Library

Those who use *Muxiang* (Aucklandiae Radix) mostly seek its qi-regulating properties. However, its aroma is pungent, warm, and dense, carrying a suspicion of being heavy and turbid; it sticks to the teeth and tastes bitter, possessing little force for dispersing and venting. Therefore, it is most suitable for conditions where yang is concealed within yin, such as those described in the *Shennong Bencao Jing* (Divine Farmer's Materia Medica) as toxic epidemics or warm ghosts. Otherwise, for all qi-stagnation conditions that are purely cold without heat, combining it with *Shengjiang* (Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, Fresh Ginger), *Jupi* (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, Tangerine Peel), and *Doukou* (Amomi Fructus Rotundus, Round Cardamom) can also yield remarkable effects. In the world, some people use *Xianglian Wan* (Fragrant and Coptis Pill) to treat dysentery, only to have harm follow immediately. This is not the fault of *Muxiang*, but the fault of those who use it improperly.

*Muxiang* is not a blood-invigorating herb, yet sometimes blood disorders benefit from it, as seen in *Guipi Tang* (Restore the Spleen Decoction). The syndrome treated by *Guipi Tang* involves spleen-qi deficiency and cold, failing to control the blood. The formula uses herbs targeting the heart, liver, and spleen, which are numerous, but only three herbs lead the entire prescription. *Yuanzhi* (Polygalae Radix) awakens heart-yang, and *Zaoren* (Ziziphi Spinosae Semen, Jujube Seed) gathers liver-yin, serving adequately as guides for the blood. However, if upon reaching the spleen, the spleen’s closure and rejection remain unchanged, the herbs will merely linger at the door. *Muxiang* can move yang within the spleen; once yang moves, it becomes harmonious and mild, allowing the blood to return to its vessels. Thus, *Muxiang* is the key that unlocks the spleen. It warms the qi to nourish the blood in this manner.

According to the *Kaibao Bencao* (Kaibao Materia Medica), the indications for *Buguzhi* (Psoraleae Fructus, Psoralea Fruit) begin with "five exhaustions and seven injuries," followed by "wind-deficiency-cold." This implies that wind-deficiency-cold results from the five exhaustions and seven injuries. Subsequently, it mentions "marrow injury and degeneration, kidney cold, and seminal leakage," which are caused by wind-deficiency-cold. Wind in the kidney zone can arise from heat, as seen in *Tianma Wan* (Gastrodia Pill) using *Bixie* (Dioscoreae Hypoglaucae Rhizoma, Yam Root), *Yuanshen* (Scrophulariae Radix, Figwort Root), and *Shengdihuang* (Rehmanniae Radix, Rehmannia Root). Here, however, wind arises from deficiency-cold, so it is appropriate to rescue it with the pungent and greatly warm *Buguzhi*. The manifestation of wind arising from deficiency-cold is what Yu Xichang described as "two kidneys empty, like a dark wind cave, bleak and dim, endless and unceasing."

The *Tang Bencao* (Tang Materia Medica) states that *Yujin* (Curcumae Longae Radix, Turmeric Root) is pungent, bitter, and cold, which is very accurate. Regarding *Jianghuang* (Curcumae Longae Rhizoma, Turmeric Rhizome), it states it is pungent, bitter, and greatly cold, but in reality, it is warm, not cold. Because it was mistakenly considered greatly cold, it was said to dispel wind-heat. Zou failed to examine this carefully and perpetuated the error. He also believed that *Jianghuang* treats heart-abdominal accumulations, addressing the upper part, while *Yujin* treats hematuria and bloody urine, addressing the lower part. Intending to be precise and pertinent, he did not realize this was actually incorrect.

*Jianghuang* is pungent, bitter, and warm, with a yellow color, thus entering the spleen to treat abdominal distension. *Pianzi Jianghuang* (Sliced Turmeric Rhizome) additionally treats arm pain; it is an herb that regulates qi within the blood of the spleen. *Yujin* is bitter and cold, yellow on the outside and red inside, with a light and ascending nature, thus entering the heart to remove evil blood and resolve heat in the pericardium meridian. Its efficacy in treating bloody discharge in strangury, hematuria, and retrograde menstruation in women stems from these actions; it is an herb that invigorates blood in the heart. These observations have been verified repeatedly without fail, and one need not rigidly adhere to the *Tang Bencao*.