlic, and xie lean toward dispersing and warming; bitter-cold items such as sow thistle, dandelion, and houttuynia lean toward clearing heat and resolving toxins; sweet-bland items such as wax gourd, luffa, and radish lean toward resolving dampness and promoting downward movement; sweet-neutral items such as Chinese yam, lily, and sweet potato lean toward tonifying the middle and moistening nourishment.
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Unblocking as the Primary Function
Numerous entries in the Vegetables Section relate to "unblocking"—unblocking the bowels, unblocking urination, promoting lactation, unblocking meridians, and unblocking chest yang. This reflects the ancients' general grasp of vegetable functions: most vegetables can assist the spleen and stomach in transformation and transport, preventing stagnation of qi movement. As the saying goes, "the six bowels take unblocking as their function," and many vegetables happen to serve this lightly clearing and freely moving role.
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External Treatment and Internal Administration Used Together
The original text contains numerous methods of external application, ironing, fumigation and washing, nasal insertion, ear drops, and ear packing. This aligns with the Chinese medical principle that "the rationale for internal treatment is the same as the rationale for external treatment." In antiquity, when emergency medications were scarce, scallion, chives, garlic, luffa, and similar items were frequently used as simple external treatment materials.
Modern Understanding 🌟
From a modern scientific perspective, most plants recorded in the Vegetables Section are rich in dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals, and indeed benefit intestinal health, metabolic balance, and immune regulation. For example:
- Scallion, garlic, and chives contain sulfur compounds, with modern research suggesting certain antibacterial, antioxidant, and circulation-promoting effects;
- Wax gourd, luffa, and cucumber have high water content and low caloric value, are relatively rich in potassium, and help with fluid metabolism;
- Fungi and algae contain polysaccharides, proteins, and trace elements, and are foods with relatively high nutritional value.
However, an objective perspective is also necessary:
- The "indications" recorded in ancient texts derive largely from empirical experience and lack modern clinical trial evidence; they do not equate to modern therapeutic efficacy;
- Some processing methods or uses, such as burnt to retain nature, administration with child's urine, or insecticidal uses with lead powder, carry clear historical limitations;
- Lead powder contains lead, cinnabar contains mercury, and Euphorbia kansui, Euphorbia pekinensis, bitter gourd, and soil fungus are toxic; none should be used according to the formulas in modern times;
- Some fresh herbs used for external application may cause allergies or infections and should not replace standardized medical care.
Therefore, this chapter is better suited for study as traditional cultural and classical pharmacological literature than as a modern medical guide.
Health and Wellness Insights ⚡
On a non-therapeutic level, certain general lifestyle insights can be drawn:
- Eat seasonal vegetables in accordance with the four seasons: The ancients emphasized "consuming foods whose qi and flavors harmonize," and daily diet can incorporate fresh vegetables selected according to the seasons.
- Maintain variety without overindulging in any single flavor: Pungent-warm vegetables such as scallion, garlic, and ginger are suitable as moderate seasonings; bitter-cold vegetables such as sow thistle and dandelion should not be consumed in large amounts long-term; sweet-bland vegetables such as wax gourd, luffa, and radish suit daily dietary pairing.
- Those with weak spleen and stomach should be cautious with raw and cold foods: Many gourds and bitter vegetables are cold and slippery in nature; those prone to diarrhea or who feel cold easily should not consume large quantities raw.
- Do not gather or consume unfamiliar wild vegetables or mushrooms: This chapter already records the toxicity of soil fungus and bitter gourd; in modern times, one should be even more vigilant against wild mushroom poisoning.
- Seek prompt medical care for acute conditions, injuries, and obstetric situations: Emergency formulas from classical texts must not replace modern medical care.
📚 Related Knowledge
- Related Concepts: The four natures and five flavors, ascending and descending and floating and sinking, channel tropism, medicine and food sharing the same origin, the five vegetables as supplements, the spleen and stomach as the foundation of acquired constitution, burning to retain nature, provocative foods.
- Further Reading:
- Huangdi Neijing·Suwen·Zangqi Fashi Lun — "The five grains nourish, the five fruits assist, the five meats benefit, and the five vegetables supplement"
- Huangdi Neijing·Suwen·Shengqi Tongtian Lun — "Consume foods whose qi and flavors harmonize, to supplement essence and boost qi"
- Relevant general chapters on medicinal properties in the Bencao Gangmu·Xuli
- Shiwu Bencao and other classical texts on food materia medica
This content is based on classical Chinese medical literature and is provided solely for traditional cultural study and scholarly research. It does not constitute any form of medical diagnosis, medication, or treatment advice. If you experience any discomfort, please seek medical attention promptly.
