Next, I'm going to introduce the second part of the 'famous but not expensive Chinese herbs' I'd like to focus on three herbs The first one is Fu Ling (Poria) I'm sure you all agree that I put Fu Ling in the category of the rare and expensive Chinese herbs Maybe you are not clear about the functions of Fu Ling However, you sure know that Fu Ling can be used as both food and medicine For example, Fu Ling cake is very famous as a royal cake To understand Fu Ling we need to know its medicinal part and growth characteristics The medicinal part of Fu Ling is its fungus Poria is a parasitic herb that lives on other host plants Since it is parastic it surely has the characteristics of its host plants Where does it parasitize It mainly parasitizes on the root of pine trees that have been cut down Why I highlight this here Let's forget about Fu Ling and talk about other issues We all know about the growth and storage in four seasons Winter is a season to store In winter, leaves in most plants become withered However, some plants are evergreen There is a saying about this If a plant can still grow in cold winter and stay gree it needs at least two conditions or phenomena The first one is that the plant itself is full of sufficient yang qi, which help the plant go through the coldness and enable the plant to grow in bitter cold witner days This indicates that its internal sufficient yang qi can overcome cold qi in the outside world The second one is that its internal cold qi prevails over cold qi in the outside world Plants do not wither in cold winter because it's colder inside them and for these plants, the cold qi in the outside world becomes warm The pine tree where Pu Ling lives is the former type i.e., it has abundant internal yang-heat (qi) During its prosperous growth yang qi ascends from its root to maintain a relative balance However, when they are cut down yang qi has nowhere to grow As a result, the yang qi in the root becomes flourishing but unstable In order to be stable it has to absorb yin-cold (qi) So if you have ever picked up Fu Ling you can find that the area surrouding Fu Ling or surrounding the root of a pine tree is always dry This indicates that the root of a pine tree has dual attributes of yin and yang Since Fu Ling parasitizes on the roots of pine trees Fu Ling also acquired the dual attributes of yin and yang In terms of its functions the dual attributes of yin and yang manifests as (1) It is clear and ascending and can therefore acts on the heart and spleen That's why it enters the heart and spleen meridians and acts to strengthen the spleen and nourish the heart (2) It also descends because of its yin-cold nature (heaviness and turbidity tend to descend) and enters the kidney meridian to Promote diuresis and resolve dampness Thereforefore, the functions of Fu Ling can be summarized as both reinforcing and reducing and working for both upper and lower jiao Then we usually use Fu Ling in the following three aspects (1) since it can promote diuresis it can be used to treated edema and dysuria The characteristic of Fu Ling in treating edema and dysuria is that it can be used for all types of edema and dysuria without pattern identification It can be used for edema due to all kinds of etiological factors This is the first aspect The second aspect, it can strengthen the spleen and tonify spleen qi It can be used for all types of spleen deficiency especially spleen qi deficiency for example, simple spleen qi deficiency can be treated with a basic formula that tonifies qi called Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction) The four gentlemen refer to four herbs, namely Ren Shen (Ginseng), Bai Zhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae), Fu Ling (Poria) and Gan Cao (Radix et Rhizoma Glycyrrhizae) one of the herbs is Fu Ling What's its second function It can be used for dampness due to spleen qi deficiency for example, phlegm-fluid retention, there is a basic formula that rsolves phlegm called Er Chen Tang (Two Matured Substances Decoction) also containing Fu Ling We have a basic formula for fluid-retention called Ling Gui Zhu Gan Tang (Poria, Cinnamon Twig, Atractylodes Macrocephala and Licorice Decoction) containing Fu Ling So we say it can be used for all kinds of spleen deficiency Now let's move on to the third aspect it nourishes the heart and calms the mind, and can be used to treat palpitations and insomnia In summary, Fu Ling is moderate and has two-way functions it tonifies the body but won't cause greasiness; it reduces pathogenic factors but do not damage healthy qi So Fu Ling can be taken for a long period of time This is one of the few Chinese herbs that can be used for an extended period of time What's more, it can be used as both medicine and food That's the reason that Fu Ling deserves you attention and also the reason I introduce it as one of the precious Chinese herbs So much for Fu Ling Afater Fu Ling I'm going to introduce another herb San Qi (Radix et Rhizoma Notoginseng) I think you all agree with me that San Qi is a precious Chinese herb Comparatively speaking it is not so expensive but very famous Maybe you know this herb more from its application in traumatology Here are more Let's take a look The preciousness of this herb can also be told from its name It is also called 'not to be exchanged even for gold' a herb that is not supposed to be exchanged even for gold Sometimes it's also called Xue Shen (blood ginseng) Why We all know how valuable blood and ginseng are San Qi is also known as blood ginseng apparently a very precious herb Now let's take a look at how ancient people think about San Qi We can also understand from its latin name It belongs to the family Araliaceae so does ginseng I'm going to mention this later San Qi is known as Panax pseudo-ginseng, the 'panax' is Greek What does it mean in Greek It means miraculous cure Since it belongs to this family and this family is claimed to be a miraculous cure for all How miraculous Let's take a look Our ancesters for example, Zhao Xue-min in the Qing Dynasty wrote a book called Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi (Supplement to ‘The Grand Compendium of Materia Medica) He mentioned in this book that of all Chinese herbs, Ren Shen (Ginseng) ranks No 1 to tonify qi and San Qi ranks No 1 to tonify blood We do not need to verify whether it is true at least this indicates San Qi is a very powerful and important herb That's why he said because they share similar flavor and functions this herb is also called Ginseng San Qi and is one of the most precious Chinese herbs At present San Qi is a major option for blood syndrome the first option for traumatic injuries and miraculous herb to stop bleeding We've talked a lot about 'rare and expensive' however, in summary there is a key point its functions. What functions Resolves stasis All of its functions are associated with resolving stasis 通过化瘀而止血 it relieves pain through resolving stasis Why I emphasize this point 我们在治疗一些出血病证的时候 we need to stop bleeding first How valuabe is blood A sequela may stay after the bleeding is stopped stagnant blood which is called 'stop bleeding but retain stasis' For blood stasis we need to circulate blood However, circulating blood may cause bleeding How shall we control this situation (1) the combination of different herbs (2) dose of different herbs But can everyone be so skillful Is it possible we can choose such a herb that has excellent effect in stopping bleeding without causing stasis i.e., one that has strong effect in circulating blood without causing blood Yes, there is The answer is San Qi It circulates blood but does not cause bleeding; it stops bleeding but does not cause stasis and therefore it can be used for all kinds of bleeding and stasis due to all kinds of reasons That's why this herb is so important I'd also like to further mention its application is cerebro-cardiovascular diseases For cardiovascular diseases for example, chest-Bi (impediment) For cardiovascualr diseases we need to take two aspects into consideration (1) Increases the power of heart pump to pump the blood Ginseng is often used to increase the power of pump What about the other aspect (2) Decreases resistance of the blood vessels to allow normal flow of blood within vessels to supply the entire body Blood-circulating herbs are often used in this regard What are the characteristics of San Qi? It has strong cardiotonic effect as Ginseng, because it belongs to the family Araliaceae it also has blood-criculating effect as Dan Shen One herb has two totally different functions cardiotonic and blood-circulating increase the power and decreas resistance As a result, this herb is a top option for cardiovascular diseases Now let's take a look at its application in cerebrovascular diseases It does not matter for example, stroke no matter hemorrhagic stroke or ischemic stroke hemorrhagic stroke, for example cerebral hemorrhage we need to stop bleeding immediately but we are concerned about the stagnant blood afterwards ischemic stroke, for example, cerebral infarction we need to circulate blood but we are concerned about the possible bleeding San Qi can stop bleeding and circulate blood but does not cause stasis or bleeding that's why it is an ideal choice for problems like this and that's it really deserves your attention Now we talked about the function of San Qi in circulating blood we need to mention another herb... Dan Shen (Radix et Rhizoma Salviae Miltiorrhizae) I also have reason to put Dan Shen in the category of rare and expensive Chinese herbs Today no matter in what regions or what levels of hospitals outpatient, emergency or inpatients Dan Shen is always used for cardiovascular diseases In this sense, it is very famous About this herb it is bitter in flavor and slightly cold in property and mainly enters the liver and heart meridians that are associated with heart circulation Its functions are also related to blood mainly the heart The first function is to circulate blood and resolve stasis Here, it can be used to treat all kinds of blood stasis We need to be aware that Dan Shen has been proven very effective for cardiovascualr diseases gynecological diseases irregular menstruation and uterine fibroids etc. It can also be used to treat liver cirrhosis and tumor Secondly, it is bitter and cold and can therefore remove heat, cool blood and resolve boils For skin sores or ulcers herbs that can clear heat and remove toxins needs to be combined Thirdly, it can tranquilize mind three three routes (1) Circulates blood to calm the mind for palpitations and insomnia due to stagnant blood Dan Shen has very good effect (2) Cools blood clears heat and relieve restlessness so it can be used to treat vexation (3) Nourishes blood to calm the mind So we say it has three routes circulating blood, cooling blood and nourishing blood Consequentlyp, the functions of Dan Shen can be summarized to treat the heart and regulate blood By treating the heart, I mean to circulate blood and calm the mind By regulating blood, I mean to circulate, cool and nourish blood So that's why one herb (Dan Shen) has functions of 4 herbs which are ingredients of the basic blood-nourishing formula So much for Dan Shen In this session, I've introduced three herbs That's all
