Coix Seed (Yi Yi Ren)
“Shen Nong’s Materia Medica” is sweet, slightly cold, and non-toxic. It is indicated for muscle spasms, inability to bend or stretch, chronic wind-damp bi syndrome, alleviates qi, dispels evil qi from muscles and bones, relieves numbness, benefits the gastrointestinal tract, reduces edema, and promotes appetite.
Long-term use lightens the body and benefits qi. Its roots are known as San Chong (three insects), also called Jie Li (解蠡), Wu Tan (屋菼), Qi Shi (起实), and Gan (赣). It grows in Zhen Ding, Ping Ze, and fields, harvested in August, with roots collected at any time.
Coix seeds sprout in February and March, resembling the initial growth of millet (the white sprout of millet is called Qi (芑)). In May and June, they shoot up to three or four zhang (丈). They bloom with red and white flowers, forming spikes with seeds.There are two types: one with a sharp, thin, sticky shell is Coix Seed, its grains are pale white like glutinous rice. The other, round with a thick, hard shell, is known as Bodhi Seed, which can only be used for prayer beads. Both are harvested in September and October after frost, with roots white and as large as a spoon handle, twisted and sweet in taste. (Refer to “Illustrated Compendium” and “Compendium of Materia Medica”)
Soft and Short and Loose and Long
1“Ling Shu: The Channels and Vessels”: Muscles are cold and thus contract, heat causes them to relax.
2“Su Wen: On the Transmission of Qi”: Excess damp-heat leads to large muscles being soft and short, while small muscles are loose and long.
Both passages discuss muscles, but they differ in the description of large and small muscles.
When muscles are affected by cold, they become stiff and short; this is due to the cold’s nature of contraction. When affected by heat, they become soft and elongated; this is due to heat’s nature of dispersion. This is purely about the effects of cold and heat, without the influence of dampness. If dampness is involved, large muscles affected by heat will swell laterally, becoming soft and short; small muscles affected by heat will stretch longitudinally, becoming loose and long.
Dampness Causes Swelling
When encountering dampness, swelling occurs; this is true for all substances. However, soft and short muscles differ completely from hard and short muscles. Heat causes swelling, while cold causes contraction, which is a physical norm. However, a cold contraction must be hard and strong. A weak and powerless contraction is caused by damp-heat.
Large and Small Muscles
Question: Cold contracts and heat relaxes; this is a common principle. Therefore, the response of muscles to cold and heat is rapid; large muscles contract, while small muscles stretch, which is a variation in principle. Why is the response slower?
Answer: Using “excess damp-heat” to explain, it is due to dampness, which initially wraps around. At this time, heat has not yet mixed in. However, dampness is the slowest; once it transforms into heat, it is not a matter of a day or two. After dampness transforms into heat, if it is not removed, damp-heat gradually seeps into the muscles, and after a period, the muscles swell due to damp-heat, thus the response is delayed.
Muscle Spasms and Chronic Wind-Damp Bi Syndrome
Question:In “Materia Medica” it states “chronic wind-damp bi syndrome”, and the word “chronic” aligns with this meaning, how so?
Answer: “Muscles are tense and spasmodic, unable to bend or stretch”; it is essential to distinguish between cold and heat and between acute and chronic. An acute onset is likely due to cold causing contraction and spasms, thus one should not use slightly cold Coix Seed. Muscle spasms that cannot bend or stretch belong to chronic wind-damp bi syndrome, indicating it is not due to cold; acute muscle spasms belong to wind-cold. Over time, it transforms into heat, which is a common principle of externally contracted diseases.
Damp-Heat and Abscesses
Question: Coix Seed’s nature is slow and steady, primarily treating muscle spasms and inability to bend or stretch due to chronic wind-damp bi syndrome. If wind-damp-heat persists for a long time, it easily leads to the formation of abscesses. Does Coix Seed’s slow nature not pose a risk of nurturing abscesses?
Answer: Coix Seed forms spikes and seeds before the rice is harvested, and it must be collected after the rice is harvested. In its early growth stage, Coix Seed continuously absorbs damp-heat, as it is said: “Absorbing damp-heat to form its body”; in its later growth stage, Coix Seed absorbs the killing energy of autumn. It is said: “Fully absorbing autumn’s killing energy to refine its quality”; thus, Coix Seed absorbs damp-heat to grow and is formed by the killing energy. Its nature prefers to absorb damp-heat. Over time, it achieves results, thus specifically treating diseases caused by accumulation. Diseases caused by accumulation are difficult to cure quickly; how can it be said that it nurtures abscesses slowly?
Tian Men Dong, excels in treating acute wind-damp bi syndrome, each acting according to its nature, with equal efficacy.
Drying can overcome dampness, cooling can eliminate heat, and the killing energy can restrain swelling; this is the principle of natural climate. Muscles belong to the liver; muscle diseases indicate liver diseases. If the liver is ill, it must be countered by the lungs. Coix Seed is white, cool in nature, and descends, representing the lungs, thus it can clear and descend qi.
Injury to Qi and Blood
Liu Qianjiang states: The stomach is the sea of the five organs and six bowels; its clear qi ascends to the lungs to facilitate breathing. The reason it can ascend to the lungs is due to the spleen.
1 The spleen qi combines with the kidney, and the spleen-kidney qi ascends to the lungs, ascending to the left; 2 The lung qi combines with the heart, descending to the kidney,descending to the right; as if there were no end, it can circulate blood and qi, nourishing yin and yang;
a If the stomach qi is deficient, the spleen cannot receive qi, thus the spleen is deficient. If the spleen does not ascend the clear, dampness cannot be transformed and accumulates, excess dampness leads to wind-heat, and damp-heat gathers in the stomach’s yang, thus injuring qi;
b If the stomach yang is excessive, it leads to qi counterflow, and lung qi does not descend to generate heat, excess heat generates dampness, burning the spleen’s yin, thus injuring blood.
Special Attention: Excess dampness transforming into heat and excess heat generating dampness are different in sequence, and the injury to qi and blood is certainly different..
1Injury to qi occurs in the lungs, as the lungs govern the qi of the entire body, thus lung qi obstruction leads to chest bi syndrome with slackness, or damage to lung yin leading to lung atrophy and lung abscess, or damp-heat ravaging and injuring muscles leading to muscle spasms.
2Injury to blood occurs in the spleen, as the spleen governs blood, or downward descent leads to diarrhea, or side leakage leads to water, or obstruction in the meridians leads to chronic wind-damp bi syndrome, or obstruction in the lower part leads to inguinal hernia and heaviness.
Coix Seed’s Method and Symbolism
Coix Seed 1 grows in flat wetlands, with a cold qi and sweet flavor, representing the harmony of water and earth, 2 producing seeds in the height of summer, the moist descending qi combines with heat, 3 harvested in late autumn, the floating heat returns to coolness; from this growth and harvesting process:
Coix Seed aligns witha stomach reaching the earth qi (spleen), not affected by <dampness transforming into heat>; b more aligned with stomach reaching the heavenly qi (lungs), not affected by <heat transforming into dampness>, the previous symptom analysis has examples, and will not be repeated here.
Thus, Kou Shi states: If the spleen is healthy, it can transport and transform yin and yang; if the spleen is not healthy, it is often troubled by dampness. Coix Seed strengthens the spleen, allowing the spleen, lungs, and kidneys to circulate qi, preventing dampness from lingering, thus removing dampness can clear heat, as it is said: “When yin and yang combine, qi is generated; when yin and yang harmonize, qi flows.”
Atractylodes and Coix Seed
Some argue: both benefit qi and eliminate dampness, harmonize and strengthen the spleen; Coix Seed and Atractylodes are similar, yet there are minute differences that can lead to significant errors.In terms of qi, Atractylodes is warm while Coix Seed is slightly cold; in terms of flavor, Atractylodes is sweet and pungent while Coix Seed is sweet and bland, and Atractylodes has a thick flavor, while Coix Seed has a thin flavor.
Ma Huang Jia Shu Tang Ma Xing Yi Gan Tang
“Jin Kui Yao Lue: On Spasms and Damp-Heat” states:
1 If dampness is present, the body feels heavy and painful, it is appropriate to use Ma Huang Jia Shu Tang to induce sweating, and be cautious not to attack with fire.
2 If the patient experiences pain all over,fever, and severe symptoms in the afternoon, this is called winds and dampness, this illness is caused by sweating in the wind, or prolonged exposure to cold, it can be treated with Ma Huang Xing Ren Yi Gan Tang.
Analysis: “Body feels heavy and painful” indicates dampness with cold; “pain all over” indicates dampness with wind. Thus, while the nature of dampness is the same, the combination of cold and wind differs; cold transforms from yin, while wind transforms from yang. Therefore, “body feels heavy and painful” belongs to the qi of the sun’s cold water, belonging to the sun, thus it is appropriate to induce sweating; “fever, severe in the afternoon” belongs to the qi of the yangming dryness and heat. Belonging to yangming, it is appropriate to clear heat. Inducing sweating is to release the yang evil, clearing heat is to suppress the yang evil, thus Atractylodes and cinnamon are used to induce sweating, while Coix Seed is used to clear heat.
Conclusion: Ma Huang Jia Shu Tang is for dampness combined with cold, thus Atractylodes and cinnamon are used to warm and dispel cold, inducing sweating. Ma Xing Yi Gan Tang is for dampness combined with wind-heat, thus Coix Seed is used to clear heat. From the perspective of the six meridians,one is in the sun, the other in yangming. One uses warmth, the other uses clearing.
Question: Although Coix Seed treats winds and dampness, it also primarily addresses muscle spasms and inability to bend or stretch, “winds and dampness clash, causing joint pain and inability to bend or stretch“, “winds and dampness clash, causing body pain and inability to turn or shift“; if these two symptoms do not use Coix Seed, why is that?
Answer: Coix Seed is for treating chronic wind-damp bi syndrome, not for treating acute wind-damp bi syndrome, however, the symptoms of Ma Xing Yi Gan Tang are not acute, are they? Understanding “sweating in the wind, prolonged exposure to cold” as the cause, one knows it resembles an acute illness, but it is not an acute illness.
“Fever, severe in the afternoon” indicates the entanglement of wind and dampness, likely to transform into heat, thus Coix Seed is combined with Ma Huang, Xing Ren, and Gan Cao to meet the condition and seize it;
“Winds and dampness clash” indicates that it has been labeled with “cold damage, for eight or nine days“, indicating that it is not a chronic illness, thus the treatment should include Fu Zi and Sheng Jiang, or Fu Zi and Gui Zhi, both using Atractylodes, and not Coix Seed.
Atractylodes and Coix Seed are not oppositional; using one and not the other is due to Atractylodes being urgent and Coix Seed being slow. Combining them, one fears that if it is urgent, it may be hindered by slowness, and if it is slow, it may be harmed by urgency.
Chest Bi Syndrome with Slackness and Urgency is treated with Coix Seed and Fu Zi San.
Coix Seed15 liang Da Fu Zi 10 pieces powdered. Grind into powder, take a coin-sized amount three times a day.
Discussion on Chest Bi Syndrome with Slackness and Urgency
Scholars note the terms “slackness and urgency”; some interpret it as pain that comes and goes, while others interpret it as the pulling and relaxing of muscles. Unfortunately, pain is merely one symptom of chest bi syndrome; chest bi syndrome can present with or without pain. Thus, pain that comes and goes is not the only condition for chest bi syndrome with slackness and urgency. To consider slackness and urgency as the pulling and relaxing of muscles is also insufficient, as the distribution of muscles connects the head, neck, hands, and feet, and may pull and relax, not necessarily solely due to chest bi syndrome.
Chest bi syndrome with muscle disease is also not merely pulling or relaxing, nor is it solely pulling or relaxing; it may not necessarily alternate between pulling and relaxing, thus when noting slackness and urgency, it is essential to clarify the reasons for slackness and urgency, accurately identifying the basis for the symptoms, then the condition can be understood.
Although “chest bi syndrome with slackness and urgency” is not directly stated in “Su Wen” or “Ling Shu”, there are discussions on other symptoms of slackness and urgency. “Ling Shu – On Cold and Heat Diseases” states: “The foot taiyang has a channel that enters the brain, which belongs to the eye’s root, called the eye system. If the head and eyes suffer pain, it is treated between the two muscles at the neck, entering the brain, and the yin and yang channels intersect, with yang entering yin and yin exiting yang, intersecting at the eye’s sharp corner. When yang qi is abundant, the eyes bulge; when yin qi is abundant, the eyes close.”
“Nan Jing – The Twenty-Ninth Difficulty”: “Yin Jiao is a disease, yang is slack while yin is urgent; yang Jiao is a disease, yin is slack while yang is urgent. This shows that the slackness and urgency of the two Jiao are related to the eyes.”
“Ling Shu – The Channels and Vessels”: If the foot yangming cheek muscle is cold, it will pull the cheek and move the mouth; if it is hot, the muscle will relax and loosen, unable to withstand the pressure, treated with Ma Gao. Apply the urgent areas with white wine and cinnamon; apply the slack areas with mulberry hooks.”
This shows that the slackness and urgency of the yangming are related to the mouth.
It is said chest bi syndrome, but does not mention pain, thus it is known to be painless. It is said slackness and urgency, indicating that the condition is like the Jiao at the eyes, the yangming at the mouth, with both urgent and slack areas. How do we know this?
Chao Yuan Fang states: Cold qi invades the five organs and six bowels, due to deficiency it rises, rushing into the chest, thus causing chest bi syndrome. In severe cases, the muscles suffer from bi syndrome, cramping painfully, unable to bend or stretch.Sun Zhenren also states this.
Discussion on Cold and Heat Confrontation
In the case of the yangming’s mouth and cheek, it is not necessarily that one is cold and the other is hot; both can occur simultaneously. It must be that cold is on the left, while heat is on the right; cold on the right, heat on the left, thus one is slack while the other is urgent, both can occur simultaneously.
Thus, the cold qi of the five organs and six bowels, due to deficiency, rushes into the chest cavity, how can it not rush here and push heat there?
If cold rushes to the left and pushes heat to the right, then the left is urgent while the right is slack; if cold rushes to the right and pushes heat to the left, then the left is slack while the right is urgent.
Discussion on the Combined Use of Fu Zi and Coix Seed
Question: Fu Zi treats urgency, while Coix Seed treats both slackness and urgency; when used together, does it treat urgency more than slackness?
Answer: Understanding the intention of the two ingredients in the formula, clearing heat and dispelling cold are treated together. Cold is the upward rushing cold, while heat is the forced rising heat. Coix Seed cannot dispel the upward rushing cold, while Fu Zi can assist in the forced heat, thus Coix Seed is needed to slightly clear the heat, allowing Fu Zi to focus on dispelling cold; without Fu Zi to disperse the cold, Coix Seed would struggle to clear the heat.
Coix Seed — descends qi, Fu Zi — expels bi syndrome,
1 Cold is the self-rushing upward, thus descending substances (Coix Seed) can be used more, exceeding the expulsion of bi syndrome (Fu Zi); this Coix Seed is used to calm the rush, not to clear heat.
2 Heat is forced and accumulated in one area, thus expelling bi syndrome substances (Fu Zi) can be used more, stronger than descending qi (Coix Seed).
The above reasoning is based on the quantity of the ingredients in the formula, understanding the root cause of the illness; the vague interpretations of past scholars can be clarified here.
Coix Seed, Fu Zi, and Bai Jiang San
Question: Does the treatment of Coix Seed, Fu Zi, and Bai Jiang San for intestinal abscesses also have slackness and urgency?
Answer: “Jin Kui Yao Lue – On Sores and Abscesses” states:For intestinal abscesses, the body feels twisted. The abdominal skin is tense, pressing it feels moist, like a swelling; the abdomen has no accumulation, the body has no heat, the pulse is rapid, indicating there is pus in the abdomen, Coix Seed, Fu Zi, and Bai Jiang powder is the treatment.
Coix Seed10 fenFu Zi2 fenBai Jiang Cao5 fen
Grind into powder, take two sheng of water, boil down to half, and take it all at once.
1“Body feels twisted” indicates slight urgency; “abdominal skin is tense” indicates severe urgency; “pressing feels moist” indicates slackness; “like a swelling” indicates slackness.
2 Dampness and blood stagnation reside internally, likely to ferment into heat and form abscesses, thus it must first counteract cold externally, hence the illness; internally slack (damp-heat) while externally urgent (counteracting cold).
3 “Abdomen has no accumulation” indicates internal heat is not severe, “body has no heat” indicates external cold is rampant; at this time, it is precisely counteracting internal heat, indicating the onset of internal heat, thus the “pulse is rapid“. Otherwise, how could there be an intestinal abscess, yet still use Fu Zi’s principles?!
4 Dampness and blood mix, residing in the intestines, having roots internally but no roots externally; those without roots are easy to remove (external cold is easy to dispel), while those with roots are difficult to extract (internal abscesses are hard to eliminate), thus Fu Zi’s chasing cold and breaking stagnation is only2/17, while clearing heat and dispelling dampness from Coix Seed is10 fen, plus Bai Jiang Cao5 fen, this is to resolve the heat toxin amidst the turbid stagnation, simultaneously nurturing the vital energy, allowing the vital energy to flourish, and eliminating the turbid stagnation. This is the method of supporting the righteous and expelling the evil, not merely relying on the medicinal power to expel the evil.
Intestinal Abscesses and Swelling Abscesses
1Intestinal abscesses present as a twisted body. The abdominal skin is tense, pressing it feels moist, like a swelling; the abdomen has no accumulation, the body has no heat, the pulse is rapid, indicating there is pus in the abdomen, Coix Seed, Fu Zi, and Bai Jiang powder is the treatment.
2Intestinal abscesses are characterized by lower abdominal swelling and distension, pressing it causes pain, like dysuria, urination is self-regulated, often accompanied by fever, spontaneous sweating, and recurring chills. If the pulse is slow and tight, pus has not formed, it can be purged. If there is blood.If the pulse is rapid, pus has formed, it cannot be purged. Da Huang Mu Dan Tang is the treatment.
Da Huang Mu Dan Tao Ren Gua Zi Mang Xiao
Question: Coix Seed, Fu Zi, and Bai Jiang San for intestinal abscesses, pulse rapid uses Fu Zi; Da Huang Mu Dan Tang, swelling abscesses, pulse slow and tight, uses Da Huang and Mang Xiao, why is that?
Answer: Observing these two cases, intestinal abscesses are located in the small intestine, which is where food and water mix, belonging to the sun’s cold water organ; swelling abscesses are located in the large intestine, which contains waste but no water, thus it is the yangming dry metal organ.
The sun has more blood and less qi; the yangming has more qi and more blood. Qi belongs to yang, blood belongs to yin; yangming has abundant qi and blood, easily transforming into dryness and heat, while the sun has less qi and more blood, thus more yin and less yang, easily transforming into cold!
Question: How can it be confirmed as sun and yangming?
Answer: 1 Body has no heat but pulse is rapid, indicating sun; 2 Fever, spontaneous sweating, urination is self-regulated, indicating yangming.
3 After taking the medicine, urination should occur, indicating the small intestine; 4 After taking it, if pus is expelled, it indicates the large intestine.
Since the dry metal organ is the easiest to transform into heat (large intestine damp-heat), thus Da Huang and Mang Xiao are used,
the sun’s cold water organ is the most difficult to transform into dryness. Thus Coix Seed is the monarch, and Fu Zi is the assistant, entering the sun’s cold water organ, which has more blood and less qi, dispelling damp-heat and expelling cold.
This intestinal abscess disease is due to the transformation of heat in the sun’s cold water organ, with blood heat. The sun’s cold water organ’s cold transformation leads to less qi and more cold.
Coix Seed is not a substance that enters the small intestine; if the small intestine has damp-heat, it can be used, thus it can be seen that certain medicines enter certain meridians, organs, and bowels.
Conclusion: By comparing intestinal abscesses and swelling abscesses, the discussion of the qi transformation of the sun’s organ and the yangming organ is introduced. Mr. Zou Run’an’s analysis is precise, and the argument is detailed, making it unparalleled in history. Studying qi transformation in cold damage can start from here, allowing one to glimpse the door to the inner sanctum..