What medicinal herb exactly is Chaihu (Bupleurum)?

Chaihu is also known as Dixun, Shancai, Chaicao, etc. It is a medicinal herb listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and the medicinal part is the dried root of the Umbelliferae plant Bupleurum chinense or Bupleurum scorzonerifolium. It is distributed in Northeast China, North China, Northwest China, East China, Hubei, Sichuan and other places, growing in sandy grasslands, sand dune meadows and under sparse forests on sunny slopes. Now let us take a look at what medicinal herb Chaihu is!

What medicinal herb is Chaihu?

Chaihu is a commonly used exterior-releasing medicinal. Chinese medicinal Chaihu is the dried root of the plant Bupleurum chinense or Bupleurum scorzonerifolium. According to different characteristics, they are respectively commonly called Beichaihu (Northern Chaihu) and Nanchaihu (Southern Chaihu). As a medicine, it has the effects of harmonizing the exterior and interior and soothing the liver and raising yang. It is used for symptoms such as common cold with fever, alternating chills and fever, malaria, liver qi stagnation, distending pain in the chest and hypochondrium, rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse, and irregular menstruation. However, its nature is ascending and dispersing, so it is contraindicated or should be used with caution by those with internal stirring of liver wind, hyperactivity of liver yang, or upward reversal of qi movement.

What effects does Chaihu have?

1. Harmonizing Shaoyang: Chaihu enters the Shaoyang meridian. When Shaoyang is affected by pathogens, if the pathogen combines with yin then there is cold, and if the pathogen combines with yang then there is heat. Chaihu is a specific medicine for Shaoyang. Its nature and quality are light and clear, and its bitter flavor is the thinnest. It vents and releases the external pathogen of the half-exterior half-interior, causing it to be resolved from the exterior, hence it has the effect of harmonizing Shaoyang.

2. Soothing the liver and harmonizing the stomach: Chaihu is bitter, pungent and cool, and enters the liver, gallbladder and sanjiao meridians. It has the effect of soothing the liver and harmonizing the stomach, and is often used for binding qi in the heart and abdomen, accumulation of food and drink, expelling the old and bringing in the new, and hypochondriac pain and abdominal distension.

3. Raising yang and lifting prolapse: Chaihu has the effect of raising yang and lifting prolapse. For treating sinking of middle qi, chronic diarrhea with rectal prolapse, uterine prolapse and other patterns, it is often used together with qi-tonifying and yang-raising substances such as Huangqi (Astragalus) and Renshen (Ginseng), as in Buzhong Yiqi Tang.

4. Soothing the liver and relieving depression: Chaihu can free the liver qi and soothe the liver to relieve depression. It can be used to treat depression patterns, irregular menstruation, heat entering the blood chamber and other patterns. If there is hypochondriac pain due to liver qi stagnation, it can be used together with Xiangfu (Cyperus rotundus) and Zhike (Citrus aurantium); for hypochondriac pain and irregular menstruation caused by liver depression and blood deficiency, it is often used together with Danggui (Angelica sinensis) and Baishao (Paeonia lactiflora).

5. Clearing and draining ministerial fire: Chaihu is bitter and cool, so it can clear heat and drain fire. Entering the liver, gallbladder and sanjiao meridians, it can clear and drain ministerial fire, and is often used for headache, dizziness, blurred vision with cataracts, tinnitus and deafness and other patterns.

6. Dispelling wind and removing impediment: Chaihu is a wind medicine. Wind is the chief of a hundred diseases; when wind leaves, dampness leaves, hence it has the effect of dispelling wind and removing impediment. If symptoms present as heaviness of the limbs, stubborn numbness of the skin, or joint pain with fixed painful location that flares on cloudy and rainy days, Chaihu can be selected to dispel wind and overcome dampness and thus remove impediment.

7. Dispersing and abating fever: Chaihu is especially good at dispersing and resolving the pathogen of the half-exterior half-interior, and is a key medicine for treating Shaoyang patterns. For treating cold damage with the pathogen in Shaoyang, alternating chills and fever, fullness and distress in the chest and hypochondrium, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat and dizziness and other symptoms, it is often combined with Huangqin (Scutellaria baicalensis) and Banxia (Pinellia ternata). For treating common cold with fever, it can be used together with Gancao (licorice).

Methods of consuming Chaihu

1. Chaihu Houpo Tang

[Materials]Chaihu and Houpo (roasted), 3 grams each; Fuling, Jupi and Zisu, 2.4 grams each; Shengjiang, 3.6 grams; Binglang, 1.5 grams (powder)

[Usage]Cut the above seven ingredients, add 700 milliliters of water, boil down to 300 milliliters, strain out the dregs, and take warm in three divided doses, once about one hour apart; after taking, there may be slight laxation.

[Effects]Regulates qi and transforms dampness; treats qi stagnation and dampness obstruction, and distension and fullness in the heart and abdomen.

2. Chaihu Biejia Tang

[Materials]Chaihu (remove sprouts) and Biejia (remove the skirt edge, roast with vinegar until hot), 30 grams each; Digupi, 45 grams; Zhimu (roasted), 30 grams

[Usage]Roughly crush and sift the above four ingredients. Take 9 grams per dose, add 150 milliliters of water, half a Wumei (dark plum), and a small amount of Qinghao, decoct together down to 90 milliliters, remove the dregs, and take warm at bedtime.

[Effects]Treats consumptive disease with profuse night sweating, sallow complexion, weakness of the limbs, no desire to eat, and unceasing cough.

3. Chaihu Buzhong Tang

[Materials]Chaihu and Qingpi, 10 grams each; Huangqi, 24 grams; Dangshen, 15 grams; Baizhu, Baishao, Fuling and Chao Gegen, 12 grams each; Huai Shanyao, 30 grams; Zhigancao, 6 grams.

[Usage]Add an appropriate amount of water to the above medicines and decoct, decoct twice in succession, take 300 milliliters of medicinal juice, one dose per day, taken warm in the morning and evening.

[Effects]Soothes the liver and moves qi, tonifies the middle and boosts qi; suitable for gastroptosis.