Recommended Formulas by Renowned Physicians
MING YI JIAN FANG
肉桂 (Ròuguì) (Cinnamon): Guides fire back to the source and strengthens kidney yang, warms yang, invigorates blood, and disperses cold stagnation.
肉桂 (Ròuguì), also known as 牡桂 (Mǔguì), 大桂 (Dàguì), 桂皮 (Guìpí), 玉桂 (Yùguì), etc., is the dried bark of the Cinnamomum tree, primarily produced in Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. It is harvested in autumn and dried in the shade.
肉桂 (Ròuguì) is one of the earliest spices discovered and used by humans, often referred to as the “King of Spices”.
MING YI JIAN FANG
Properties of the Herb
肉桂 (Ròuguì) is typically tubular or rolled, measuring 30-40 cm in length, 3-10 cm in width or diameter, and 0.2-0.8 cm in thickness. The outer surface is gray-brown, slightly rough, with irregular fine wrinkles and transverse raised pores, some of which may show gray-white spots; the inner surface is reddish-brown, slightly flat, with fine longitudinal lines that leave an oily mark when scratched. It is hard and brittle, easily broken, with an uneven fracture surface. The outer layer is brown and rough, while the inner layer is reddish-brown and oily, with a yellow-brown line between the two layers. It has a strong aroma, with a sweet and spicy taste.
Medicinal Value
肉桂 (Ròuguì) is first recorded in the Shennong Bencao Jing, classified as a superior herb, stating: “牡桂 (Mǔguì) is spicy and warm. It is used for cough due to qi stagnation, chest fullness, throat obstruction, benefits joints, tonifies the middle and boosts qi. Long-term use opens the mind, lightens the body, and prevents aging. It grows in valleys.”
According to the Record of Famous Physicians
“It is used for heart pain, wind in the flanks, flank pain, warms the tendons, opens the meridians, stops restlessness, and sweating. It is used for warming the middle, benefiting liver and lung qi, treating cold and heat in the heart and abdomen, cold diseases, cholera, cramps, headaches, waist pain, stops salivation, cough, and nasal congestion; it can induce abortion, strengthen bones and joints, open blood vessels, and regulate insufficiency; it promotes the efficacy of all medicines, without fear.”
According to the Bencao Gangmu
“It treats cold bi syndrome, wind-induced hoarseness, yin excess with blood loss, diarrhea, and convulsions.” It treats yang deficiency with blood loss, internal abscesses, and can guide blood to transform sweat and pus, and detoxify snake venom.”
According to Bencao Huiyan (Ming Dynasty, Ni Zhumo)
“肉桂 (Ròuguì) is a medicine for treating deep cold and chronic cold. It is used for yang deficiency and reversal, or heart and abdominal pain with vomiting, diarrhea, or long-term kidney deficiency with chronic cold and fear of cold, or cold hernia with severe pain, or stomach cold with worms causing fullness and distension, or qi and blood stagnation causing obstruction in the meridians. This flavor is thick, sweet, spicy, and very hot, guiding downward, strengthening the yang of the life gate, thus allowing the yang to flourish and the previous symptoms to diminish.”
According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia
肉桂 (Ròuguì): “Spicy, sweet, very hot. It enters the kidney, spleen, heart, and liver meridians. It nourishes fire and supports yang, guides fire back to the source, disperses cold, stops pain, and is used for impotence, cold in the palace, cold pain in the waist and knees, kidney deficiency causing wheezing, floating yang, dizziness, red eyes, cold pain in the heart and abdomen, cold diarrhea, cold hernia abdominal pain, and dysmenorrhea or amenorrhea.”
Recommended Formulas by Renowned Physicians
Classic Formula Recommendation: Shenqi Pill
Source of the Prescription
According to the Jinkui Yaolue:
“For deficiency labor with waist pain, tightness in the lower abdomen, and difficulty urinating, the Eight Flavor Shenqi Pill is the main treatment.”
Sun Simiao (a famous physician of the Tang Dynasty, revered as the “King of Medicine”) recorded in the Qianjin Yaofang:“The Eight Flavor Shenqi Pill treats deficiency labor, excessive thirst, waist pain, tightness in the lower abdomen, and difficulty urinating.”Ge Hong (a famous physician of the Eastern Jin Dynasty) stated:“The Eight Flavor Shenqi Pill treats deficiency labor, excessive thirst, waist pain, tightness in the lower abdomen, and difficulty urinating.” (Zhouhou Beiji Fang)Zhang Xichun (a modern medical master) stated:“The Shenqi Pill is a kidney tonifying medicine, also serving to open blood stasis, thus listed in the Jinkui under the section for deficiency labor, and is an essential formula.” (Zhongzhong Canxi Lu)
Effects of the Prescription
Warms and tonifies kidney yang, transforms qi, and promotes water flow.Used for kidney deficiency with edema, soreness in the waist and knees, difficulty urinating, and fear of cold with cold limbs.
Modern Pharmacological Research Shows
This formula has anti-aging effects, enhances immunity, improves microcirculation, and has hormone-like effects, improving the metabolism of sugars, proteins, and fats.Modern applications of the Shenqi Pill with modifications treat diabetes, hypothyroidism, sexual dysfunction, menopausal syndrome, waist pain, prostate hyperplasia, chronic nephritis, adrenal cortex insufficiency, chronic bronchial asthma, chronic pulmonary heart disease, and recurrent oral ulcers, all associated with kidney yang deficiency.
Original Formula Composition
干地黄 (Gān Dìhuáng) 8 liang (24g), 薯蓣 (Shǔyù) and 山茱萸 (Shānzhūyú) each 4 liang (12g), 泽泻 (Zéxiè), 茯苓 (Fúlíng), and 牡丹皮 (Mǔdānpí) each 3 liang (9g), 桂枝 (Guìzhī) (now Ròuguì) and 附子 (Fùzǐ) (prepared, skin and navel removed) each 1 liang (3g).
Dosage Method
Grind into powder, form into pills the size of a walnut. Take 15 to 25 pills with warm wine before meals, twice daily. (Modern usage: honey pills, 6g per dose, twice daily, taken with white wine or light salt soup; can also be made into a decoction for oral administration).
Recommended Dietary Therapy
Clove Cinnamon Duck
Ingredients: 500g of water duck, 5g of cloves, 5g of cinnamon, 5g of cardamom, 3g of dried tangerine peel, 3g of sand ginger, and appropriate amount of ginger.
Method: Wash cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, dried tangerine peel, and sand ginger, place in a pot with water to decoct for medicinal soup; clean the water duck, remove the internal organs, wash and cut into pieces, sauté ginger in oil until fragrant, then add the water duck and stir-fry until the meat changes color, add the medicinal soup and seasonings, and simmer until the duck meat is fully cooked.
Effects: Warms the middle, disperses cold, strengthens the stomach, and alleviates pain, used for ulcers and gastritis associated with spleen and stomach deficiency and cold. Symptoms include cold pain in the stomach, vomiting, regurgitation, and reduced appetite.
Cinnamon Rose Brown Sugar Tea
Ingredients: 3g of cinnamon, 5g of rose petals, and 10g of brown sugar.Method: Add brown sugar to 500mL of water, boil for 10 minutes, then add cinnamon and rose petals, boil for another 5 minutes, let cool slightly before consuming.Effects: Warms the meridians, invigorates blood, warms the liver, and promotes qi, alleviating discomfort such as abdominal bloating, cold pain, fear of cold, and breast tenderness during menstruation, suitable for women with liver cold and qi stagnation.
Warm Reminder:Please consult a professional medical institution for prescriptions and use under the guidance of professionals.
Source: Ziyang City Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital Subscription Account
