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Chinese thorowax root
By Zhang Qian |
June 12, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
EDITOR'S Note:
In this biweekly column, we introduce a medicinal ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine, along with prescription and usage instructions. By providing basic knowledge of TCM, we aim to acquaint readers with China's profound heritage of traditional and natural healing.
Chaihu, or Chinese thorowax root, is one of the most popular Chinese patent drugs used to tackle the common cold as well as other problems such as fever, viruses, hepatitis and skin inflammation.
Chaihu is a mildly "cold" herb that helps restore the balance of energy, soothe energy in the liver and improve healthy yang energy. It is often used to treat shaoyang problems such as feeling cold and hot repeatedly, poor appetite, anxiety, bitter taste, dry throat, dizziness and pale coating of the tongue. These often indicate problems such as malaria, hepatitis, irregular menstruation and organ prolapse.
Like many other herbs, it was discovered by accident and partially named after its finder.
Hu Da was an orphan who caught the plague and was driven away by the landlord he worked for. He lost his conscious and couldn't move himself when he woke up. With no other choices, Hu fed himself with some grass roots for seven days and amazingly survived.
When he returned to the landlord, the landlord was shocked as few people could survive the plague at that time.
As plague spread around the village, the landlord's only son also caught it. The landlord begged Hu to tell him the medicine he took.
"I took no medicine," says Hu. "The only thing I ate in those days was the grass that we often use as chai (firewood/grass)."
The landlord fed the grass to his son and he survived. It soon became widely used to treat the plague and other fever-related problems.
Modern research also finds it effective in relieving various inflammations, improving immunity and anti-radiation treatment. Prescriptions & Usage:
? Xiao Chai-hu Tang (Chinese thorowax root Decoction): A prescription from "Shanghan Zabing Lun" (Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases) by famous TCM doctor Zhang Zhongjing. It is recommended to treat shaoyang problems, improve healthy energies while dispelling pathogenic ones.
Combine chaihu (24g), huangqin (Baikal skullcap root, 9g), ginseng (9g), honey-baked liquorice root (6g), banxia (pinellia tuber, 9g), ginger (9g) and four jujubes.
The patent granule is more convenient.
In this biweekly column, we introduce a medicinal ingredient used in traditional Chinese medicine, along with prescription and usage instructions. By providing basic knowledge of TCM, we aim to acquaint readers with China's profound heritage of traditional and natural healing.
Chaihu, or Chinese thorowax root, is one of the most popular Chinese patent drugs used to tackle the common cold as well as other problems such as fever, viruses, hepatitis and skin inflammation.
Chaihu is a mildly "cold" herb that helps restore the balance of energy, soothe energy in the liver and improve healthy yang energy. It is often used to treat shaoyang problems such as feeling cold and hot repeatedly, poor appetite, anxiety, bitter taste, dry throat, dizziness and pale coating of the tongue. These often indicate problems such as malaria, hepatitis, irregular menstruation and organ prolapse.
Like many other herbs, it was discovered by accident and partially named after its finder.
Hu Da was an orphan who caught the plague and was driven away by the landlord he worked for. He lost his conscious and couldn't move himself when he woke up. With no other choices, Hu fed himself with some grass roots for seven days and amazingly survived.
When he returned to the landlord, the landlord was shocked as few people could survive the plague at that time.
As plague spread around the village, the landlord's only son also caught it. The landlord begged Hu to tell him the medicine he took.
"I took no medicine," says Hu. "The only thing I ate in those days was the grass that we often use as chai (firewood/grass)."
The landlord fed the grass to his son and he survived. It soon became widely used to treat the plague and other fever-related problems.
Modern research also finds it effective in relieving various inflammations, improving immunity and anti-radiation treatment. Prescriptions & Usage:
? Xiao Chai-hu Tang (Chinese thorowax root Decoction): A prescription from "Shanghan Zabing Lun" (Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases) by famous TCM doctor Zhang Zhongjing. It is recommended to treat shaoyang problems, improve healthy energies while dispelling pathogenic ones.
Combine chaihu (24g), huangqin (Baikal skullcap root, 9g), ginseng (9g), honey-baked liquorice root (6g), banxia (pinellia tuber, 9g), ginger (9g) and four jujubes.
The patent granule is more convenient.
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