Properties: Sweet, salty, neutral

Meridans Entered:
Primary: Kidney and Lung

1. Tonifies the Kidneys and replenishes Essence
   Weakness, impotence, nocturnal emission
2. Tonifies Blood and moistens dryness
   Constipation
   Loss of blood
3. Stops bleeding
   Traumatic bleeding
   Coughing with vomiting blood
   Fresh blood in the stool

Suggested Daily Dosage: 15-30g in decoction. Often eaten as food too.

• Fucoidan
  Long chain sulfated polysaccharide with a range of biological activities including anti-cancer, anti-coagulant, anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and anti-viral.
• Chondroitin sulfate
  Glycosaminoglycan considered as a symptomatic slow-acting drug for osteoarthritis.
• Fucosylated glycosaminoglycan
  Combination of Fucoidan and chondroitin sulfate found in the skins of sea cucumbers with anti-coagulant activity that is highly prized for its medicinal benefits.

Notes:

Analysis of the ancient script forms of 參 Shen suggest it is simplified from 曑 (晶 -> 厽) making an ideogrammic compound of 晶 ("stars") + 光 ("light; brightness") + 彡 ("light rays") meaning the Three Stars astrological mansion (referring to the three stars of Orion's belt in western astronomy at the centre of this constellation). 彡 also acts as a phonetic component. Its main meaning is "joining, merging, being a part of" suggesting the three stars making up a single constellation.

光 may also be interpreted as 卩 ("kneeling person"), representing someone looking at the shining stars above him or be the original character for 簪 a hairpin and thus someone with a ceremonial hat of stars.

參 also appears in the title of the famous alchemical text 參同契 Cantong Qi translated as The Seal of the Unity of the Three, or Joining as One with Unity, with 參 playing on the double meaning as "three" and "joined as one" where it refers to the unity of the cosmology of the Yi Jing, Daoism and internal alchemy (Pregradio, 2011, Seal of the Unity of the Three, p. 3).

These all suggest a great reverence for these herbs, which crosses into the cosmological, religious and self-cultivation realms, while also suggesting a completeness of these herbs in themselves. Herbs with 參 in their name may be used individually, without needing a formula to complement them.