What are the benefits and effects of Angelica sinensis (dong quai)? With commonly used formulas

Dong quai, also known as Qin gui, Yun gui, Xi gui, Quan dong gui, You dong gui, Bai dong gui, Gan gui, and Min gui. Its nature is sweet, pungent, bitter, and warm; it enters the Liver, Heart, Spleen, and Lung meridians, and has effects such as nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, invigorating blood and relieving pain, expelling toxins and promoting tissue regeneration, and relieving cough and calming wheezing. Clinically, dong quai is used to treat many diseases, such as: blood deficiency with sallow complexion, pale lips and nails, dizziness and blurred vision, irregular menstruation, scanty or absent menstruation, dysmenorrhea, excessive menstruation, metrorrhagia and blood in the stools as well as gastrointestinal bleeding, traumatic injuries, blood stasis with swelling and pain, headache, postoperative blood stasis pain, arthralgia with numbness, stroke with hemiplegia, sores, abscesses and skin itching, cough and wheezing, palpitations, insomnia and forgetfulness, irregular pulse, jaundice, and so on. Therefore, Chinese herbal formulas have long had the saying "nine out of ten formulas use dong quai." Commonly used formulas:

(1) To regulate and benefit the nutritive and defensive qi, and nourish qi and blood. To treat deficiency and damage of the Chong and Ren meridians, irregular menstruation, pain in the navel and abdomen, metrorrhagia and spotting, hard blood masses, intermittent pain, chronic cold during pregnancy, improper care, restless fetus, incessant bleeding, and postpartum weakness with invasion of wind-cold, retention of lochia, formation of abdominal masses, hardness and pain in the lower abdomen, and alternating chills and fever: dong quai (remove the reed, soak in wine, stir-fry), Ligusticum chuanxiong (chuanxiong), white peony root, and prepared rehmannia (sprinkled with wine and steamed) in equal parts. Grind together into a coarse powder. Take 3 qian per dose, with 1.5 cups of water, decoct to 8 parts, remove the dregs and take warm on an empty stomach before meals. (Siwu Tang from the Jufang)

(2) To treat menstrual obstruction in unmarried women: dong quai (cut, roasted) 1 liang, dried lacquer (stir-fried until smoke appears) and Ligusticum chuanxiong (chuanxiong) 0.5 liang each. Grind the above three ingredients and sift into powder, knead with refined honey into pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take 20 pills per dose with warm wine. (Dong Gui Wan from the Shengji Zonglu)

(3) To treat retrograde menstruation discharging from the mouth and nose: first take ink made from Beijing ink sticks dissolved in water to stop it, then use dong quai tail and safflower 3 qian each, with 1.5 cups of water, decoct to 8 parts, and take warm. (Jianbian Danfang)

(4) To treat metrorrhagia: dong quai 1 liang, dragon bone 2 liang (stir-fried until red), cyperus rhizome 3 qian (stir-fried), and palm fiber ash 5 qian. Grind the above into powder, mix 3 to 4 qian with rice water, and take on an empty stomach. (Dong Gui San from the Rumen Shiqin)

(5) To treat blood masses with pain and distension, and a sluggish, choppy pulse: dong quai 3 liang, cassia bark heart 1.5 liang, white peony root 1.5 liang (stir-fried with wine), cattail pollen 2 liang (stir-fried), dragon's blood 3 liang, and Corydalis yanhusuo 1.5 liang. Make into a powder, decoct 3 qian with wine, remove the dregs, and take warm. (Dong Gui Pu Yan San from the Yilue Liushu)

(6) To treat five-colored leukorrhea in women, abdominal pain, emaciation, and poor appetite: dong quai 1 liang (cut, lightly stir-fried), turtle shell 1 liang (coated with vinegar and roasted until slightly yellow, with the rim removed), rhubarb 1 liang (cut into pieces, lightly stir-fried), Atractylodes macrocephala 3 fen, pepper 0.5 liang, chebula peel 3 fen, areca nut 3 fen, bitter orange 3 fen (stir-fried with bran until slightly yellow, with the pulp removed), and long pepper 0.5 liang. Grind the above medicines and sift into powder, knead with refined honey and pound 200 to 300 times, make into pills the size of firmiana seeds, and take 30 pills with warm wine before meals. (Dong Gui Wan from the Shenghui Fang)

(7) To treat abdominal pain in pregnant women: dong quai 3 liang, peony root 1 jin, Poria cocos 4 liang, Atractylodes macrocephala 4 liang, Alisma orientale 0.5 jin, and Ligusticum chuanxiong (chuanxiong) 0.5 jin ("0.5 jin" also written as "3 liang"). Pound the above into a powder, take one square-inch spoonful, mix with wine, and take three times a day. (Dong Gui Shaoyao San from the Jingui Yaolue)

(8) To treat difficult urination during pregnancy with normal eating and drinking: dong quai, Fritillaria cirrhosa, and Sophora flavescens 4 liang each. Grind the three ingredients into powder, knead with refined honey into pills the size of small beans, take 3 pills with liquid, increasing to 10 pills. (Dong Gui Kushen Wan from the Jingui Yaolue)

(9) To treat restless fetus during pregnancy with waist and abdominal pain: dong quai 0.5 liang (cut), scallion white 1 fen (finely cut). For the above two ingredients, first decoct 3 cups of water down to 2 cups, add 1 cup of good wine, decoct for several more boils, remove the dregs, and divide into three doses. (Antai Yin from the Shengji Zonglu)

(10) To treat postpartum stagnant blood that does not disperse and forms masses (commonly called "child's pillow"), with intermittent unbearable pain: dong quai 1 liang (cut, lightly stir-fried), Euonymus alatus 1 liang, and safflower 1 liang. Grind and sift the above medicines into a powder, take 3 qian per dose, decoct with 1 medium cup of wine down to 6 parts, remove the dregs, and take warm without regard to time. (Dong Gui San from the Shenghui Fang)

(11) To treat [postpartum] tremor, or postpartum loss of consciousness with foamy saliva: dong quai and Schizonepeta tenuifolia spikes in equal parts. Grind the above into a fine powder, take 3 qian per dose, with 1 cup of water and a little wine, decoct to 7 parts, and pour down the throat; there will be signs of life. (Jiaojia San from the Furen Liangfang)

(12) To treat postpartum abdominal pain, as well as abdominal cold hernia and consumptive deficiency: dong quai 3 liang, ginger 5 liang, and mutton 1 jin. For the above three ingredients, use 8 sheng of water, cook down to 3 sheng, take 7 ge warm, three times a day. (Dong Gui Shengjiang Yangrou Tang from the Jingui Yaolue)

(13) To treat constipation: dong quai and Angelica dahurica in equal parts, grind into powder, take 2 qian per dose with rice soup. (Shengji Zonglu)

(14) To treat muscle heat and dry heat, extreme thirst with desire to drink, red eyes and flushed face, unremitting day and night, with a surging but vacuous pulse that disappears on deep pressure: Astragalus membranaceus 1 liang, dong quai (washed with wine) 2 qian. Take the above medicines as one dose, with 2 cups of water, decoct to 1 cup, remove the dregs, and take warm on an empty stomach before meals. (Dong Gui Buxue Tang from the Neiwai Shangbian)

(15) To treat white tiger wind with unceasing pain: dong quai 1 liang, cassia bark heart 1 liang, rehmannia 1 liang (lightly stir-fried), white stiff silkworm 1 liang (lightly stir-fried), Clematis chinensis 1 liang, Rhaponticum uniflorum 1 liang, Ligusticum chuanxiong (chuanxiong) 1 liang, and Angelica dahurica 1 liang. Grind the above medicines and sift into a fine powder; take 2 qian per dose mixed with hot wine without regard to time. (Dong Gui San from the Shenghui Fang)

(16) To treat blood dysentery with tenesmus and intestinal pain: dong quai 3 fen (cut, lightly stir-fried), Coptis chinensis 1 liang (remove the fibrous roots, lightly stir-fried), and dragon bone 2 liang. Grind the above three ingredients and sift into a fine powder, take 2 qian-spoonfuls per dose mixed with congee liquid, without regard to time, twice a day. (Dong Gui San from the Shengji Zonglu)

(17) To treat night sweats: dong quai, raw rehmannia, prepared rehmannia, phellodendron, Scutellaria baicalensis, and Coptis chinensis in equal parts, with Astragalus membranaceus doubled. Grind the above into a coarse powder, take 5 qian per dose, with 2 cups of water, decoct to 1 cup, and take before meals; for children, take half the dose. (Dong Gui Liu Huang Tang from the Lanshi Micang)

(18) To treat various sores and swellings, whether broken or unbroken, with severe swelling: dong quai, Astragalus membranaceus, Trichosanthes kirilowii, Aucklandia lappa, and Coptis chinensis in equal parts, grind into a coarse powder, and decoct 1 liang. (Dong Gui San from the Suwen Bingji Baoming Ji)

(19) To treat deep-rooted bone abscess and all malignant sores: dong quai 0.5 liang, licorice 1 liang, gardenia 12 pieces, and Momordica cochinchinensis seed 1 piece (peeled). Grind the above into a fine powder, take 3 qian per dose mixed with cold wine. (Dong Gui San from the Qixiao Liangfang)

(20) To treat scald and burn sores with severe pain: white wax 1 liang, sesame oil 4 liang, and dong quai 1.5 liang (cut raw). First fry the dong quai in the oil until scorched black, filter out the dregs, then add the wax, wait until it dissolves, stir quickly in succession, let cool, and store in a porcelain box; apply and stick on with old silk cloth. (Shenxiao Bai Gao from the Shenghui Fang)