We hope you have enjoyed Mitesh’s fine work about Chinese herb flavors and their combinations. What I loved about this project was the willingness to examine cherished Chinese medicine concepts – testing them using the most sophisticated laboratory known on Earth – the human body.
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If you missed any of the series, just read through the links below.
Part 1 (Beginning of the Pungent + Sweet = Yang Qi experiment)
Part 2 (Continuation of the Pungent + Sweet = Yang Qi experiment)
Part 3 (Conclusion of the Pungent + Sweet = Yang Qi experiment)
Part 4 (Beginning of the Sweet + Sour = Fluids experiment). You’re on part 5, the conclusion of the Sweet + Sour = Fluids experiment, right now!
Flavors Experience
This section contains the experiences felt during the ingestion of each herb and pairings.
Calibration Herbs
The calibration process was to know the intimate experience of the herbs from a personal perspective and have a knowing that converged in a way that the authors of the Tang Ye Jing had. Therefore, much of this is poetic serving a pivot role for the further experiences. This is a rehashing from the first experiement.
Dang Shen
The simple act of sipping this herb allowed for relaxation to pour through my entire body. Hints of warm milk were hidden in this and spun me back to childhood.
All I wanted was to cuddle up and under a comforter, turn on a movie and rest.
Ancient tension fell away.
Worries melted into peace.
And a smile held me in her embrace.
My breath grew deeper and unhurried and my brow opened and tingled in delight.
(Sheng) Di Huang
Wafting past my nose
my heart flows with joy
Exhale
Joy settles
Gently blowing on the hot medicine
Sip
Sip
Sip
This dark mistress grabs a hold on my mind
the initial joy of heart is hidden because
the over powering grounding of mind
Sip
Sipsip
The bottom of my tongue holds true
as if waiting for the fog on the horizon
to clear
I grip the ground and straight
my neck
peering into the depths
Breathe
Breathe
sip
Gulp
My sides now ground
and the imminence of what may be subsides
I am Here
Somber
Salty
But bound
My upper heart beats
in unison with the first
I feel a turtle shell hold me together above my head
Peacefully and powerfully she commands me not to drink anymore…
What do I do with the rest.
Offer it to a friend.
Xuanfu Hua
Bitter!
My eyes jump from my head!
Never let that touch your lips again!
Hold on… a phone call… let me answer that
I’m back.
Feeling cleaver.
Not so sure if that’s a good thing.
But reverent now.
This goes to my heart
Tears that otherwise fog my mind
Lift in wondrous praise like steam
Something shines through
Quasar like
Going to surrender as stairway to heaven plays
Drink her all. in deepened brightened ming-yi.
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misleading.
super cold
That one was particularly hard on my stomach and had to neutralize it with a little Sheng Di Huang and a little more of Dang Shen.
Wu Wei Zi
I’ve tasted you before… have I not?
What a joy to pucker my lips
But taxing this time.
My spine straightens into a J
Relax but strong
My sides again.
But especially my shoulders come to life
Thank you for being warmer than XuanFu
You shook me all night long!!!!!
Did you know that the electromagnetic field of the earth is one of several qualities that allows it to be habitable for life? We’d be with out a subtle protection and possibly a way of thinking without it.
You are beautiful!
When the levee breaks
Gui Zhi
Pungent.
Mud that has been hardened flaking off the back of my neck
Flavorful breathing
Gentle muscle relaxant
Effervescent smile
Delicate
Does it even work?
I think so.
A little fiery
Playful?
Giggling
Gypsy!
I’m working hard to keep my spirit in my body
Combinations
These combinations are explored in a more prose and scientific sense. It lacks the poetic nature of above because I’m looking for a convergence of experiences.
Sheng di Huang and Wu Wei Zi
Water and Metal
Salty and Sour
At first it settled my energy. But then it started to awaken my senses after about 10 minutes of sipping.As time comes on, its effects become more powerful. It seems to settle me and awaken me a little at a time. Eventually it started to kick out some stagnation in my body which was delightful. As a flavor combination, I found it rather consolidating and grounding.
Xuan Fu Hua and Sheng Di Huang
Fire and Water
Salty and Bitter
The first thing that jumps out at me is the intensity of smell and flavor of Xuan Fu. The powerful nature of the Xuanfu Hua forced me to consolidate myself into a meditative state. It drew me into my heart’s warmth and asked that I shut my senses. Once inside, the qi moved along the most primal pathways in my body with ease and authority. Its not they were excited to do so, rather that when all else was withdrawn, this was what held its ground out of necessity.This take lot of stomach energy to digest. And so proceeded cautiously waiting for my energy in my stomach to return. In fact I hesitate to take another sip at this time.
Gui Zhi and Sheng Di Huang
Wood and Water
Pungent and Bitter
The three fire centers in my body, ming men, heart and third eye warmed immediately.The expansive nature of pungency is contained by the sinking nature of water and water is then bought to its bounds through the pungency. I feel like this is living water.
Xuan Fu Hua and Gui Zhi
Fire and Wood
Salty and Pungent
This is great! Its the first time Xuan Fu Hua hasn’t just shut me down. That coldness is spread through the rest of the body and has a warming and protective effect. Its still meditative but gently so. There’s an internal external balance here.
Gui Zhi and Wu Wei Zi
Wood and Metal
Pungent and Sour
There’s is something unbelievably beautiful about this combination! I found an area or stagnation in my right side started to pulsate and move. This was rather impressive how it was able to awaken and circulate energy around my body.
Wu Wei Zi and Xuanfu Hua
Metal and Fire
Sour and Salty
This basically wants to run through my body rather quickly. Its like a brick in my digestion. Which seems to lay on top of the lower half of my digestion. I was careful not to ingest too much of this as it seemed to most potent combination yet. This is the closest to what was said in the Suwen regarding Sour and Bitter “gush forth Yin.”
Conclusions
There is definitely need for further investigation. I still have quite a bit of confusion with the Fire Calibration Herb of Xuanfu Hua and the Water Calibration Herb of Sheng Di Huang. However, when paired together, the classical Fire and Water reference didn’t fail to impress.
I was also astonished with the effects of Wood and Metal working together. This was powerfully circulating on a more surface level compared to the primal circulation of Fire and Water.
I would like to continue working with the Bitter and Salty Herbs according to Tang Ye Jing assignments and -see if I truly understand what they were trying to say with these.
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Appendix 1 – Further Combinations
Three Taste Combinations
Pungent + Sour + Sweet
Pungent + Sour + Bitter
Pungent + Sour + Salty
Sour + Sweet + Bitter
Sour + Sweet + Salty
Sweet + Bitter + Salty
Four Taste Combinations
Pungent + Sour + Sweet + Bitter
Pungent + Sour + Sweet + Salty
Sour + Sweet + Bitter + Salty
Five Taste Combinations
Pungent + Sour + Sweet + Bitter + Salty
Appendix 2 – Herbs Selected
Any notes on the selected herbs will be given here including Shen Nong Ben Cao entries and TCM assignments. SNBCJ information is taken from the Blue Poppy Press translation of the text.
Ren Shen (Dang Shen) – Sweet Calibration Herb (Sweet of Sweet)
The Ren Shen mentioned in the Tang Ye Jing maybe, as Dr. Fruehauf suspects, actually Dang Shen. Here is his explanation as to why this may be true:
One of the two stellar constellations that are associated with the 4th month of the year is called “Shen”–the Three Stars (Orion), the original character for Renshen (Human Trinity: ginseng). In ancient China, every region of the sky was considered to be linked to a region of China, in this case the state of Wei. Wei includes the district of Shangdang, where China’s best Dangshen grows. Dangshen, therefore, represents the earthly Shen grown in Shangdang, the region on which the Heavenly Shen projects its qi. From a purely clinical perspective, any northern type of ginseng would have overpowered formulas such as Xiao Chaihu Tang or Banxia Xiexin Tang, where Chaihu/Banxia is supposed to be the lead herb.
For this reason, I selected Dang Shen to be the Sweet of Sweet Herb. Although this herb was not used this time, I wanted to share this information again.
There is no Shen Nong Ben Cao entry for Dang Shen however, the entry for Ren Shen, a Superior class Herb, is given below:
Ren Shen is sweet and a little cold. It mainly supplements the five viscera. It quiets the essence spirit, settles the ethereal and corporeal souls, checks fright palpitations, eliminates evil qi brightens the eyes, opens the heart, and sharpens the wits. Protracted taking may make the bod light and prolong life. Its other name is Ren Xian (Human Incarnation). Yet another name is Gui Gai (Ghost Shield). It grows in mountains and valleys.
The TCM listing of Dang Shen is as follows:
- Category: Herbs that Tonify Qi
- Channels: LU, SP
- Properties: Sweet, Neutral
- Latin: Radix Codonopsitis Pilosulae
- Chinese: ??
Wu Wei Zi – Sour Calibration Herb (Sour of Sour)
According to the Shen Nong Ben Cao, Wu Wei Zi is a Middle Class Herb. It goes on to state:
Wu Wei is sour and warm. It mainly boosts the qi, treating cough and counterflow qi ascent, taxation damage, and languor and emaciation. It supplements insufficiency, fortifies yin and boosts male’s essence. It grows in mountains and valleys.
The TCM listing of Wu Wei Zi is as follows:
- Category: Herbs that Astringe, Stabilize, Bind
- Channels:HT, KI, LU
- Properties: Sour, Warm
- Latin: Fructus Schisandrae Chinensis
- Chinese: ???
Gui Zhi – Pungent Calibration Herb (Pungent of Pungent)
According to the Shen Nong Ben Cao, Gui Zhi is a Superior Class Wood. It goes on to state:
Jun Gui is acrid and warm. It mainly treats hundreds of diseases, nurtures the essence spirit, and renders the facial complexion harmonious. It may serve as an usher or envoy for various medicinals Protracted taking may make the body light, prevent senility, and render the face bright and efflorescent, thus forever looking charming like a child’s face. It grows in the mountains and valleys of Jiao Zhi.
The TCM listing of Gui Zhi is as follows:
- Warm, Spicy Herb that Releases the Exterior
- Channels: HT, LU, BL
- Properties: Spicy, Sweet, Warm
- Latin: Ramulus Cinnamomi Cassiae
- Chinese: ??
Xuanfu Hua – Fire Calibration Herb (Salty of Salty)
According to the Shen Nong Ben Cao, Xuanfu Hua is a Middle class Herb. It goes on to state:
Xuan Fu Hua is salty and warm. It mainly treats bound qi, rib-side fullness, and fight palpitations, removes water, eliminates cold and heat in the five viscera, supplements the enter, and down bears the qi. Its other name is Jin Fei Cao (Boiling Gold Weed). Another name is Sheng Zhan (Profound Clearness). It grows in rivers and valleys.
The TCM listing of Xuanfu Hua is as follows:
- Warm Herb that Transforms Phlegm-Cold
- Channels: LIV, LU, ST, SP
- Properties: Bitter, Spicy, Slightly Warm
- Latin: Inulae Flos
- Chinese: ???
(Sheng) Di Huang – Water Calibration Herb (Bitter of Bitter)
According to the Shen Nong Ben Cao, Di Huang is a Superior class Herb. It goes on to state:
Gan Di Huang is sweet and cold. It mainly treats broken [bones], severed sinews from falls, and damaged center. It expels blood impediment, replenishes the bone marrow, and promotes the growth of muscles and flesh. When used in decoctions, it eliminates cold and heat, accumulations and gatherings, and impediment. Using the uncooked is better. Protracted taking ma make the body light and prevent senility. Its other name is Di Sui (Earth Marrow). It grows in rivers and swamps.
The TCM listing of Sheng Di Huang is as follows:
- Category: Herbs that Cool the Blood
- Channels: HT, KI, LIV
- Properties: Sweet, Bitter, Cold
- Latin: Radix Rehmanniae Glutinosae
- Chinese: ??
An exploration into Chinese herb flavor combinations – the final chapter
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Filed under Alternative Medicine, Holistic Healing, Natural Health Care by on Jul 5th, 2010. Comment. 
Last week we began by exploring the concept of timing in acupuncture. This week we’ll move on to herbs.
Timing in Herbology
Timing is equally important in herbology, as knowing where in the system the disease currently is will dictate what formula you prescribe and what modifications have to be made (I discuss this in an upcoming free PDF entitled “Beginners Guide to Acute Respiratory Disease”).
For this, the Six Conformation model used by Zhang Zhongjing (called the Six Channel Model in TCM) is without question the most powerful tool we have at our disposal, telling us where the disharmony is, what its nature is, and what principles are required to fix it. This applies in acute as well as chronic cases. For example – If the problem is diagnosed as a Cold invasion of the channels of Taiyang we know several things at once:
- We know that since the invasion has penetrated into the channel that the surface is open, which removes the need for the pure surface opening action of Ma Huang Tang.
- We know that Taiyang is a Yang conformation. Therefore, our efforts are going to be centered on expelling the Cold pathogen and that if resolved correctly there won’t be any long term consequences of the invasion having taken place (as opposed to an invasion of the Yin conformations which tends to leave the need for a significant cleanup operation after being resolved).
- We know that according to the Five Phase (or Five Element) model Taiyang is associated with Cold Water of the North. Taiyang invasions tend to be accompanied by all over muscular aches of varying degrees (depending on the situation). If we envision the Taiyang channels (UB/SI) as being rivers of cold water coming down from the mountains to nourish the plains (read about Mt. Kailash for the ultimate example of this) we can see that when those rivers get more cold, they freeze over and stop flowing. The Chinese characters for pain ?? (teng tong) indicate a state of cold and of obstruction of movement, much like the frozen river analogy. This tells us that we need to “melt the ice” by warming up the channels and re-establishing uninterrupted flow.
The formula that answers all of these requirements is Gui Zhi Tang. If given on time (meaning before the pathogen passes on to, say, the Shaoyang level) the patient will recover quickly. Aside from the diagnostic timing, however, the Shang Han Lun 
The text that introduces Gui Zhi Tang makes very clear that the formula must be prescribed under very specific conditions. One of them is the instruction to give the decoction to the patient warm, then have them bundle up to await sweating. However it also makes very clear that once the patient sweats the formula must be stopped immediately.
The danger here (one that I have seen happen many times and have even experienced personally) is that the patient over-sweats and suffers damage to their Yang Qi, thus creating a different or more complex condition that now has to be treated. In a Gui Zhi Tang type situation, over-sweating can lead to a combined Taiyang-Shaoyin condition of external invasion with underlying Yang deficiency (needing a formula such as Gui Zhi Jia Fu Zi Tang).
Strength and Focus
The other side of this is the question of strength and focus. A principle that Heiner Fruehauf often points out is that you must have not only the right formula with the right herbs, but also of sufficient quality and enough of them.
A practice of a lot of TCM-trained herbalists (including those from China and even those who have been in practice since the early days of the PRC) is one of adjusting downward individual herb dosages in formulas for the purposes of safety or according to someones weight. This is especially true for Shang Han Lun formulas, which seem overly aggressive in comparison with modern “gentle” formulas.
TCM herbalists will take a formula like the aforementioned Gui Zhi Tang and begin stripping it of its curative power by ratcheting downward the dosages of the warming herbs Gui Zhi and Sheng Jiang by as much as half, then playing around with the amounts of Da Zao, Bai Shao, and Zhi Gan Cao according to some paradigm known only to themselves. The result is the equivalent of cooking a complex dish in the kitchen while randomly choosing ingredient amounts and never tasting the results. This results in a grossly ineffective formula (I’ll save a critique of the practice of ingredient carpet-bombing for another time).
Native Dosage
An absolute fact in Chinese herbology is that each herb we use behaves differently in both different dosages and different ratios within each formula. Each herb also has what I think of as a “native dosage”, meaning the amount that you are most likely to see it prescribed at effectively. For example, Gui Zhi at 9g, Chai Hu at 24g, Ban Xia at 12g, etc. Going away from these amounts (without very good reason) usually translates into outright failure in my experience. If you need Gui Zhi Tang, you also need Gui Zhi at 9g. If you need Xiao Chai Hu Tang, you need Chai Hu at 24g. Going away from this is a good way to not be successful vs. the condition you are treating.
When you change the dosage of herbs you change the functional emphasis of that herb within its formula. The best example of this principle in my opinion is with Fu Zi. Fu Zi in most TCM clinics-if used at all-is used at a very low dosage, usually in the range of 3-6g. The fear is that because Fu Zi is so “toxic” that more than a small amount will give the patient headaches, nosebleeds, hot flashes, etc.
Paradoxically, Fu Zi in this small amount causes its energy to rush outward to the exterior and to the head, causing the very situation that they were trying to avoid in the first place. However, once the dosage crosses a certain line (around 18g in my experience) its entire behavior changes. Now instead of warming the Yang and sending it rushing outward and upward, it grabs the Yang qi of the body and causes it to descend into storage (the lower Dantian in Qigong parlance) where it is now able to recharge. Rather than feeling hyperactive, patients on the receiving end of recharge formulas like Qian Yang Dan (in which I usually use 30g of Fu Zi) have the overwhelming urge to go to sleep, which is exactly the aim of the formula.
Ratio
Finally, one must account for the ratios of herbs in formulas. In the Shang Han Lun there is an army of formulas that are essentially Gui Zhi Tang with one ingredient changed in some way. This small shift significantly changes the impact of the formula.
For example, if in the case of Gui Zhi Tang you increase Gui Zhi to 15g you now have the formula Gui Zhi Jia Gui Tang. Now, instead of treating a case of the common cold, the formula treats the anxiety disorder known as Running Piglet Syndrome. The increased Gui Zhi stokes the Fire of the Heart. The Heart, in turn, is now able to descend and overcome the amassed cold in the Lower Jiao. This amassed cold was what the patient’s Yang qi was counterflowing away from - causing the Running Piglet sensation. Problem solved.
Another example starting with Gui Zhi Tang. If we remove Bai Shao altogether we get the formula Gui Zhi Qu Shao Yao Tang, which treats conditions of fullness in the chest and skipping pulse. These symptoms point toward Upper Jiao blockage as well as deficiency of the Heart itself. Removal of sour flavored Bai Shao also removes the formulas restraints on the Wood energy of the body (due to Bai Shao’s affinity with Metal and Metal’s husband-wife relationship with Wood). Wood is now more able to feed the Fire energy (due to Mother-Son relationship) and release the body’s Earth energy (again, husband-wife relationship) which makes up half the Middle Jiao!
Formula Strength
There is also the question of amount of herbs taken. Zhang Zhong Jing was very clear on the necessary amounts to be taken for all of the formulas in his book, as well as specific preparation instructions. A close inspection of the Shang Han Lun’s preparatory methods reveals formulas that are orders of magnitude more concentrated than their modern descendants, using significantly less water both at the start of decocting as well as the final dose.
In both individual herb dosages as well as the total amount to be taken, these formulas were very much built upon the idea of the right intervention at the right time and in concentrated strength. It’s no good to just try and push a boulder any old way in hopes that it will move. You have to push at the right spot (the fulcrum) and use sufficient force in order to accomplish the task.
The point here is that as herbalists we absolutely must know what our herbs do inside and out, right down to the effects of differing amounts. This will prevent the useless (and potentially dangerous in the hands of the over-enthusiastic) practice of trying to assign random amounts and percentages to our formula components.
Next week we’ll begin tackling the issue of momentum.
Strategy in Chinese Medicine: Timing and Momentum, pt. 2
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Filed under Alternative Medicine, Holistic Healing, Natural Health Care by on Jun 16th, 2010. Comment.
“When a falcon strike breaks the body of its prey, it is because of timing. When torrential water tosses boulders, it is because of momentum.”
Timing
In the current culture of TCM, the evidence-based protocol is king. A hypothetical example: “On 6-14/09 Patient K. was diagnosed with asthma. UB-13, UB-23, Ding Chuan, and Lu-9 were needled with reinforcing method for 30 minutes. Treatment was repeated daily for 7 days. Upon re-evaluation patient’s spirometer performance increased 15%. Therefore, this protocol is useful in treating asthma. ” This is how case studies are presented to us in our primary textbooks. This is also the primary research method in Chinese TCM hospitals presently, thus making it the perceived superior method of research and treatment amongst the standardized professional Chinese medicine community in the West.
However, this method has an ocean of problems, chiefly that it doesn’t work very well when replicated in clinic. Leaving alone for now the problem of misunderstanding what particular points/methods/herbs/formulas really do, it also neglects the necessity of meeting the patient exactly where they are at that very moment. This is what I mean by timing.
No matter how effective a formula or protocol has been in the past, if applied to the wrong situation it will not only not be effective, it may actually make the situation worse.
The importance of accurate diagnosis cannot be overstated. As a clinician, it’s the heart of your job to figure exactly what is going on with the patient in front of you at that moment, work out specifically what needs to be done, and apply it correctly. It’s no good giving a patient Gui Zhi Tang because they have a “Wind-Cold Invasion” when in fact the disease has moved on to a deeper level and the patient now needs Xiao Chai Hu Tang. You may have been needling St-36 and Sp-3 for the past three visits and seeing improvement in the patient’s digestive condition, but continuing to needle it would be a huge mistake if this week they’re having back spasms and can’t walk.
Timing in Acupuncture
The image of a falcon crashing into its prey from a steep dive at a hundred miles per hour is an accurate description of how effective doing the exact right thing at the exact right time is. However if we imagine the situation from the reverse angle, we can imagine the falcon arriving at the wrong time and completely missing its intended target. As the Lingshu says: “At the moment the energy arrives, [the physician] does not stray even by a hair; and if he is unaware of it, no results are produced. Therefore it is necessary to discern the arriving and departing movements of energy in order to intervene in time. The mediocre physician ignores this rule; the skilled physician respects it.”
This is a good time to clear up a common misconception among acupuncturists about this “arrival of energy”, usually referred to as De Qi. The commonly held belief is that De Qi is when the patient experiences a jolt or shocking sensation. This is held to be the sign that things are working and that now the patient should be left to relax with needles in for twenty minutes or so in order to allow the Ying Qi to make a full circuit through the body.
What the text is actually referring to when it talks about the arrival of Qi is the moment of regulation, the specific and clearly perceivable moment when the channel imbalance has been corrected. The higher level of perceiving this moment of regulation relies upon the acupuncturists ability to experience the unseen energy of the patient, a subject I don’t feel currently qualified to address. However the lower method (one that can be used by everyone fairly easily) is to monitor the state of channel balance via the Renying-Cunkuo pulse method where the very moment of balance can be felt by comparing the strength of the pulse at Renying St-9 and Cunkuo Lu-9 while needling the affected channels. The timing for this is so delicate and vital that the Lingshu says: “When needling, if the energy does not arrive, the number of needles is insignificant. If the energy arrives, stop needling.”
This timing is important not only for good results, but also for avoiding bad ones. You can imagine the falcon missing its target so badly that it crashes into the ground face-first. This is a very real possibility in everything we do. Contrary to popular belief, the Lingshu makes very clear many times throughout its text that the patient can be significantly harmed by incorrect acupuncture technique. To wit:
“Needling presents two risks:
- Not removing the needle once it has reached the affected zone, which may cause the loss of Jing
- Removing the needle as soon as it reaches the affected zone, which may cause the Xie Qi to return.
The loss of Jing exacerbates the illness with nervous exhaustion, and the return of Xie Qi is the origin of abscesses and ulcerations.”
Our primary concerns for harming the patient in our schooling are things like puncturing the pleura, the peritoneum, or an organ. However, the Lingshu rarely talks about physical damage due to incorrect needling and instead frequently cites examples of energetically-caused damage from doing the wrong thing at the wrong time, including different forms of insanity and even death. Clearly, the acupuncture needle is a powerful tool, one that must be treated with the same respect as a sharp knife or sword.
My point here isn’t to scare people, but rather to insist that if we are going to use any tool in the pursuit of altering the health of another person for a fee it’s our responsibility to be very very good at what we do and to not mistakenly believe that we can get away with following a protocol cookbook. Our practice of a natural and holistic medicine in no way lessens our responsibility to practice safely and effectively to the utmost of our abilities and the ability of our medicine. Acupuncture is capable of a lot, and the Neijing repeatedly talks about it in the context of treating very serious illness. However, it only works when you do it correctly.
Next week in this column we’ll discuss timing in herbology. If you want to talk more, please leave a comment or drop by the Deepest Health Community Forum.
See you Wednesday.
Strategy in Chinese Medicine: Timing and Momentum, pt. 1
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Here is the remainder of the Song dynasty travelogue about Fuzi, translated by Heiner Fruehauf. I hope you have enjoyed this exclusive translation. You might want to pop over to the Classical Pearls Facebook page to discuss this article, and Fuzi in general. I’ll see you there, or in the comments on this post.
Click here if you would like to read the first part of the travelogue.
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The quality of the harvested root is entirely dependent on the care that has been taken in the process of cultivating the crop. Rich people always get the highest quality product, while poor people can rarely afford the highest grade. Sometimes the crop is harvested during the 7th month, yielding a product referred to as “Early Water” (Zaoshui), the roots of which are too small to fit snugly inside a closed fist—these represent a type of Fuzi that is not quite mature yet.
Overall, the cultivation of Fuzi brings with it the fear of inferior quality, and is hard to bring to maturity. Sometimes the seedling looks good, but then the sprouts don’t prosper; or the sprouts prosper, but the root does not fill out; or it ferments and rots underground before the harvest; or it splits open and becomes deformed; or some creature erodes it. Therefore it is customary for the planters to make a sacrifice to the Heavenly Spirits before the harvest, or make gestures to the plant spirits.
The harvested product is processed by first fermenting it, using containers of wine that are placed in a sealed room. There, the roots are steeped for several months until they start to ferment and increase in size. Afterward, the roots are removed from their brine and exposed to the sun and wind until they are completely dry. When the roots first emerge from the wine, the largest pieces are as big as a man’s fist. After drying, they will shrink to a smaller size, producing a dried root around which an adult’s hand can close. It is rare to yield a root that reaches a weight of 1 liang (40g).
Altogether, there are 7 types of Fuzi products—all of them start from the same mother root, yet their final form is different. (Separation of the following passages into a bulleted list is my addition to make it easier to read. Eric.)
- The transformation of the original seedling is called Wutou (Crow’s Head);
- In general, offsprings that sprout out side-ways from the Wutou are called Fuzi (Attached Offspring)
- If an even pair grows out to the left and right, it is called Lizi (Tripod Root);
- If one grows out that is particularly long, it is called Tianxiong (Heavenly Male)
- If one grows with a sharp point it is called Tianzhui (Heavenly Awl)
- If one grows out of the top of the root it is called Cezi (Sidelings)
- And those that grow all over the place are called Loulanzi (Offsprings from a Leaky Basket).
- All are linked to the main root like a child is connected to its mother, but since the name Fuzi has come to be valued the most among them, all of these are now called Fuzi while the other names have fallen into disuse.
If one plants a seedling that yields 6-7 offsprings, the harvested roots will be small. If one yields 2-3 offsprings, they will be larger. If one plants 1 that grows 1 offspring, it will be especially large—this is the norm. As for the shape of Fuzi, the ones that have few corners and can sit squat on an even surface are considered to be of the highest grade. So-called rat breast shaped roots with many corners are of 2nd best quality, and those that are uneven in shape, exhibit crumples or were injured during the cultivation process are of the lowest grade.
As for color, the plants that have white flowers are considered to be best, those with rust color are 2nd, while those with blue-green flowers are deemed to be of lower quality. Tianxiong, Wutou, and Tianzhui all are considered superior when they are full in size, producing a root size that does not fit into a closed hand anymore. The Loulan and Cezi variety, in contrast, are generally considered not worth counting and are given to the beggars.
Overall there are only few people in Shu (Sichuan) that consume Fuzi regularly. Only the people of Shaanpu (today’s Shaanxi Province), Min (today’s Fujian Province), and Zhe (today’s Zhejiang Province) have made Fuzi consumption a regular habit. The traders in Shaanpu focus on bringing the lower grade to market, the ones in Min and Zhe tend to trade the medium grade, and the highest grade is generally sold to public officials (mandarins). The nobility has money and loves the extra-ordinary, and thus is generally satisfied with only the larger kind of roots. Some local fellow with a basic understanding of medicine once said: “The small roots should indeed be avoided, but every piece that weighs more than ½ liang (20g) is good, it is not necessary to seek out those rare ones that measure a full liang”–that just about sums it up.
The Shen Nong bencao jing once remarked: “Fuzi grows in the mountain valleys of Qianwei (today’s Leshan in Sichuan), as well as left of the Yangzi (the southern banks of the lower reaches of the Yangzi River), South of the Mountains (the regions south of Mt. Hu and Mt. Zhongnan), Mt. Song, and the region of Qi and Lu (today’s Shandong Province).” My research shows that there isn’t any Fuzi that grows in these areas. This is clearly a mistake.
The classic further states: “If you harvest the crop in the spring you will get Wutou; in the winter, you will get Fuzi”—a major mistake, in my opinion. The text goes on: “Fuzi that exhibits eight corners is of the best quality; the corners are called Cezi.” This is an even bigger mistake, and completely different from what I learned in the course of my research. This is truly a case of “to believe only what is written in books is worse than having no books at all”! All the data above stems from my original field work.
Eric’s note: The last paragraph is, of course, quite interesting. I think the intensity of his comments is probably misguided, but he was clearly very excited about what he discovered. It may be that the SNBCJ, like many texts of its time, was referring to more symbolic information as opposed to very specific growing/harvesting instructions. It may also be that between the Han and Song dynasties things simply changed with regards to Fuzi. This is why I’ve become more and more interested in combining understanding of the Han (and earlier) texts and later (but still early) commentaries like this one. It’s a big job, but rewarding.
I know that this kind of article is a little hard to comment about – what to say? I would like simply to hear from you if this translation, so kindly provided by Dr. Fruehauf, was useful to you. What did you learn? What more would you like to know? Add your thoughts in the comments or head over to the Facebook group to discuss. Thanks everybody!
Fuzi : Song dynasty travelogue, Part II (trans. Heiner Fruehauf)
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Filed under Alternative Medicine, Holistic Healing, Natural Health Care by on Apr 28th, 2010. Comment.
For other posts in this series, check out the exploration of Chinese herb flavors Part 1 and Part 2.
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Now we will turn to the reporting of Mitesh’s findings in his experiment. Before I post those, however, I want to make a couple of notes. In our classroom at NCNM, I am always pushing the students to use themselves – their senses, their energy, their experience – as a primary doorway to deep engagement with Chinese herbs. In our classroom adventures, we explore an herb as deeply as possible in an hour, and we always begin with basic sensory experience.
Mitesh’s project, which he is continuing this term as well, is an excellent example of how we can return to the original teacher – nature – to help us understand heady concepts that may otherwise be quite confusing. While the information we learn from our professors and the Classical texts is very, very important – we may have a difficult time remembering it or using it until we, sometimes quite literally, take it INTO our own bodies.
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Flavors Experience
This section contains the experiences felt during the ingestion of each herb and pairings.
Calibration Herbs
The calibration process was to know the intimate experience of the herbs from a personal perspective and have a knowing that converged in a way that the authors of the Tang Ye Jing had. Therefore, much of this is poetic serving a pivot role for the further experiences.
Dang Shen
The simple act of sipping this herb allowed for relaxation to pour through my entire body. Hints of warm milk were hidden in this and spun me back to childhood.
All I wanted was to cuddle up and under a comforter, turn on a movie and rest.
Ancient tension fell away.
Worries melted into peace.
And a smile held me in her embrace.
My breath grew deeper and unhurried and my brow opened and tingled in delight.
(Sheng) Di Huang
Wafting past my nose
my heart flows with joy
Exhale
Joy settles
Gently blowing on the hot medicine
Sip
Sip
Sip
This dark mistress grabs a hold on my mind
the initial joy of heart is hidden because
the over powering grounding of mind
Sip
Sipsip
The bottom of my tongue holds true
as if waiting for the fog on the horizon
to clear
I grip the ground and straight
my neck
peering into the depths
Breathe
Breathe
sip
Gulp
My sides now ground
and the imminence of what may be subsides
I am Here
Somber
Salty
But bound
My upper heart beats
in unison with the first
I feel a turtle shell hold me together above my head
Peacefully and powerfully she commands me not to drink anymore…
What do I do with the rest.
Offer it to a friend.
Xuanfu Hua
Bitter!
My eyes jump from my head!
Never let that touch your lips again!
Hold on… a phone call… let me answer that
I’m back.
Feeling cleaver.
Not so sure if that’s a good thing.
But reverent now.
This goes to my heart
Tears that otherwise fog my mind
Lift in wondrous praise like steam
Something shines through
Quasar like
Going to surrender as stairway to heaven plays
Drink her all. in deepened brightened ming-yi.
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misleading.
super cold
That one was particularly hard on my stomach and had to neutralize it with a little Sheng Di Huang and a little more of Dang Shen.
Wu Wei Zi
I’ve tasted you before… have I not?
What a joy to pucker my lips
But taxing this time.
My spine straightens into a J
Relax but strong
My sides again.
But especially my shoulders come to life
Thank you for being warmer than XuanFu
You shook me all night long!!!!!
Did you know that the electromagnetic field of the earth is one of several qualities that allows it to be habitable for life? We’d be with out a subtle protection and possibly a way of thinking without it.
You are beautiful!
When the levee breaks
Gui Zhi
Pungent.
Mud that has been hardened flaking off the back of my neck
Flavorful breathing
Gentle muscle relaxant
Effervescent smile
Delicate
Does it even work?
I think so.
A little fiery
Playful?
Giggling
Gypsy!
I’m working hard to keep my spirit in my body
Combinations
These combinations are explored in a more prose and scientific sense. It lacks the poetic nature of above because I’m looking for a convergence of experiences.
Sweet and Pungent: Yang Qi
Gui Zhi and Ren Shen
It is, at first, rather lackluster.
However, it is slowly waking up my mind.
This experience differs from Gui Zhi in that it is so up and out. It feels more contained in the body.
It differs from Ren Shen because, well frankly, I don’t want to cuddle up and melt away.
Rather, I feel something slowly melting inside me. Is this due to the invigorating nature of yang qi?
Gently warming. Neither of the two herbs being over powering.
Gan Cao
Wow! Sweet. Like sugar sweet.
Like sweeter than Ren Shen.
It makes me want to get up and do jumping jacks.
A little pungent too.
I actually really don’t like this.
Sheng Jiang
Really pungent.
This might be more pungent than Gui Zhi.
I don’t detect the secondary flavor of sweetness.
I suspect that Sheng Jiang and Gan Cao together might have had a similar effect as Gui Zhi and Ren Shen but even more potent. However, since the experiment was designed as such, it wasn’t prepared for.
Sweet and Sour: Generate Fluids
Ren Shen and Wu Wei Zi
Puckered my lips but not so tightly as Wu Wei Zi did the first time. Controlled in a way.
I do feel like my tendons in my calves are relaxing and the back of my neck.
My stomach and spleen seem to generating fluid as well. This differs from the singular experience of Wu Wei Zi in that it feels deeper. Previously, it was confined my mouth generating fluids. And while that quality is still present, its intensity is diminished.
Chi Shao (Shaoyao)
Simply retched.
I find this a little more bitter at first and cold.
But calming overall. Generating fluids? Not really.
Mai Men Dong
This is a pretty bland and slightly sweet herb. I don’t find it that interesting or intense as some of the other herbs. Rather is pretty mild.
There is a slight sour component.
In a way, it feel likes its strengthening the channels in the superficial layer of the collaterals. Its very gentle, but noticeable. Especially in the yin channels.
Sweet and Bitter
Ren Shen and Xuanfu Hua
The bitterness isn’t nearly as pronounced as with Xuanfu Hua alone.
There’s a drawing down effect into my body. Is this through re-inforcing the blood?
May a detoxification of the blood.
The difference from before is now the action of the bitterness seems to have an ability to stay in one place and work because of the Ren Shen.
I find this combination refreshing in a cleansing way.
It seems to break up all little stagnations.
ZeXie
Slightly bitter with a definite sweetness on par with the bitterness. Maybe a little lower tone.
Rather than going to the blood, cleansing and strengthening it, I feel it lifts something up in me.
Da Zao
Mild sweetness, slightly bitter.
Again, this was nothing particularly powerful. I felt like I could drink it all day. But there was little to no noticeable effect on me.
Sweet and Salty
Ren Shen and Di Huang
This is soothing. It brings me gently back to earth. It courses, again gently, through my vessels and around my heart. It stays very near the center without going out or too deep. It clears my mind and my stress. I don’t necessarily want to sleep, nor do I want to go running. Rather, I want to meditate. It brings a smile to me. As for a possible convergence of flavors, I would argue it stabilizes shen.
Bai Zhu
This is a little displeasing to the nose but sweet to the palate. Its both soothing and a little retching. Its keeps me a little on edge. But after this its settling. On a whole I don’t think it matched the essence of what I experienced with Ren Shen and Di Huang.
Fu Ling
This is slight and descending. It seems to have a gather effect on the fluids. It also makes me feel free from the fluids. Like it goes out to some crevices where fluids would gather and hold me down. One of my favorite herbs.
Conclusions
It would appear that there was no convergence of experience with my second baseline when testing either the Sweet and Sour combination herbs or the Sweet and Pungent herbs. However, the combination of the two calibration herbs seemed to lend itself to the stated experience in the Neijing. I can therefore make a preliminary statement that Sweet and Salty settle the Shen for a meditative experience. Whereas Sweet and Bitter may have something do with cleaning and settling the blood.
I am concerned that I may have misinterpreted the Tang Ye Jing flavors assignments, where I switched Salty and Bitter columns. This may not be a big error other than flipping the converged experience of calibration herbs from Sweet and Salty to Sweet and Bitter. But I would like to either confirm this mistake or not.
As a whole, I don’t feel like the Primary-Secondary Flavor Herbs proved to have a convergent effect as two calibration herbs did. Rather, they had distinct and differing effects. Maybe reflective pairs would converge. For example, Sheng Jiang (Sweet of Pungent) and Gan Cao (Pungent of Sweet) might have a more potent yang qi creation effect. But that is another question for another time.
I would like to follow up with an experiment of the rest of Table 3 and maybe filtering out the single herbs or combining reflective herbs.
An exploration of Chinese herb flavors : A student project (Part 3 of 3)
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Filed under Alternative Medicine, Holistic Healing, Natural Health Care by on Apr 26th, 2010. Comment.
Many of you may know that I work with Heiner Fruehauf, who was one of the founders of the Classical Chinese Medicine program at NCNM. He still teaches there, but has several other projects as well. Two are accessible online:
- Classicalchinesemedicine.org : a fantastic educational resource for people interested in the roots of Chinese medicine. Heiner is really building something special there. Note: CCM.org is currently down as they upgrade. It’s going to be 100% more fantastic when it re-launches.
- Classicalpearls.org : Home of easily the most effective and Classically based encapsulated herbal formulas. Based on the research and clinical work of Dr. Fruehauf, I use them personally in my own practice as well as being a willing advocate of them whenever people will listen. :)
As a student of Heiner’s, and because of my deep involvement with the Classical Pearls, I am privileged to learn a lot of information that I couldn’t learn anywhere else. Some of that I would like to share here on Deepest Health.
As many of you know, Fuzi is an herb that I am deeply interested in. I have seen some very dramatic clinical successes when Fuzi was brought into the picture, and there is also just something captivating about the plant. There is a lot of information coming out on the Classical Pearls Facebook Page about Fuzi, but some of the information that the Classical Pearls team would like to put out is just too long for the Facebook format.
So, I’m happy to be able to share it here with Deepest Health readers. This post is the first of, hopefully, many articles to come that draw on the research and scholarship of Heiner Fruehauf and others. I hope this information will be useful and interesting to you as well as stimulating lots of discussion.
Today, I want to share part of a translation that Heiner did of a Song dynasty travelogue. In this work, a scholar Yang Tianhui reports about his travels searching for the facts about Fuzi. What I find fascinating about this work is just the way it allows us to have a deeper resonance with the PLANT in very fine detail. I’ll offer just a couple of paragraphs now, and release some more next week – hopefully with a little bit of extra information tracked down by yours truly. Later paragraphs have some very interesting cosmological information as well as continuing to help us understand more about the complicated nature of Fuzi growth and harvesting.
Enjoy – and thank you Heiner!
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Yang Tianhui: Notes from My Visit to the Fuzi Growing Area of Zhangming County
(Song Dynasty, 1099 CE)
translated by Heiner Fruehauf
NOTE: This work is covered by the same Creative Commons license as the entire site. Please be ethical in your use of the work of others.
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Mianzhou (today’s Mianyang in Sichuan Province) is the ancient region formerly called Guanghan. Its land is divided into eight administrative districts, among which only the county of Zhangming (today’s Jiangyou) produces Fuzi. Zhangming consists of 20 townships, among which only Chishui, Lianshui, Huichang, and Changming are suitable for the cultivation of this particular crop. The total arable land in all four townships amounts to a bit more than 520 Qing (approximately 320 acres). 50% of this land is set aside to yield rice, 30% is used for beans and other staple crops, and only 20% is reserved for the cultivation of Fuzi. Combined production output for all 4 towns is 160,000 catties (10 tons) of Fuzi. The town of Chishui produces the most, followed by Lianshui, while Huichang and Changming yield only very small amounts.
In all 4 locations the peasants prepare the land for cultivation by clearing the fields at the appropriate time of year, then plant it with a jumbled mixture of dill (Anethum graveolens), shephard’s purse (Capsella bursa-pastoris) and wheat grass. Once these fertilizer crops have begun to sprout robustly, they are plowed under, leaves and roots and all, until the land looks clear again. Only then the aconite seedlings are planted. For each Mu of land 10 pieces of cattle are used, applying 50 Hu (approximately 450 gallons) of their dung as fertilizer. A 7 cun (9 inch) ridge in the field is called a Long, a 5 chi (1.5 yards) ridge is called a Fu. Once a field is fully prepared it consists of 20 Fu and 1,200 Long.
Long measurements use the Fu ridges as landmark, their depth is the same. The rest of the land consists of ditches for drainage and irrigation. Once the spring sun has come out in full force and the Bi Constellation has emerged (during the 3rd month of spring: April), the Long and Fu ridges are being repaired in preparation for the rains that inundate the land at this time of year. Once the spring rains have passed, causing the crop stalks to grow tall, weeds are cultivated to form a protective ground cover around them, to keep the gradually intensifying rays of the sun out. The amount of labor required for this type of crop is thus 10 times the effort applied to other fields, yet the year’s yield is also ten-fold of what other crops bring in, possibly more.
Together, these 4 townships plant more than 1,000 Hu (approximately 9,000 gallons) of seedlings. The best seedlings come from the surrounding areas of Long’an, Longzhou, Qigui, Mumen, Qingdui, and Xiaoping. The seedlings are planted during the 11th month starting at the winter solstice, and the mature roots are harvested just before the end of fall in the 9th month of the year (October).
The plant stalks look like wild growing Artemisia (Ai), but they appear more lusterful. Their leaves can be compared to Valerian (Dima), yet they are thicker. The flowers are purple, the leaves are yellow, and the stamens appear long, full, and round.
Fuzi : exploration of the growing regions and conditions of aconite
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