Library

Chuanxiong (Rhizoma Chuanxiong): Flavor is pungent, slightly bitter, and slightly sweet; aroma is fragrant and penetrating; nature is warm. The combination of warmth and penetrating action allows its force to reach everywhere—ascending, descending, extending outward, and penetrating inward. Therefore, most materia medica texts state that it can dissipate true qi. However, regardless of the herb, there are benefits and drawbacks, depending on how it is used. Its special strength lies in guiding the clear and light qi of the body upward to the brain, treating headaches caused by wind attacking the brain, headaches caused by floating heat rushing upward to the brain, and headaches due to cerebral congestion. Its warm and penetrating power also unblocks and activates blood and qi, treating general stiffness and spasms, amenorrhea, and infertility in women. Although it is a penetrating substance, because its flavor is slightly sweet and it contains fluids, if used appropriately as an assistant or guide drug, it can also generate blood.
In Siwu Tang (Four Substances Decoction), Chuanxiong is used to move the stagnation of Shudi Huang (Prepared Rehmannia Root) and to treat chills and fever occurring when clear yang sinks. If a person has yin deficiency with rising fire and sweating on the head, Chuanxiong should not be used.
[Attached Case] The wife of my friend Guo XX suffered from postpartum headache. She was given a prescription of Danggui (Angelica Sinensis Root) and Chuanxiong, each one liang, decocted and taken orally, and she recovered immediately. This was likely due to blood deficiency after childbirth combined with wind invasion. In my life, I have used Chuanxiong to treat headaches only in doses of two or three qian.
A man in his thirties suffered from headaches for years. Medication provided temporary relief but the condition recurred. His pulse was wiry and forceful, especially at the left guan position. Knowing this indicated liver blood deficiency and blazing liver fire, I prescribed Shudi Huang (Prepared Rehmannia Root) and Baishi (Biota Seed), each one liang, along with Sheng Longgu (Raw Dragon Bone), Sheng Muli (Raw Oyster Shell), Longdan Cao (Gentian Root), Sheng Baishao (Raw White Peony Root), and Gouqi (Goji Berry), each four qian, plus Gancao (Licorice Root) and Chuanxiong, each two qian. After one dose, the pain stopped; after taking a few more doses, it never recurred.
I treated another person who suffered from headaches due to wind attacking the brain. Using Chuanxiong and Juhua (Chrysanthemum Flower), each three qian, decocted in water and taken orally, he recovered immediately.

Dahuang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma): Flavor is bitter; aroma is fragrant; nature is cool. It enters the blood level to break all kinds of blood stasis. Because of its fragrant aroma, it also enters the qi level; in small doses, it can regulate qi and treat pain caused by qi stagnation.
Its force is sinking rather than floating, using attack and resolution as its function, clearing out all zheng jia (masses and accumulations). It can open up hot phlegm in the epigastrium to cure madness, and descend gastrointestinal heat excess to unblock dry constipation. Its fragrant, penetrating, and orifice-opening power also promotes urination (the color of Dahuang enters the urine after ingestion, indicating its diuretic effect). Although its nature tends downward, it is good at clearing heat in the upper body; thus, for eye pain and toothache, it is an important herb. It is also good at resolving heat-toxin in sores and ulcers, making it a particularly effective drug for treating ding du (carbuncles and toxic sores) (when ding du is severe and other drugs are ineffective, heavy doses of Dahuang should be used to promote bowel movement, leading to self-healing). Its properties can descend stomach heat and guide stomach qi downward, thus effectively stopping hematemesis and epistaxis. Zhang Zhongjing used Xiexin Tang (Gut-draining Decoction) to treat hematemesis and epistaxis, combining Dahuang with Huanglian (Coptis Rhizome) and Huangqin (Scutellaria Root). The *Shennong Bencao Jing* states that it can "push out the old and bring forth the new," hence its name Huangliang. Zhang Zhongjing used Dahuang in Dahuang Zhechong Wan (Major Yellow and Ground Beetle Pill) and Bailao Wan (Hundred Fatigue Pill) to treat blood bi and consumptive disease, truly understanding the essence of "pushing out the old and bringing forth the new."
Xiexin Tang in the *Jingui Yaolue* is indeed an excellent formula for treating hematemesis and epistaxis, suitable only for those with a pulse indicating excess heat. If the pulse indicates slight heat, I often use three qian of Dahuang, decocted in water, to deliver four to five qian of fine powder of Chishizhi (Halloysitum Rubrum). If the pulse shows absolutely no heat and the heart feels no heat, I often use six or seven fen of fine powder of Dahuang and Rougui (Cinnamon Bark), delivered with boiling water, which leads to recovery.
All herbs with strong flavors and aromas should avoid long decoction, and Dahuang is especially susceptible. Its texture softens upon soaking in water, and its medicinal power is released after just one or two boils. When decocted with other herbs, it should be added later. If used alone, soaking in boiling water is sufficient. If ground into powder, one qian of powder is equivalent to four qian of decoction.
Although Dahuang's power is fierce, when there is disease, the disease bears the impact, and high doses are often permissible. Therefore, for mania with a solid pulse, doses up to two liang can be used; for severe carbuncle toxicity with intense heat, doses around one liang can be used. Generally, medication should be determined by the ability to overcome the disease; if lower doses cannot overcome the disease, one must boldly use higher doses.
[Attached Case] While I was in my hometown, I once traveled to a neighboring county to treat illnesses. There, a young woman surnamed Yang suffered from a strange illness. She lay naked in a tent, her back swollen and hot. If even a thread touched her skin, she felt unbearable heat. Hundreds of medicines failed. Later, a man traveling by boat from the south to take the northern provincial examination, who was proficient in medicine, was invited to diagnose her. He said it was yang poison and prescribed ten jin of Dahuang, decocted in ten bowls of water, to be drunk freely. After drinking it all over several days, she recovered completely. Because the case was so unusual, I recorded it here.