CHINESE HERBALISM

Chinese Herbalism is the subject which researched knowledge include basic theory of Chinese materia medica and include crude medicine and prepared drug in pieces and traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations' source, collection and preparation, performance, efficacy, and clinical application. Chinese materia medica is also the medicine based on traditional Chinese medicine theory. it includes Chinese crude medicine, prepared drug in pieces of Chinese materia medica and traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations, etc. Herbalism is the Chinese art of combining medicinal herbs. Herbalism is traditionally one of the more important modalities utilized in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Each herbal medicine prescription is a cocktail of many herbs tailored to the individual patient. One batch of herbs is typically decocted twice over the course of one hour. The practitioner usually designs a remedy using one or two main ingredients that target the illness. Then the practitioner adds many other ingredients to adjust the formula to the patient's yin/yang conditions. Sometimes, ingredients are needed to cancel out toxicity or side-effects of the main ingredients. Some herbs require the use of other ingredients as catalyst or else the brew is ineffective. The latter steps require great experience and knowledge, and make the difference between a good Chinese herbal doctor and an amateur. Unlike western medications, the balance and interaction of all the ingredients are considered more important than the effect of individual ingredients. A key to success in TCM is the treatment of each patient as an individual.

Chinese Herbalism often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem, flower, root, and also ingredients from animals and minerals. The use of parts of endangered species (such as seahorses, rhinoceros horns, and tiger bones) has created controversy and resulted in a black market of poachers who hunt restricted animals. Many herbal manufacturers have discontinued the use of any parts from endangered animals.

History of Chinese Herbalism:
Chinese herbs have been used for centuries. The first herbalist in Chinese tradition is Shennong, a mythical personage, who is said to have tasted hundreds of herbs and imparted his knowledge of medicinal and poisonous plants to the agricultural people. The first Chinese manual on pharmacology, the Shennong Bencao Jing (Shennong Emperor's Classic of Materia Medica), lists some 365 medicines of which 252 of them are herbs, and dates back somewhere in the 1st century C.E. Han dynasty. Earlier literature included lists of prescriptions for specific ailments, exemplified by a manuscript "Recipes for 52 Ailments", found in the MaWangDui tomb, sealed in 168 B.C.E. Succeeding generations augmented on this work, as in the Yaoxing Lun, a 7th century Tang Dynasty Chinese treatise on herbal medicine. Arguably the most important of these was the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) compiled during the Ming dynasty by Li Shizhen, which is still used today for consultation and reference.



Categorizing Chinese herbs:
Chinese physicians used several different methods to classify traditional Chinese herbs:
The Four Natures:
The Five Tastes:
The Meridians:
The earlier (Han through Tang eras) Ben Cao (Materia Medicae) began with a three-level categorization:
Low level -- drastic acting, toxic substances; Middle level -- medicinal physiological effects; High level -- health and spirit enhancement.
During the neo-Confucian Song-Jin-Yuan era (10th to 12th Centuries), the theoretical framework from acupuncture theory (which was rooted in Confucian Han theory) was formally applied to herbal categorization (which was earlier more the domain of Daoist natural science). In particular, alignment with the Five Phases (Tastes) and the 12 channels (Meridians theory) came to be used after this period.

The Four Natures in Chinese Herbalism:
This pertains to the degree of yin and yang, ranging from cold (extreme yin), cool, neutral to warm and hot (extreme yang). The patient's internal balance of yin and yang is taken into account when the herbs are selected. For example, medicinal herbs of "hot", yang nature are used when the person is suffering from internal cold that requires to be purged, or when the patient has a general cold constituency. Sometimes an ingredient is added to offset the extreme effect of one herb.

The Five Tastes in Chinese Herbalism:
The five tastes are pungent, sweet, sour, bitter and salty, each of which their functions and characteristics. For example, pungent herbs are used to generate sweat and to direct and vitalize qi and the blood. Sweet-tasting herbs often tonify or harmonize bodily systems. Some sweet-tasting herbs also exhibit a bland taste, which helps drain dampness through diuresis. Sour taste most often is astringent or consolidates, while bitter taste dispels heat, purges the bowels and get rid of dampness by drying them out. Salty tastes soften hard masses as well as purge and open the bowels.

The Meridians in Chinese Herbalism:
The Meridians refer to which organs the herb acts upon. For example, menthol is pungent, cool and is linked with the lungs and the liver. Since the lungs is the organ which protects the body from invasion from cold and influenza, menthol can help purge coldness in the lungs and invading heat toxins caused by hot "wind".

Chinese patent medicine is a kind of traditional Chinese medicine. They are standardized herbal formulas. Several herbs and other ingredients are dried and ground. They are then mixed into a powder and formed into pills. The binder is traditionally honey. They are characteristically little round black pills. Chinese patent medicines are easy and convenient. They are not easy to customize on a patient-by-patient basis, however. They are best used when a patient's condition is not severe and the medicine can be taken as a long-term treatment. These medicines are not "patented" in the traditional sense of the word. No one has exclusive rights to the formula. Instead, "patent" refers to the standardization of the formula. All Chinese patent medicines of the same name will have the same proportions of ingredients.



50 fundamental Chinese herbs:
In Chinese herbalism, there are 50 "fundamental herbs.":
Agastache rugosa:
A medicinal and ornamental plant in the Lamiaceae family. The plant has antibacterial, antifungal, antipyretic, aromatic, carminative, diaphoretic, febrifuge, refrigerant, and stomachic properties.

Alangium chinense:
A species of flowering plant in the Alangiaceae family. It is used to treat snakebite, is used as a carminative, used to increase circulation, as a contraceptive, as a "hemostat" and to treat numbness, rheumatism, and wounds.

Anemone chinensis:
Has analgesic, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, cardiotonic, hypnotic, and sedative properties.

Anisodus tanguticus:
A species of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae.

Ardisia japonica:
Large doses of the plant as medicine can be toxic to the kidneys.

Aster tataricus:
Has an antibacterial action.

Astragalus propinquus:
Used to speed healing and treat diabetes.

Camellia sinensis:
A tea plant whose leaves and leaf buds are used to produce tea. White tea, green tea and black tea are all harvested from this species.

Cannabis sativa:
Carthamus tinctorius:
Cinnamomum cassia:
Used primarily for its aromatic bark. Some anecdotal evidence that consumption has an effect in lowering blood pressure.

Cissampelos pareira:
Species of flowering plant in the family Menispermaceae.

Coptis chinensis:
Corydalis ambigua:
Croton tiglium:
Plant species in the Euphorbiaceae family.

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Daphne genkwa:
Datura metel:
Datura stramonium:
Many deaths and hospitalizations are reported from recreational use.

Dendrobium nobile:
Member of the family Orchidaceae.

Dichroa febrifuga:
A flowering plant in the family Hydrangeaceae.

Ephedra sinica:
Dried aerial parts are used to treat asthma, allergic rhinitis, upper respiratory infection, colds, and is used as a general stimulant.

Eucommia ulmoides:
A small tree native to China. The bark is used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat lower back pain, aching knees, and to prevent miscarriage. Also used to "tonify" the Yang.

Euphorbia pekinensis:
Flueggea suffruticosa:
A species of flowering plant in the family Euphorbiaceae.

Forsythia suspensa:
Gentiana loureiroi:
Gleditsia sinensis:
Glycyrrhiza uralensis:
The Ancient and Healing Art of Chinese Herbalism

Hydnocarpus anthelminticus:
A species of flowering plant in the family Achariaceae.

Ilex purpurea:
A species of holly, a flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae.

Leonurus japonicus:
It is used in the treatment of abnormal menstruation, postpartum abdominal pain, uterine bleeding, oedema, eczema and purulent abscess.

Ligusticum wallichii:
A flowering plant in the carrot family.

Lobelia chinensis:
A species of flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae.

Phellodendron amurense:
A species of tree in the family Rutaceae.

Platycladus orientalis:
Associated with long life and vitality.

Pseudolarix amabilis:
Native to eastern China, occurring in small areas in the mountains of southern Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei and eastern Sichuan, at altitudes of 100-1500 m.

Psilopeganum sinense:
A genus of flowering plants of the family Rutaceae.

Pueraria lobata:
Kudzu also contains a number of useful isoflavones, including daidzein (an anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial agent), daidzin (a cancer preventive) and genistein (an antileukemic agent). Kudzu is a unique source of the isoflavone puerarin. Kudzu root compounds can affect neurotransmitters (including serotonin, GABA, and glutamate) and it has shown value in treating migraine and cluster headache.

Rauwolfia serpentina:
Rehmannia glutinosa:
One of the traditional uses in traditional Chinese medicine for Rehmannia glutinosa has been in the area of tinnitis and hearing loss.

Rheum officinale:
In modern medicine, R. officinale has been found to be useful in treatment of Hepatitis B.

Rhododendron tsinghaiense:
Honey resulting from these plants have a slightly hallucinogenic and laxative effect.

Saussurea costus:
Schisandra chinensis:
Believed to Astringe Lung Qi and nourish the Kidneys, Restrain the essence and stop Diarrhea--astringe Kidneys, Arrest excessive sweating from Yin or Yang deficiency, Calm the Spirit by tonification of Heart and Kidney, Generate body fluids and alleviate thirst.

Scutellaria baicalensis:
Stemona tuberosa:
Stephania tetrandra:
Styphnolobium japonicum:
Has abortifacient, antibacterial, anticholesterolemic, antiinflammatory, antispasmodic, diuretic, emetic, emollient, febrifuge, hypotensive, purgative, styptic, and tonic properties.

Trichosanthes kirilowii:
Wikstroemia indica:
A flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae.



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