He Shou Wu from Shibing

He Shou Wu from Shibing

　　He Shou Wu is a perennial twining vine plant of the Polygonaceae family. Its roots are slender, ending in thickened tuberous roots with reddish-brown to dark brown exteriors. According to "Ben Cao Tu Jing" ("Illustrated Classic of Herbal Medicine"): "He Shou Wu can now be found everywhere. The best varieties come from Songshan Mountain in Xiluo and Zhecheng County in Nanjing. In spring, it sprouts leaves that grow in pairs resembling those of the yam but lack luster. Its stems spread among bamboo, trees, and walls. It bears seeds with ridges similar to buckwheat but much smaller, no larger than grains of millet. In autumn and winter, the roots are harvested — the larger ones as big as fists, each with five angular lobes, resembling small melons." The plant's tuberous roots, vines, and leaves all have medicinal value, known in traditional Chinese medicine as: He Shou Wu, Ye Jiao Teng, and He Shou Wu Ye respectively. Medicinal He Shou Wu is divided into raw He Shou Wu and processed He Shou Wu: Raw He Shou Wu functions to detoxify (treat malaria), moisten the intestines and relieve constipation, and reduce abscesses; processed He Shou Wu functions to nourish essence and blood, blacken hair, strengthen bones and muscles, and nourish liver and kidney.

　　Medicinal Efficacies

　　Detoxifies, reduces abscesses, moistens intestines and relieves constipation. Used for scrofula, boils and abscesses, rubella itching, intestinal dryness and constipation; high blood lipids.

　　1. Bone softness and wind disorders (lower back and knee pain, body-wide itching, difficulty walking). Soak 500 grams each of He Shou Wu (preferably with streaks) and Achyranthes bidentata in good wine for seven nights, then take out, dry in the sun, mash, mix with jujube flesh, and form into pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take 30 to 50 pills each time. On an empty stomach, take with wine.

　　2. Internal pain (pain whose location is unknown). Mix powdered He Shou Wu with ginger juice to make a paste, apply it, then wrap with cloth and warm by pressing with the sole of a shoe heated over fire.

　　3. Persistent spontaneous sweating. Mix He Shou Wu powder with saliva and apply it to the navel.

　　4. Intestinal wind and bloody stools. Grind 100 grams of He Shou Wu into powder. Take 10 grams each time, before meals, with rice soup.

　　5. Bleeding from wounds. Apply He Shou Wu powder to stop bleeding immediately. Highly effective.

　　6. Scrofula nodules (whether broken or unbroken, all affecting areas down to the chest can be treated). Wash and clean He Shou Wu roots, chew raw daily, and also mash the leaves to apply on affected areas.

　　7. Boils and toxic sores. Boil unlimited amounts of He Shou Wu over gentle and strong heat, add an equal amount of wine, boil several more times, keep the wine, and drink it at any time; bake the residue, grind into powder, mix with wine-boiled flour to form pills the size of firmiana seeds. Take 30 pills each time, on an empty stomach, with warm wine. After recovery, the medicine can be taken regularly.

　　8. Leprosy-like wind disorder. Soak 500 grams of He Shou Wu (preferably large and with streaks) in water used for washing rice for seven days, steam and sun repeatedly several times, add 200 grams of sesame, steam and sun again, grind into powder, take 10 grams each time, with wine, twice a day.

　　9. Scabies and ringworm. Boil equal parts of He Shou Wu and Qu Ye (a type of leaf) to make a concentrated decoction for bathing; can relieve pain and promote muscle growth. Bathing with a decoction of He Shou Wu stems and leaves is also effective.