We have talked about

some specific theories of Chinese medicinal property

in this session, I'd like to talk about

the healing wisdom of traditional Chinese medicine

There is a widespread statement

holding that

Chinese medicine doesn't have experimental basis

but rather an experienced medicine

which is not scientific

It lacked the process of animal testing

before clinical practice

Is this statement true

This is one aspect

The other aspect

We are often asked about

Chinese herbs today

are actually the experience of ancient people

How did our ancients know

and how did they recognize

the heat

or cold nature of Chinese herbs

In fact, these questions

and statements

are ultimately the issue of

understanding and re-understanding Chinese herbs for thousands of years

how were they found in the earliest time

For this question

I'd like to answer like this

first of all,

the statement is one-sided

and incorrect

We not only do experiments in Chinese herbs

but also, to some extent

we do higher-level experiments

But where are our laboratories

Instead of doing closed-door tests

we open our doors

because our laboratory is the whole nature

Our tests are not mainly on animals,

but the direct reaction of human body

It is commonly known that

Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and encuntered 70 toxic herbs in one day

which was surely an experiment

Aren't 70 toxic herbs the experience of Shennong

This was one aspect

The second aspect

Let me tell you a story about yunnan baiyao

How was it found

Yunnan baiyao powder is now known to be

a national treasure

the formula of which

is still unknown to the public

The finder of yunnan baiyao

was a doctor named Huanzhang Qu

Dr Qu is the founder and inventor of yunnan baiyao powder

He started to gather herbs from childhood

and took up a job as a doctor from youth

At the age of 22

he found yunnan baiyao

Once upon a time, he went into the mountain to pick up herbs

On the way to the mountain, he found two snakes tangling

one of which was beaten black and blue and almost dying

Its body was almost broken

That moment, Dr Qu was very surprised to discover

the wounded snake rolled into the nearby grass

and twisted

soon after

he found

the snake that covered in blood

and wounds

magically recovered

and got back to the fight.

At that time, he was shocked

by the dying snake

for only by rolling in the grass

and then completey recovered

Hence, after the snake left,

Huanzhang Qu picked up some grass that the snake rolled in

and studied it carefully

He believed the grass must be extraordinary in some way

and marvelous

Combing with his clinical experience of

healing wound and stopping bleeding

he did some research and worked out a formula

and finally made today's yunnan baiyao powder

which was first called Baibaodan

What can we learn from the story? Think about it

Is the statement that Chinese medicine is non-experimental true

As I said

Our experiment was done in the larger environment

the process of which was based on

the understanding of the nature

and rules of the universe

and

was the direct experience

of human body

As a matter of fact, the science of traditional Chinese medicine

is an achievement acquired with blood

and costs of lives

and is the wisdom of the ancients.

Let me give you a very simple example

There are so many kinds of traditional medicine

and traditional pharmacy

which are nearly on the edge of dying away

and extinction

Then what makes traditonal Chinese medicine

especially Chinese herbs

attract more and more internatioanl attention

That is because of its effectiveness and

its strong vitality

Its effectiveness are closely associated with

the firsthand experience of the ancients

and their observation

of the nature

Next,

I'd like to talk about

the healing wisdom of Chinese herbs

I'll explain in two aspects

one is the natural attributes of Chinese herbs

We know that Chinese herbs grow in the nature

and are influenced by many factors

such as climate changes

environments and so on

What I want to talk about here

is the relationship between environmental factors and the cold/heat nature of herbs

Let's take two herbs for example

one is a representative warm-property herb called Fu Zi (Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata)

the other is a representative cold-property herb called Huang Qin (Radix Scutellariae)

let's take a look at Fu Zi first

as we know

among all Chinese herbs, Fu Zi

is one of the warmest ones

It is a typical herb with warm/heat property

Its original growing area

is Jiangyou, Sichuan

We know that

the weather in Jiangyou is not very cold

but Fu Zi grows

in lofty mountains and steep hills

which is comparatively

cold

The capability to grow in freezing areas

proves that the herb itself

is full of yang (heat) qi

So we regard it as

a pure yang herb that grows in an extremely yin place

So now we believe

the property of Fu Zi

is pungent, sweet and hot

which

endows it with the basic functions

In terms of pungent and hot

pungent disperses and heat dissipates cold

it can disspiate cold

In terms of sweet and hot

sweet tonifies. Tonify what

Of course it tonifies yang qi

So it can warm yang

Thus the functions of Fu Zi

can be summarized as warming yang and dissipating cold

According to its functional features

one step further

what kind of diseases

can it be used to treat

I think you've all experienced that

when you caught a cold

you'll experience all sorts of pain

In Chinese medicine

we say cold causes pain

some people may present with headache

some may present with abdominal pain

some may present with low back pain

and some may present with joint pain.

To make a long story short, wherever the pain is

as long as it's related to cold

itcan always be treated with Fu Zi

becuase Fu Zi is srongly warm and hot in nature

and can dissipate cold and relieve pain

This is the first aspect

The second aspect is that

Fu Zi is a representative herb for yang deficiency

what are the characteristics of Fu Zi in treating yang deficiency

We know Fu Zi is considered to be a pure yang herb

since pungent and sweet are also attributed to yang

and heat is

strong yang

Moreover, Fu Zi

was described as dispersing but not retaining by ancient doctors

it spreads over

the entire body

Consequently

it is indicated for yang deficiency

Whether severe yang depletion

or milde yang deficiency

can both be treated with Fu Zi

For example, yang depletion

what is yang depletion

depletion means almost dying out

Yang qi is about to die out

In other words

one is about to die

coupled with cold hands and feet

At this moment, you can use Fu Zi

to restore yang-qi adn save the patient

from death

Our medical sage Zhongjing Zhang

had a formula for yang depletion

Called Si Ni decoction. One of the main

ingredients is Fu Zi

Modern studies have also proven that Fu Zi

can benefit the heart

and treat cardiac shock

So it can restore yang and save lifes

Another aspect is about its treatment for yang deficiency

Like we said, it can spread over the entire body

mainly to the heart

to warm and unblock heart yang

It can be used to treat chest tightness and chest pain

or so-called chest-Bi (impediment)

due to heart yang deficiency

Besides

Fu Zi can also act upon the spleen

and treat abdominal pain adn diarrhea due to spleen yang deficiency

because of its effect in warming spleen yang

Thirdly

let's move on to kidney yang, the primordial yang

the genuine yang

yang deficiency will ultimately lead to kidney yang deficiency

Fu Zi

without any doubt, helps warm and

tonify kidney yang，

and treat low back soreness, pain and impotence

due to kidney yang deficiency

Thus, the application mentioned above

is called tonifying fire to assist yang

Therefore, Fu Zi can be used to

treat yang deficiency and cold syndrome

because of its warm and heat property

which is related to

its growth in bitterly cold

environment

This indicates that it's full of yang (heat) qi

You can imagine

how dramatic the environmental impact on

the nature and function of Fu Zi

So much for Fu Zi

After

the hot-natured Fu Zi

let's move on to

the cold and cool-property Huang Qin (Radix Scutellariae)

Today, we all know it's

widely used in clinical practice

We also know it is cold in nature

Why is it cold in nature

If you've ever picked up herbs, you'll have the experience that

wild Huang Qin

is found

in dry hillside facing the sun

Even in burning hot summer

the hillside facing the sun is too hot

to be touched by hands

or sat on

however, Huang Qin grows on it

and grows well

and happily

What can we learn?

The fact that it grows in

such a hot condition

indicates

it is heat resistant

and can clear heat.

This herb is cold in nature

and extremely cold

which endows its basic function

Clearing heat

through that

clearing heat and fire

resolving dampness

cooling down blood

and removing toxins

All functions are related to heat clearing

The reason why it clears heat

is its cold nature

So in clinical application

it is extensively used

No matter how extensively it is used

the real focus is its cold or cool nature

For example, for toxic fire or heat

since it enters the lung meridian

it has remarkable effect in treating cough and asthma

due to lung heat

Secondly

for fever due to common cold

We have all heard of

shuanghuanglian oral liquid

One of the active ingredients

huang refers to Huang Qin

which is known to

be effective on flu and viral cold

to some extent

Thirdly, because of its action of clearing heat and fire

Huang Qin can be used to treat fire and heat of the liver and gallbladder

manifesting as a bitter taste, hypochondriac pain and so on

Especially in the treatment of excess heat in gallbladder meridian

a syndrome characterized by alternating fever and chills

Huang Qin combined with Chai Hu (Radix Bupleuri)

can obtain a very good effect

That was the first application

The second application

it can clear heat and dry dampness

In that case

it can be used to treat damp-heat syndrome

Damps-heat syndrome is a general term

that encompasses a wide range of problems

What kind of damp-heat is Huang Qin indicated for

Of course, it's related to its meridian entry

We have already mentioned its action location

First it enters the spleen and stomach meridians

so it can be used for damp-heat in the spleen and stomach

such as a poor appetite, abdominal fullness and distention, nausea and vomiting and so on

Second

it enters the liver and gallbladder meridians

it can be used to treat jaundice due to damp-heat in the liver and gallbladder

Third, it also enters the large intestine meridian,

so it can be used to treat diarrhea, dysentery

abdominal pain and fever due to damp-heat in the large intestine

All effective

The third application: it can clear heat and cool down blood

It deals with heat entering the blood phase

You can imagine

what will happen if heat enters the blood phase

Bleeding.

Heat fire agitates blood in the vessels, making blood flow rapidly

and may run out of the blood vessels

resulting in bleeding

This extends

an important application of Huang Qin

miscarriage prevention

It cools blood and prevents miscarriage

which refers to fetal irritability

and fetal bleeding

also known as threatened abortion

Now we can come to a conclusion that

no matter Fu Zi or Huang Qin

although now known to have hot nature

and cold nature respectively

in fact, its nature

is endowed by its growing environment

By observation of the natural environment

our ancients summarized the

warm and hot nature of Fu Zi

and cold and cool nature of Huang Qin

providing us with the medicinal knowledge today

In fact, it fully reflects

our ancients' wisdom of understanding the natural environment

and applying to understanding herbs

That's all about

the environmental influence and medicinal nature

2-2-1 中药的治病智慧（一）

杏林探宝——认知中药

Meet the Instructors