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Capítulo 6 de 33
神农本草经
This chapter lists Mu Gui (Cortex Cinnamomi), Jun Gui (Ramulus Cinnamomi), Song Zhi (Pine Resin), Huai Shi (Sophora Fruit), Gou Qi (Lycium Bark), Bai Shi (Platycladus Seed), Fu Ling (Poria), Yu Pi (Elm Bark), Suan Zao (Sour Jujube), Nie Mu (Phellodendron), Gan Qi (Dried Lacquer), Wu Jia Pi (Acanthopanax Bark), Man Jing Shi (Vitex Fruit), Xin Yi (Magnolia Flower), Sang Shang Ji Sheng (Mulberry Mistletoe), Du Zhong (Eucommia Bark), Nv Zhen Shi (Privet Fruit), Mu Lan (Magnolia Bark), Rui He (Prinsepia Nut), Ju You (Tangerine Peel) — 20 types of wood medicines — as "Upper Grade" products. The annotations marked as "Ming Yi Yue" (Famous Physicians Say) and "An" (Commentary) after the classic texts are mostly supplementary notes by later commentators regarding alternate names, places of origin, harvesting times, and textual research. Below is the paraphrased translation of the medicinal indications in the order of the original text.
1. Mu Gui (Cortex Cinnamomi)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. Ancient records state it treats reversed qi ascending causing cough, qi bound in the throat causing throat obstruction, and difficulty in breathing and exhalation; it also unblocks joints, supplements the middle and boosts qi. It is further believed that long-term use leads to unimpeded spirit, a light and agile body, and delayed aging. Later commentators also call it Rou Gui, Gui Zhi, or Gui Xin, produced in southern mountain valleys.
2. Jun Gui (Ramulus Cinnamomi)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. Ancient texts hold that it can regulate various disorders, nourish the spirit, and improve complexion; it also serves as the "herald envoy for all medicines," i.e., a leading substance that guides medicinal properties to reach their destination. It is also said that long-term use bestows a radiant complexion, moist and lustrous like that of a child. Later commentators add that it grows on cliffs in the regions of Jiaozhi and Guilin, shaped perfectly round like bamboo, and is harvested at the start of autumn.
3. Song Zhi (Pine Resin)
Bitter flavor, warm nature. It treats carbuncles, malignant sores, head ulcers, white scalp scaling (tinea capitis), scabies and tinea with itching, as well as disorders caused by wind pathogens. It harmonizes the five viscera and clears heat pathogens. Ancient texts state that long-term use lightens the body and prolongs life. It is also known as Song Gao or Song Fang (pine grease).
4. Huai Shi (Sophora Fruit)
Bitter flavor, cold nature. It treats heat pathogens in the five viscera, stops drooling and excessive saliva, supplements deficiency and exhaustional strain, and addresses the five kinds of hemorrhoids, fire scalds, breast lumps in women, and acute uterine pain. It grows on level marshlands.
5. Gou Qi (Lycium Bark)
Bitter flavor, cold nature. It treats pathogenic qi in the five viscera, internal heat with wasting-thirst (xiaoke), and generalized Bi-pain (obstruction pain) of the body. Ancient texts state that long-term use strengthens sinews and bones, lightens the body, and delays aging. It is also known as Qi Gen, Di Gu, Di Fu, among others. Later commentators mention that its root, leaf, stem, and fruit are harvested at different times.
6. Bai Shi (Platycladus Seed)
Sweet flavor, balanced nature. It treats palpitations (jingji), calms the five viscera, supplements and boosts qi strength, and dispels damp Bi (obstruction). Ancient texts claim long-term use makes the skin moist and lustrous, sharpens ears and eyes, prevents hunger and aging, lightens the body, and prolongs life. Later practice predominantly uses the kernel — known as Bai Zi Ren.
7. Fu Ling (Poria)
Sweet flavor, balanced nature. It treats reverse qi in the chest and hypochondria, anxiety and anger, palpitations, bound and painful sensations beneath the heart (epigastrium), alternating fever and chills with vexation and fullness, cough and counterflow qi, and dry mouth and tongue; it also promotes urinary discharge. Ancient texts state long-term use settles the ethereal soul, nourishes the spirit, prevents hunger, and prolongs life. The variety that embraces the pine root is called "Fu Shen."
8. Yu Pi (Elm Bark)
Sweet flavor, balanced nature. It treats difficulty in defecation and urination, promotes the free flow of the water passage, and dispels pathogenic qi. Ancient texts state that long-term use lightens the body and prevents hunger; the fruit (elm samara) is even more effective.
9. Suan Zao (Sour Jujube)
Sour flavor, balanced nature. It treats cold and heat in the heart and abdomen, binding of pathogenic qi, soreness and pain in the four limbs, and damp Bi. Ancient texts claim long-term use calms the five viscera, lightens the body, and prolongs life. Later practitioners predominantly use the kernel — Suan Zao Ren.
10. Nie Mu (Phellodendron)
Bitter flavor, cold nature. It treats binding heat in the five viscera and the gastrointestinal tract, jaundice, hemorrhoids, and stops diarrhea; it also treats women's reddish-white vaginal discharge and erosive sores of the genital region. It is also known as Tan Huan. The later famous Huang Bai is closely related to this category.
11. Gan Qi (Dried Lacquer)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. It treats deficiency and exhaustional strain, supplements the middle qi, reconnects sinews and bones, fills the marrow and brain, calms the five viscera, and treats loss of tension in sinews and vessels as well as wind-cold-damp Bi; raw lacquer can expel intestinal parasites. Ancient texts state long-term use lightens the body and delays aging. However, raw lacquer is highly irritating and must undergo professional processing (paozhi).
12. Wu Jia Pi (Acanthopanax Bark)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. It treats hernia (shan) pain in the heart and abdomen, abdominal pain, supplements qi, treats impaired gait and movement of limbs, inability of children to walk, jaundice with sores, and erosive sores of the genital region. It is also known as Chai Qi.
13. Man Jing Shi (Vitex Fruit)
Bitter flavor, slightly cold nature. It treats cold and heat with Bi-pain in the sinews and bones, muscle spasms (contracture), sharpens the eyes, strengthens the teeth, unblocks the nine orifices, and expels intestinal parasites. Ancient texts claim long-term use lightens the body and delays aging. This is the commonly known Man Jing Zi in later practice.
14. Xin Yi (Magnolia Flower)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. It treats invasion of wind-cold in the five viscera and the body, headache, and dark facial patches. Ancient texts claim long-term use directs qi downward, lightens the body, sharpens the eyes, and prolongs life. It is the later famous Xin Yi Hua or Mu Bi Hua.
15. Sang Shang Ji Sheng (Mulberry Mistletoe)
Bitter flavor, balanced nature. It treats low back pain, stiffness of the back in children (opisthotonos), and carbuncles; it calms the fetus (antai), nourishes the skin, strengthens the hair and teeth, and ancient texts believe it also promotes the growth of beard and eyebrows; its fruit sharpens the eyes and lightens the body, connecting with spirit. It is also known as Ji Xie, Yu Mu, Wan Tong.
16. Du Zhong (Eucommia Bark)
Pungent flavor, balanced nature. It treats pain of the lower back and spine, supplements the middle and boosts qi, supplements and boosts essence qi, strengthens sinews and bones, enhances spirit and will, and treats dampness and itching of the genitals and dribbling urination after voiding. Ancient texts state long-term use lightens the body and delays aging. One of its names is Si Xian.
17. Nv Zhen Shi (Privet Fruit)
Bitter flavor, balanced nature. It treats supplementing the middle, calming the five viscera, nourishing the spirit, and ancient texts loosely claim it eliminates many diseases. Long-term use makes one strong, light of body, and free of aging. Later practice predominantly refers to it as Nv Zhen Zi.
18. Mu Lan (Magnolia Bark)
Bitter flavor, cold nature. It treats intense heat of the skin, heat of the face, red sores (pustules), rosacea (saucer nose), and wind-related mania conditions as well as dampness and itching of the genital region; it sharpens the eyes and benefits ears.
19. Rui He (Prinsepia Nut)
Sweet flavor, warm nature. It treats pathogenic qi in the heart and abdomen, sharpens the eyes, and improves redness, pain, and tearing of the eyes. Ancient texts state long-term use lightens the body, boosts qi, and prevents hunger. Later practice commonly calls it Rui Ren.
20. Ju You (Tangerine Peel)
Pungent flavor, warm nature. It treats binding heat and counterflow qi in the chest, and promotes the digestion and transformation of water and grains. Ancient texts state that long-term use eliminates bodily odor, directs qi downward, and connects with spirit. One of its names is Ju Pi. Later practitioners consider Tangerine peel especially good for regulating qi; Pummelo is similar to Tangerine but slightly different.
The "Nourishing Life" Concept of Upper Grade
Shennong Bencao Jing classifies many wood medicines as Upper Grade and repeatedly employs phrases such as "long-term use lightens the body and prevents aging," "prolongs life," and "prevents hunger," reflecting the early practices of ingestion and health cultivation in Chinese materia medica. Ancients believed Upper Grade medicines tend to nourish life and act mildly, but this does not equate to modern evaluations of efficacy or anti-aging evidence.
Wood's Nature is Soothing; Simultaneously Unblocking and Nutritive
Wood-type medicines mostly possess pungent, bitter, or sweet flavors. The ancients used the concept of "wood bends and straightens" to explain that these agents unblock joints, direct qi downward, promote urination, soothe the qi mechanism, and nourish the five viscera. This reflects the connection between the five-phase "Wood" and liver qi, dispersion, and the ascending-descending qi mechanism.
Correspondence between Nature, Flavor and Function
Pungent-warm products are often used for dispersing cold and resolving stagnation, such as Mu Gui and Xin Yi; bitter-cold products are often used for clearing binding heat and drying dampness, such as Huai Shi, Nie Mu, and Mu Lan; sweet-balanced products are often used for supplementation and calming the spirit, such as Bai Shi, Fu Ling, and Du Zhong. This inductive classification of nature and flavor is an important methodological feature of the Classic.
Emphasis on Harvest Seasons and Plant Parts
Various appended annotations in each entry explain "collect the bark," "collect the fruit," "collect the root," "dry in the shade," etc., reflecting the ancient understanding of "collecting medicines in accordance with seasons and assessing each part's strength."
Some medicines remain commonly used in TCM today
Such as Fu Ling, Du Zhong, Gou Qi, Bai Zi Ren, Suan Zao Ren, Man Jing Zi, Xin Yi, and Nv Zhen Zi. Modern research focuses on their active constituents or traditional usage regarding promoting calmness, supplementation, diuresis, and improving vision, among others. Yet the ancient indications cannot be directly equated with modern indications through clinical equivalence.
Phrases like "Connecting with Spirit," "Not Aging," or "A Roadiant Complexion" should be viewed rationally
These expressions carry rhetorical influence from ancient Daoist physical-cultivation culture and should not be taken literally as modern anti-aging, cosmetic efficacy, or absence of nutritional need.
Safety boundaries cannot be disregarded
Agents such as Gan Qi, raw lacquer, and Mu Lan may be irritating or toxic and must undergo professional processing; separate contraindications apply for pregnant women and children. The claim of "non-toxic" in ancient texts reflects historical constraints and cannot substitute for modern safety data.
Differences between ancient and modern disease concepts
Old phrases like "throat obstruction," "wasting-thirst," "damp Bi," "breast accumulation," or "mania" reflect the condition or symptom descriptions of their time, and cannot be directly mapped onto modern disease names nor self-applied without validation.
Related Concepts
Further Reading Recommendations
This content is inspired by classical TCM manuscripts and is provided solely for traditional cultural study and research discourse. It constitutes no medical diagnosis, thus not replacing visit- even symptomatologically induced usage discussion here not requiring the alternative is explicit.
— Bu Gua