Pinyin: Gao Ben  Chinese: 藁本
Pharmaceutical: Radix et Rhizoma Ligustici Sinensis
Taxonomy: Ligusticum sinense, L. jiholens
English: Straw Weed / Chinese Lovage Root

Tastes: Pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Bladder, Liver and Du Mai

Actions & Indications:

1. Expels Wind and Cold
   Wind-Cold, especially headache and nasal conditions
   Alone for Wind-Cold lodged in the Taiyang with headache involving the crown and vertex or linked to the teeth and jaw
2. Dispels Wind-Dampness and alleviates pain
   Acute low back pain due to Wind-Cold Wind-Damp-Cold Bi pain
3. Guides other herbs to the vertex
   Vertex headaches associated with Taiyang, Jueyin and Du Mai patterns.
4. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Gu Toxins and Parasites
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 1998; 2015)

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: Being warm and dry, it is prohibited for strong heat and yin and blood deficiency.

Pinyin: Bai Zhi  Chinese: 白芷
Pharmaceutical: Radix Angelicae dahuricae
Taxonomy: Angelica dahurica
English: Dahurian Angelica Root

Tastes: Pungent and warm
Meridians Entered: Lung, Stomach and Large Intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Expels Wind, eliminates Dampness, unblocks the nasal passages, dispels Cold and alleviates pain
   External Wind-Cold patterns, especially with headache
   Supra orbital pain, nasal congestion and toothache, arthritis
   Any External Wind invasion of the Yangming channels of the head with a frontal headache
2. Reduces swelling, eliminates toxins and expels pus
   Early-stage superficial sores, boils and carbuncles, pruritis
3. Expels Dampness, alleviates discharge and treats leukorrhea and diarrhoea
   Vaginal discharge due to Cold-Dampness in the Lower Jiao
4. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   One of the chief herbs for treating Gu Syndrome, along with Bo He and Zi Su Ye, classed as "open the exterior with snake killing herbs" (Fruehauf, 1998).
   Also used topically for fungal infections which may explain some of its anti-Gu actions.

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for Blood Heat induced by Yin deficiency because of its pungent, fragrant, warm, dry property.

Pinyin: Che Qian Zi  Chinese: 車前子
Pharmaceutical: Semen Plantaginis
Taxonomy: Plantago asiatica
English: Plantago Seeds / Plantain Seeds / Psyllium Seeds

Tastes: Sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Kidney, Bladder, Liver and Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Promotes urination and clears Damp-Heat
   Damp-Heat, generally Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with oedema, painful urinary dysfunction
2. Promotes urination to solidify the stool
   Diarrhoea due to Damp-Heat
   Summerheat with Dampness
3. Clears Liver Heat and clears the eyes
   Eye problems due to Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency with dry eyes and diminished visual acuity
   Heat in the Liver Channel with red, painful, swollen eyes and sensitivity to light
   Hypertension, high blood sugar, diabetes, obesity and hyperlipidemia (Chen et al., 2022; Zhu et al., 2024)
4. Clears the Lungs, expels Phlegm and stops coughing
   Lung Heat induced cough with yellow copious Phlegm
5. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, make the body light and slow ageing. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 9-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Shi Jue Ming  Chinese: 石决明
Pharmaceutical: Concha Haliotidis
English: Abalone Shell

Tastes: Salty, cold
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Liver Fire, pacifies the Liver and anchors and sedates Liver Yang
   Liver Fire and Liver Yang Rising patterns with headache, dizziness and red eyes Hypertension with Liver Yang Rising
2. Improves the vision and causes superficial visual obstruction to recede
   Liver Heat causing visual problems with photophobia, pterygium or other superficial visual obstruction, red eyes and blurred vision
3. Calms Internal Wind
   Liver Wind
4. Clears Stomach Fire and stops pain and bleeding
   Stomach Fire with acid reflux, heartburn, bleeding ulcers and Stomach pain (best calcined)

Standard Dosage: 15-30g in decoction.
Cautions: The high mineral content of this medication may prevent the oral absorption of the fluoroquinolone class of antibiotics.

Animal products are prohibited from use in the UK under the Medicines Act 1968 ch. 67 which restricts herbalists to the use of plant products only. It is generally substituted with Xia Ku Cao or Cao Jue Ming.

Pinyin: Tian Ma  Chinese: 天麻
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Gastrodiae
Taxonomy: Gastrodia elata
English: Gastrodia Rhizome

Tastes: Sweet, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Extinguishes Wind, calms the Liver and stops spasms and tremors
   Liver Wind due to either Heat or Cold with headache, dizziness, childhood convulsions, epilepsy, tonic-clonic spasms, opisthotonos, tetany and Wind-stroke
2. Extinguishes Wind, subdues Rising Liver Yang and alleviates pain
   Wind-Phlegm patterns with headaches, dizziness and migraines
   Wind-stroke with hemiplegia, dizziness and numbness in the extremities
   Hypertension (high blood pressure), both with symptoms and as a preventative measure (Sun et al., 2023)
   Can be used for both Excess and Deficiency conditions
3. Disperses Wind-Damp Bi
   Pain and numbness of the lower back and extremities due to Wind-Damp Bi

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: This plant is endangered and any supplies should be accompanied by CITES certification.

Pinyin: Chi Shao  Chinese: 赤芍
Pharmaceutical: Radix Paeoniae Rubra
Taxonomy: Paeonia lactiflora seu veitchii
English: Red Peony Root

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, light cold
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and cools the Blood
   Xue Stage Heat Stage Heat or Blood Heat with fever, a purple tongue, maculae, hemorrhage and Blood Heat gynecological problems
2. Clears Liver Fire and relieves eye pain
   Liver Fire with redness, swelling and pain of the eyes
3. Reduces swelling from sores and abscesses
   Early stage abscesses and boils
4. Eliminates Evil Qi, breaks up Blood Stasis, disperses accumulations and fortifies Qi
   The Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing places this in the middle class of herbs and says that "It mainly treats Evil Qi and abdominal pain, eliminates blood impediment, breaks hard gatherings and cold and heat mounting conglomeration, relieves pain, disinhibits urination, and boosts the qi.

Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.
Cautions: It is antagonistic to Li Lu. It should be used with caution in hot skin conditions where it may aggravate by "fanning the flames". Caution with anticoagulants as it may slow clotting time. May also slow the absorption of phenytoin.

Pinyin: Fang Feng  Chinese: 防风
Pharmaceutical: Radix Saposhnikoviae seu Ledebouriellae
English: Siler

Tastes: Pungent, sweet, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Lung, Liver and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Releases the Exterior and expels External Wind
   Wind-Cold with headache, chills, aversion to Cold, and body aches
2. Expels Wind-Dampness and alleviates pain
   Wind-Damp Bi, especially with Wind predominant
3. Expels Internal Wind and stops spasms
   As an auxiliary for Liver Wind with trembling of hands and feet and tetany
   Intestinal-Wind due to imbalance between Spleen and Liver with recurrent tenesmus and painful diarrhoea with bright blood in the stool
   Migraine headaches
4. Relieves diarrhoea and stops bleeding
   Liver and Spleen Disharmony with recurrent painful diarrhoea, borborygmus and abdominal pain
5. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the middle class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, make the body light. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with caution for blood deficiency and internal wind induced by heat because of its warm property.

Pinyin: Xi Xin  Chinese: 细辛
Pharmaceutical: Herba cum Radix Asari
Taxonomy: Asarum sieboldii
English: Chinese Wild Ginger

Tastes: Pungent, warm, slightly toxic
Meridians Entered: Lung, Kidney and Heart

Actions & Indications:

1. Releases Exterior Wind and Cold
   As an adjunctive for any exterior Wind-Cold especially with Dampness in Lung or underlying Yang Deficiency
   Frequently used for Wind-Cold when the dominant symptoms are head and body aches
2. Disperses Wind-Cold and Internal Cold and alleviates pain
   Pain due to Wind and/or Cold anywhere in the body, particularly headache, painful obstruction, abdominal pain or headache due to obstruction of Fluids and Blood by Cold, often with anhydrous Wind-Cold-Damp Bipain
3. Warms the Lungs and transforms Phlegm and Thin Mucus (circulates water)
   Cough and Qi which surges upward and fullness in the chest in the chest with continuous cough from clumped Qi in the chest and diaphragm marked by copious, watery sputum due to Phlegm-Damp or Wind-Cold with congested fluids
4. Disperses and unblocks the Qi of the nasal orifices (clears the orifices of the head)
   Nasal congestion
   Oral pathology
   Loss of consciousness
5. Promotes healing of oral ulcerations
   Oral lesions or ulcerations
6. Relieves toothache
   Toothache
7. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, make the body light and prolong life. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生).

Standard Dosage: 1-3g in decoction.
Cautions: Traditionally contraindicated for headache due to hyperactivity of yang caused by yin deficiency and dry cough caused by lung dryness hurting yin. It is incompatible with Li Lu.

While not prohibited in the UK, the RCHM has enacted a voluntary ban by use due to possible fears of aristolochic acid. It is usually substituted with Gui Pi (Cinnamon Bark), or Rou Gui, or Gui Zhi and Qiang Huo for channel problems, Zi Su Ye and Bai Qian for lung issues, Gao Ban and Bai Zhi for treating the head and Cong Bai and Bai Zhi for the sinuses.