What Is the Difference Between Hanliancao and Mohanlian? A Guide to Telling Them Apart Correctly

Hanliancao is a common Chinese medicinal herb in our country, with the effects of nourishing the liver and kidneys, darkening the hair and strengthening the teeth, and cooling the blood to stop bleeding. So what is the difference between Hanliancao and Mohanlian?

1. What is the difference between Hanliancao and Mohanlian?

There is no difference between Hanliancao and Mohanlian; the two are the same plant. Hanliancao is the whole plant of Eclipta prostrata (false daisy), a plant in the Asteraceae family. The whole plant is cut in summer and autumn each year, the mud and sand are removed, and it is sun-dried or shade-dried before use as medicine. It has astringent, bleeding-stopping, and liver-and-kidney-nourishing effects.

2. What are the effects and actions of Hanliancao?

Effects and actions of Hanliancao:

1. Hanliancao for treating bloody dysentery: Hanliancao combined with Tiekiancai (Acalypha australis) can treat bloody dysentery, using 15g each of Hanliancao and Tiekiancai. Decoct and take.

2. Hanliancao for treating diphtheria: mashed Liancao can treat diphtheria, using 60-90g of Hanliancao. Mash it, add a little salt, pour in boiling water, remove the residue, and take the liquid. After taking it, spit out the phlegm.

3. Hanliancao can clear the upper and tonify the lower, and can also turn white hair black, regulate the waist and knees, strengthen the bones and muscles, and reinforce insufficient yin. It is especially effective for people whose condition is caused by wine, lust, phlegm, and fire: On the winter solstice, take an unlimited amount of Dongqing (Chinese holly), dry it in the shade, mix it thoroughly with honey wine, seal it for a full day and night, wipe off the skin with a coarse cloth bag, sun-dry it, grind it into powder, and store it in a new earthenware jar; wait until the summer solstice, take several dozen jin of Hanliancao, mash it to get the natural juice, boil it into a paste, and mix it with the previous medicinal powder to make pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take 100 pills each time, swallowed with wine at bedtime.

4. Hanliancao for treating vaginal itching in women: Women with vaginal itching can also take Liancao for treatment, using 120g of Modoucao. Decoct in water and take; or additionally add a little Goutenggen (uncaria root), decoct the juice together, add a little white alum, and use it for external washing.

5. Hanliancao for treating all kinds of deficiency damage; taken over a long period, it makes white hair black again and restores youth to the aged: People with premature graying can also make their hair black by taking Liancao. Take the juice of Zhuyacao (that is, early lotus seedpod) and the juice of mulberry fruit, and sun-dry each on a porcelain plate to make a paste; soak Dongqingzi (Chinese holly fruit) in wine, steam and sun-dry it nine times, and grind it into powder. Take equal parts of the above, refine with honey into pills the size of firmiana seeds, and take six or seven pills each time, swallowed with lightly salted water on an empty stomach.