Bai Shao (White Peony) in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Source

This product is the dried root of the plant Paeonia lactiflora, belonging to the family Paeoniaceae.

Production Areas

Mainly produced in provinces such as Zhejiang, Anhui, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Shandong, all cultivated.

Harvesting and Processing

Harvested in summer and autumn, cleaned, removing the ends and fine roots, boiled in boiling water, then peeled or boiled after peeling, and dried.

Identification of Properties

Herb Characteristics

Cylindrical, straight or slightly curved, both ends flat, 5-18 cm long, 1-2.5 cm in diameter. The surface is whitish or light reddish-brown, smooth or with longitudinal wrinkles and fine root marks, occasionally with remnants of brownish outer skin. The texture is solid, not easily broken, with a relatively flat cross-section, whitish or slightly reddish-brown, with distinct growth rings and radiating rays. The aroma is faint, with a slightly bitter and sour taste.White Peony SlicesThin, round slices. The surface is light reddish-brown or whitish, smooth. The cut surface is whitish or slightly reddish-brown, with distinct growth rings, and slightly raised vein patterns arranged radially. The aroma is faint, with a slightly bitter and sour taste.

Fried Bai Shao

Similar in shape to white peony slices. The surface is slightly yellow or light brownish-yellow, with occasional scorch marks. The aroma is faintly fragrant.

Wine Bai Shao

Similar in shape to white peony slices, with a slightly yellow or light brownish-yellow surface, with occasional scorch marks. It has a faint wine aroma.

Processing Methods

Common names include Bai Shao, Fried Bai Shao, Wine Bai Shao, Vinegar Bai Shao, and Earth-Fried Bai Shao.1. Bai Shao: Take the original herb, remove impurities, separate by size, wash, soak until semi-transparent, remove and let it moisten until transparent, slice thinly, and dry. Sift out fragments.2. Wine Bai Shao: Take white peony slices, mix with a specified amount of yellow wine, let it moisten slightly, and after the wine is absorbed, place in a frying container, heat gently, fry until dry, and cool. Sift out fragments. For every 100 kg of white peony slices, use 10 kg of yellow wine.3. Fried Bai Shao: Place white peony slices in a frying container, heat gently, fry until the surface is slightly yellow, remove and cool. Sift out fragments.4. Vinegar Bai Shao: Take white peony slices, mix with a specified amount of rice vinegar, let it moisten slightly, and after the vinegar is absorbed, place in a frying container, heat gently, fry until dry, remove and cool, and sift out fragments. For every 100 kg of white peony slices, use 15 kg of rice vinegar.5. Earth-Fried Bai Shao: Take a specified amount of stove heart soil (Fulonggan) fine powder, place in a frying container, heat over medium heat until the soil is flexible, add white peony slices, fry until the surface is coated with soil color and slightly charred yellow, remove, sift out soil powder, and spread out to cool. For every 100 kg of white peony slices, use 20 kg of stove heart soil powder.

Processing Effects

Bai Shao is bitter, sour, and slightly cold. It enters the liver and spleen meridians. It has the functions of draining liver fire, calming liver yang, nourishing yin, and alleviating irritability. It is often used for liver yang rising, headaches, dizziness, tinnitus, yin deficiency with heat, and irritability.1. Fried Bai Shao has a milder cold nature, primarily nourishing blood and the nutritive qi, restraining yin and stopping sweating. It is used for blood deficiency with sallow complexion, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and spontaneous sweating.2. Wine Bai Shao reduces the cold and sour nature that attacks the liver, enters the blood aspect, is good at regulating menstruation and stopping bleeding, and softening the liver to relieve pain. It is used for liver qi stagnation with blood deficiency, lateral chest pain, abdominal pain, irregular menstruation, and limb cramps.3. Vinegar Bai Shao has the strongest effect of guiding herbs into the liver, restraining blood, nourishing blood, and soothing the liver to relieve depression.4. Earth-Fried Bai Shao can utilize the earth’s energy to enter the spleen, enhancing blood nourishment and stopping diarrhea, suitable for liver excess with spleen deficiency, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.

Taste and Meridian Entry

Sour, sweet, bitter, slightly cold. Enters the liver and spleen meridians.

Characteristics

This product is sweet, sour, and astringent, with a slightly cold nature, entering the liver and spleen meridians. It nourishes blood, regulates menstruation, softens the liver to relieve pain, restrains yin to stop sweating, and calms liver yang, with slight heat-clearing properties. It is primarily used for symptoms of yin and blood deficiency, liver excess, and yang hyperactivity, and also treats body weakness with excessive sweating.

Functions

Nourishes blood, regulates menstruation, restrains yin, stops sweating, softens the liver, and relieves pain, calms liver yang.

Indications

(1) Blood deficiency with sallow complexion, irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, and excessive bleeding.(2) Yin deficiency with night sweats, spontaneous sweating.(3) Chest and abdominal pain due to disharmony between liver and spleen, or limb cramps and pain.(4) Headaches and dizziness due to liver yang rising.

Dosage and Administration

Internal use: decoction, 5-15 g; or in pills or powders. For nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, it is often used fried; for calming the liver and restraining yin, it is often used raw.

Precautions

Contraindicated with Li Lu (Veratrum).

Pharmacology

This product has effects on regulating immune function, sedation, analgesia, relieving spasms, inhibiting platelet aggregation, dilating coronary arteries, lowering blood pressure, anti-inflammatory, and liver protection.

Story

It is said that the famous physician Hua Tuo from the Three Kingdoms period had his yard filled with medicinal herbs. He had deep research on these herbs. One day, he planted a peony given by a friend outside his window and studied it for several days, but found no medicinal value, so he ignored it. One night, as Hua Tuo was dozing off, he heard someone crying outside the window. He opened his eyes and saw a woman in red standing outside in the moonlight. He quickly got up and ran outside to check. However, there was no one there, only the red-flowered peony swaying gently in the wind. He was puzzled and returned to the house to wake his wife and tell her what happened. His wife laughed and said, “The Peony Maiden has shown her spirit. She is unhappy with your indifference.” Hua Tuo replied, “The peony indeed has little use.” His wife said, “Sister Zheng at the village head uses peony root to treat menstrual disorders; many women secretly go to her.” Hua Tuo said, “Gynecological diseases are my weak point. I will go to Sister Zheng for advice tomorrow.” After consulting Sister Zheng, Hua Tuo learned that different processing methods could turn peony root into Bai Shao and Chi Shao. Bai Shao can treat excessive menstruation and dangerous bleeding, while Chi Shao can treat amenorrhea and injuries. The dosage for both Bai Shao and Chi Shao is three qian per dose, decocted for consumption. The dosage should generally not be increased to avoid overburdening the liver. Later, Hua Tuo conducted in-depth research on Bai Shao and learned that Bai Shao treats bleeding by nourishing blood. He believed that bleeding is not simply a matter of uncontrolled bleeding, but that there is a “pathogenic factor” in the blood causing it to “run amok” abnormally, so the blood must first be nourished well, and once it is well-nourished, the menstrual blood will return to normal; one cannot simply use hemostatic drugs to stop the bleeding. Bai Shao possesses excellent blood-nourishing functions in gynecology. Hua Tuo was later killed by Cao Cao, and the medical books he wrote were lost. However, some content, including the processing methods and effects of Bai Shao and Chi Shao, was passed down through his students.