Coix Seed (Yi Yi Ren) – A Comprehensive Overview

Source

This product is the dried mature seed of the plant Coix lacryma-jobi, belonging to the Poaceae family.

Aliases

Job’s tears, coix seed, yi yi ren, barley, yi mi, gan mi, sheng yi ren, mi ren, yi mi, yi ren mi, tian gu, qiao shi, qi shi, yu mo, yu zhu, gan mi, zhu zi mi, yao yu mi, cui sheng zi, yi zhu zi, hui hui mi, liu gu mi, bi ti zhu, chao yi ren.

Production Areas

Mainly produced in Fujian, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Liaoning provinces, all cultivated.

Harvesting and Processing

Harvest the plants in autumn when the fruits are ripe, dry them, thresh the fruits, dry again, remove the outer shell, yellow-brown seed coat, and impurities, and collect the seeds.

Identification

This product is broad oval or long oval in shape, measuring 4-8mm in length and 3-6mm in width. The surface is milky white, smooth, occasionally with remnants of yellow-brown seed coat; one end is blunt and rounded, while the other end is wider and slightly concave, with a light brown dot-like hilum; the back is rounded and convex, and the belly has a wide and deep longitudinal groove. The texture is firm, the cross-section is white and powdery. It has a slight aroma and a mildly sweet taste.

Processed Form

Fried coix seed: similar in shape to coix seed, slightly bulging, with a slightly yellow surface.

Properties and Channels

Sweet, bland, slightly cold. Enters the Spleen, Stomach, and Lung meridians.

Characteristics

This product enters the Spleen, Stomach, and Lung meridians, promotes urination without harming the righteous Qi, strengthens the Spleen without causing dampness. Raw use is sweet, bland, and slightly cold, promoting urination and clearing heat, capable of clearing damp-heat, dispelling bi syndrome, and draining pus, slightly tonifying the Spleen, suitable for those with damp-heat or Spleen deficiency. Fried use is sweet, bland, promotes urination, is neutral and tonifying, primarily strengthens the Spleen, and also promotes urination and stops diarrhea, suitable for those with Spleen deficiency and dampness without heat or mild heat.

Functions

Promotes urination and drains dampness, strengthens the Spleen and stops diarrhea, dispels bi syndrome, clears heat and drains pus.

Indications

(1) Difficult urination, edema, and swelling pain in the feet.

(2) Spleen deficiency diarrhea.

(3) Damp-heat pathogen in the Qi level.

(4) Damp bi syndrome with muscle and joint stiffness.

(5) Lung abscess, intestinal abscess.

Dosage

Internal use: decoction, 9-30g; can also be made into soup, porridge, or used in pills and powders. For clearing damp-heat, dispelling bi syndrome, and draining pus, it is best used raw; for strengthening the Spleen and stopping diarrhea, it is best used fried.

Precautions

Use with caution in those with deficiency and weakness. This product is mild, suitable for prolonged use. Caution in those with Spleen deficiency without dampness, dry constipation, and pregnant women.

Story

A historical story from the Eastern Han Dynasty tells of a time when miasma was prevalent in the southern regions, causing patients to suffer from numbness in the hands and feet, swelling in the lower limbs, and eventually full-body edema. As the disease often began in the lower limbs, it was referred to as “Beriberi” in TCM.

The general Ma Yuan, known as “Fu Bo Jiang Jun,” was ordered by Emperor Liu Xiu of the Han Dynasty to lead troops to Guangxi to quell the southern rebellion.Most of the soldiers were from the north, and many contracted this disease, rendering them unable to fight.

Ma Yuan had to order the camp to be set up and called for the army doctor to treat them, but the army doctor had never treated this disease. As the number of sick soldiers increased, Ma Yuan issued a notice: “Anyone who can provide a remedy for this disease will be rewarded with 500 taels of silver.”

The notice was posted outside the camp, but after one day, two days, and three days, no one came forward. On the seventh day, a beggar holding a dog-beating stick came to the camp gate, looked at the notice, and took it down.

The soldiers brought the beggar into the camp, and Ma Yuan asked, “What is your miraculous remedy?” The beggar smiled and took out a handful of something resembling beads from his begging bowl, saying: “This is called ‘Hui Zhu Zi’ or ‘Coix Seed,’ which is commonly grown in the fields. Boil a handful to make a soup, and after drinking it, you will recover.”

Ma Yuan was skeptical but ordered the soldiers to gather some to try. Unexpectedly, the remedy provided by the beggar was indeed effective, and the sick soldiers quickly recovered after taking the coix seed soup. Ma Yuan was very pleased and prepared to reward the beggar with 500 taels of silver, but the beggar had already disappeared.

After Ma Yuan pacified the southern region and returned triumphantly, he brought back several carts of coix seed to plant in the north. However, this was misinterpreted as a large amount of pearls that he had extorted. The court and the public considered it a miscarriage of justice, hence it was called the “Slander of Coix Seed.” Bai Juyi also wrote a poem mentioning “Coix Seed slander worries Ma Fu Bo.”

To commemorate this honest and dedicated general, the mountain was named “Fu Bo Mountain,” and the cave within it was called “Hui Zhu Cave,” which is now known as the “Fu Bo Scenic Area” along the Li River in Guilin, and “Coix Seed” has also earned the beautiful title of “Hui Zhu Zi.”