Herb library
A Daodi formula is composed of herbs chosen for their medicinal qualities, not pulled from a standard blend. Explore each one and the role it plays in Chinese herbal medicine.
Mugwort Leaf
Ai Ye · 艾叶
Mugwort Leaf is used both internally and externally. The dried leaves are used in moxibustion, a technique in which the herb is burned and held near or placed on the skin at acupuncture points to warm the body from the surface inward. The dried leaf is also decocted for cold-pattern menstrual bleeding and pain and other cold patterns in the body. Both uses draw on the same warming quality.
Lily Bulb
Bai He · 百合
Lily Bulb is eaten as a food, most often cooked into porridge, and used medicinally for dry cough, sore throat, and disturbed sleep. Bai He's actions slowly build rather than producing an immediate effect. Lily Disease (Bai He Bing) is a classical disease category named after Bai He, first recorded in the Jin Gui Yao Lue, a Han-dynasty medical text. Lily Disease describes a pattern of restlessness and indecision, wanting to eat, rest, or move but being unable to settle into any of them, along with mild, alternating sensations of heat and cold without an actual fever. Bai He is the primary herb across the classical formulas written for this pattern.
White Peony Root
Bai Shao · 白芍
White Peony Root is an important herb in Chinese herbal medicine for women's health and gynecology, particularly for calming the Liver and supporting a regular menstrual cycle. Sour flavor has a distinct physical quality of gathering in, think of biting into a lemon and how that causes the mouth to pucker, as tissue draws in. This same dynamic of holding and gathering is what defines an astringent flavor in Chinese herbal medicine. When tissue is gathered this way, fluids stay in place, which is what allows Yin to build. Practitioners rely on this astringing, Yin-building action when pain, spasms, or an unsettled Liver disrupts a woman's menstrual cycle.
White Atractylodes
Bai Zhu · 白术
Bai Zhu is the dried rhizome of Atractylodes macrocephala, a plant in the Asteraceae family. In Chinese herbal medicine it is classified among the herbs that tonify qi, and it is closely related to Cang Zhu, the rhizome of a different Atractylodes species. Practitioners prepare the raw rhizome several ways, like dry frying (炒), and each preparation modifies the herb's characteristics, which in turn affects its medicinal actions.
Peppermint
Bo He · 薄荷
Bo He is the Chinese name for peppermint, a small perennial herb in the mint family. It appears widely in cooking and tea outside of clinical use. In Chinese medicine, its aromatic quality and cool nature give it two distinct clinical roles of venting Wind-Heat from the surface, and regulating Liver qi constraint. Both actions draw on the same aromatic, cool moving quality.
Pinellia Rhizome
Ban Xia · 半夏
Ban Xia is the prepared rhizome of Pinellia ternata, a plant in the arum family. Practitioners commonly prescribe Ban Xia processed with either ginger or licorice. It appears in some of the oldest recorded texts in Chinese medicine, the Shang Han Lun and the Jin Gui Yao Lue. Ban Xia continues to appear frequently in formulas for phlegm and digestive imbalance.
Bupleurum Root
Chai Hu · 柴胡
Chai Hu is the dried root of Bupleurum, most often Bupleurum chinense or Bupleurum scorzonerifolium. The two species are sold separately as Northern and Southern Bupleurum. Practitioners prepare the root several ways depending on its intended use: dry-fried, vinegar-treated, or roasted in wine. Chai Hu is the primary herb in Xiao Chai Hu Tang, a formula recorded in the Shang Han Lun, and appears across formulas addressing Shao yang disorders and Liver qi stagnation, amongst other uses.
Tangerine Peel
Chen Pi · 陈皮
Chen Pi is dried, aged tangerine peel, also known as Citrus reticulata. It belongs to the category of herbs that regulate qi. Aged peel is often preferred over fresh, since its qi-regulating action strengthens the longer it's stored. Dry-frying and charring are two additional preparations, each producing a peel suited to a different clinical use.
Red Peony Root
Chi Shao · 赤芍
Chi Shao is the wild-gathered root of the peony plant. Once dried, it can be processed further: dry-fried to soften its cooling quality, wine-fried to strengthen its effect on the Blood, or vinegar-fried to direct it more forcefully into the Liver channel.
Szechwan Lovage Rhizome
Chuan Xiong · 川芎
Chuan Xiong is the dried rhizome of Ligusticum chuanxiong, a plant cultivated mainly in Sichuan province, the source of its name. It belongs to the Blood-invigorating category of Chinese herbs and is one of the four herbs in Si Wu Tang, a classical formula built around Blood-related patterns. Chuan Xiong is used in its raw form, dry-fried to soften its dispersing action, or wine-processed to strengthen its ability to move Blood and stop pain.
Jujube
Da Zao · 大枣
Da Zao is the dried fruit of the jujube tree, commonly known as Chinese date or black date. It is eaten as food across China, added whole to soups, congee, and tea. In herbal medicine it is classified among the herbs that tonify Qi, alongside herbs like Dang Shen and Bai Zhu.
Red Sage Root
Dan Shen · 丹参
Dan Shen is the dried root of a Salvia species, commonly known as Red Sage Root or Salvia Root. It invigorates the Blood, addressing physical pain and emotional constraint caused by Blood stasis. Dan Shen is also used for traumatic injury, on its own or alongside other herbs to improve the movement of Blood.
Dong Quai
Dang Gui · 当归
Dang Gui is the root of Angelica sinensis, a plant in the Apiaceae family. It's famously used in gynecology formulas as well as East Asian cooking, where it's often used in soups and stews. The root is traditionally divided into head, body, and tail sections, each carrying a different balance of nourishing and moving qualities, and further processing methods such as dry-frying, wine-frying, or charring shift its effect toward specific clinical uses.
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