https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/A4PeQB2Vq1CW8xtc-5KQOA
Everyone is welcome to share their experience with the medicine in the replies to help other students search and learn.
373. Codonopsis (Dangshen)
Until the week before last, the Pharmaceutical Services Division was using Shengshi Baicao’s Guizhou Codonopsis, which I personally approved of (this time’s test medicine is also from Guizhou), but the market didn’t seem to recognize it, so recently it was replaced with the cheaper Gansu Codonopsis, which has the advantage of regular tablet shapes.
Regarding the so-called “authentic producing area,” I don’t really care. I have three criteria for selecting products, ranked by priority: first, energy is good and the medicinal aroma is pure and clear; second, price matches; third, appearance (including cleanliness and tablet shape, etc.).
The “authentic producing area” might have been the top producing region for the best medicines selected at the time by the “World Martial Arts Tournament,” but the varieties, planting techniques, and processing methods from those years may have been lost. If other regions have new breakthroughs, then the so-called “authentic producing area” should be replaced.
Actually, it’s like this now as well. Large producing areas are basically organized by village, each with its own specialty medicine, cultivation, harvesting methods, and skills passed down for generations.
For example, Zi He Che (Human Placenta), the techniques of washing, steaming, and drying are closely guarded secrets. Almost all Zi He Che collected nationwide are sent there for processing and then shipped across the country (this involves not only technical issues but also an established fixed pattern of upstream and downstream industry chains).
Speaking of Zi He Che, I previously taught its irreplaceability in treating ankylosis in pulse theory classes. As a human placenta, I think its current price is still below its value. While it’s still not expensive, people with essence and blood deficiency can take more, grind it into powder and take it daily to properly nourish themselves.
Don’t wait until prices rise like Suanzaoren, Baishao, Baizhu, and Huanglian to regret it. The price fluctuations in medicinal materials in the past three years have little to do with droughts or floods; these are just excuses for “market speculation.”
Take Huanglian (Coptis) as an example. A listed company XXX (name not to be mentioned, three characters) hoarded 5,000 tons of Huanglian in Northeast China (specific province cannot be disclosed). The annual usage in all of China is about 12,000 tons (data source: Chinese Medicinal Materials Network).
Whenever goods appear on the market, hoarders buy and keep them in warehouses, slowly raising the market price. The planting cycle of Huanglian is five years, meaning the market prices will be controlled by them for at least five years.
Previously, hoarders often took small profits due to limited capital and appetite; but now, as the real estate market is sluggish and the stock market is unfavorable, some funds are pouring into the traditional Chinese medicine market, causing prices to rise broadly.
Before, drug dealers hoarding would be satisfied with a 30–50% increase, but new participants have bigger appetites; for Suanzaoren and Huanglian, they expect to earn at least 5 times or more, otherwise they won’t stop.
Their whole process is already very mature and precise. We don’t envy wealth or resent others making money, but medicine after all is still “medicine,” so hoarding and price gouging should not be tolerated.
Back to Codonopsis, chewing it directly is tasty—moist, springy, sweet, with little fiber, and can basically be chewed and swallowed directly.
When soaked in water, it has a taste like corn water. (Corn water: after boiling corn for more than 30 minutes, the water carries a natural sweetness and, once cooled, is excellent for relieving heat and promoting saliva. It’s highly regarded by me, comparable to water from water chestnuts. Southern Chinese people should have had it before. Previously, my master’s advisor didn’t believe me, so I boiled some for her to try; she praised it highly afterward. I recommend those who haven’t tried to do so, but boil it long. Drinking sweet corn water has little to do with corn type; even non-sweet corn can produce tasty corn water with long cooking times—boiling for 60 minutes makes it good. If it’s naturally sweet corn, then it’s even easier to succeed.)
But like Astragalus, Codonopsis is a one-time-use medicine. Astragalus is a one-time supplement for the middle burner’s Ying and Wei qi, Codonopsis is a one-time supplement for the upper burner’s heart and lung qi.
Of course, nutritionally speaking, for poor ancient people lacking food and clothing, the sugars, electrolytes, and vitamins in various Chinese medicines were already “tonics,” so Codonopsis was not one-time-use for them.
Also, being “one-time-use” is not bad. In principle, all Chinese medicines have their effective durations (metabolic cycles) and limits of energy supply (peak blood concentration). As long as they help the body to restore blocked passages and supply temporarily deficient nutrition within a set time—for when the body’s righteous qi arrives—the historical mission of the medicine is accomplished.
I characterize Codonopsis and Astragalus as one-time-use mainly targeting some long-term drinkers who don’t realize these medicines actually don’t have a “tonifying” effect but just “invigorate” the preexisting qi.
Medicines that can truly tonify, such as good Polygonatum (Huang Jing), Zi He Che, Suanzaoren, Baiziren, etc., are often said by the Shennong Bencao Jing to be suitable for long-term use.
(Of course, there are many errors in the Shennong Bencao Jing, so it should be used as a reference and not be idolized.)
374. Pseudostellaria (Taizishen)
Chewing it dry is very hard. After soaking in water, when first bitten, it feels somewhat tough, but after chewing it open, the powdery texture becomes obvious, even somewhat like potato.
The soaked water tastes at first a bit like ginseng water, but on closer taste, the yuzhu (Polygonatum) flavor gradually prevails, both in taste and flavor.
I won’t discuss the etymology of Pseudostellaria’s name—that it initially referred to smaller ginseng blabla. In terms of effects, I feel it is closer to yuzhu.
Its energy partly acts on the middle burner—strengthening spleen and stomach digestion—partly returns to the upper burner—nourishing fluids and moistening lungs; it has some qi-tonifying effect, but is far from the first choice.
416. Longan Meat
One of my favorites. The taste is simply sweet, and sweet is good.
After eating so many bitter things, eating some longan meat is what we deserve.
I previously said in classes that longan meat is the real nocturnal replenishing blood water, and its effects are focused on tonifying the heart blood. If the heart is divided into two layers, the inner called heart (endocrine and autonomic system), and the outer called pericardium (myocardium and pericardium), then Suanzaoren tonifies the inner layer, and longan meat tonifies the outer layer.
Its secondary effects include treating insomnia and palpitations by tonifying heart blood.
Another effect is nourishing the spleen. For the poor in ancient times, its sweetness itself was tonifying and widely recognized. Moreover, it moistens the spleen; in cases of spleen meridian blockage or spleen essence deficiency, it can be used judiciously. This can actually also be considered a secondary effect of tonifying heart blood, as heart fire (blood) naturally nourishes spleen earth (fluids).