Half-month talk on Chinese medicine | Trachelospermum officinale

The green trunk of the rock is slanted

Trachelospermum officinale

Interesting stories

There are many kinds of plants, including woody and herbaceous plants. Among them, there is a type of plant with slender stems that cannot grow upright and must climb or creep on other objects. These are called vines or creeping plants, which can be further divided into woody vines and herbaceous vines.

Rocks are piled up on the mountains, and grass and trees are entwined with them. An evergreen woody plant with white flowers and soft vines, its use in treating diseases was discovered early on and was included in the top-grade medicines in the "Shennong Bencao Jing" and named "Luoshi". "It is named Luoshi because it is wrapped around rocks and trees." This naming is original, and Su Gong of the Tang Dynasty clearly recorded it when he compiled the "New Compendium of Materia Medica". Until the "Compendium of Materia Medica", Li Shizhen still called it Luoshi, but later generations used "Luoshi Teng" as a proper name for medicinal materials. Its original plant has an alias of "white flower vine", which emphasizes its characteristic of blooming white flowers.

Perhaps it is too common for it to grow among rocks. Although it was recorded in Shennong's Herbal Classic, the application of Clematis chinensis was not common. In Tao Hongjing's time, it was said that "if you don't know this medicine, the method is useless." Even Li Shizhen sighed and said, "Even doctors rarely know how to use it. Is it because it is cheap and they ignore it? It should be soaked in wine when taken."

Photo: Bu Ruilan

The origin of Chinese medicine properties is guided by the theory of analogy. As the principle of understanding "knowing all things, transforming yin and yang, and hearing the great way" revealed in the Jianshu "All Things": "The way of the world must be heard; the origin of all things must be observed; the transformation of yin and yang must be known."

Traditional Chinese medicine's understanding of rattan medicines is mostly based on their appearance. For example, rattans are entangled like a net, crisscrossing and reaching everywhere. Their shape is like collaterals. They grow in the wild without shelter and are exposed to wind, cold, heat and humidity. Therefore, they can often dredge meridians, activate collaterals, disperse knots, and dispel wind and dampness. As a general description of the medicinal properties of rattan Chinese medicinal materials, it is also mentioned in the "Song of Identifying the Properties of Herbs" passed down by word of mouth by herbalists, such as "The grass and trees on the earth must be distinguished, and each has different properties... The hollow can pass the internal and external qi, and the soft vines run through the tendons and bones." There are also discussions in medical theories or herbal books, such as "Compendium of Materia Medica" "All vines can dredge meridians and enter the collaterals. The vines are entangled and spread like a network, crisscrossing and reaching everywhere, and their shape is like collaterals"; "Compendium of Materia Medica" "All vines are like human tendons, so they can treat tendon diseases"; "Compendium of Materia Medica" "The vines relax the tendons and veins, and the branches reach the limbs".

Dinggongteng, a Chinese herbal medicine of rattan, originated from the story of "Nanshi·Biography of Jie Shuqian", and there is an idiom "Shuqian begging for rattan", which is widely circulated to promote filial piety and is recorded in the "Medical Theory" in medical books. There is no such ancient story about Clematis chinensis, but there is a story about it that is played by modern people as follows.

In ancient times, there was an old scholar (student) who went to Chang'an to take the imperial examination. He was prematurely aged due to his hard study, and his legs and feet were troubled by rheumatism and joint pain. He was blocked on the way, which was deep in the Daba Mountains. The shopkeeper in the village where he lived felt pity for him. The shopkeeper taught him to dig branches and leaves of a vine plant from the nearby pile of rocks, boil water and drink the juice, add green salt, fumigate and soak the swollen and painful legs and feet while it was hot. Unexpectedly, the effect was very obvious after one try. In two or three days, the swelling and pain in the old scholar's legs and feet basically subsided, and he walked more easily and vigorously than before. So he was able to continue his journey to the imperial examination, and he was lucky to pass the imperial examination. After passing the imperial examination, when he passed the shopkeeper on his way back home, he specially rewarded the shopkeeper and asked specifically what the name of the herb used at that time was. The shopkeeper told him that this vine loves to grow on the rocks in the pile of rocks, winding around the stones like a green dragon and snake, and because it blooms white flowers, some people call it "white flower vine". The new scholar wrote down the name of the white flower vine and passed it on to others. Later people realized that it was actually the Trachelospermum jasminoides, also known as the Stone Dragon Vine.

Most Chinese herbal medicines of rattan have the effects of removing rheumatism, relaxing tendons and veins, unblocking meridians and relieving pain, so in clinical Chinese medicine, rattan medicines are often used in combination or in a concentrated manner. For example, Yu Shenchu, a famous doctor in Fujian, has a decoction called Qubi Si Teng Tang (Caulis Piper, Trachelospermum officinale, Honeysuckle, Millettia reticulata, Clematidis, Siegesbeckia sibiricum) to treat various types of arthralgia. Zhu Chenyu, a famous doctor in Beijing, has a decoction called Si Teng Yi Xian Tang (Caulis Piper, Uncaria rhynchophylla, Trachelospermum officinale, Caulis Piper, Clematidis), which is used as a basic prescription for rheumatic arthralgia. "Northern Medical Talk" contains Si Teng Yin (Caulis Piper, Caulis Piper, Trachelospermum officinale, Caulis Piper), which is used as a basic prescription for rheumatic arthralgia and is widely used in clinical practice.

Source of medicinal materials

The dried leafy vines of the Apocynaceae plant Trachelospermum jasminoides.

Nature and flavor

It tastes bitter and is slightly cold in nature.

It enters the heart, liver and kidney meridians.

Indications

Dispel wind and dredge meridians, cool blood and reduce swelling.

It is suitable for rheumatic heat, muscle and vein spasm, low back and knee pain, throat paralysis, carbuncle, and injuries from falls.

Dosage

Internal use: decoction, 6-12g. External use: appropriate amount.

Diet therapy recommendation

Trachelospermum officinale wine

Ingredients: 90 grams of Trachelospermum jasminoides (stems and leaves), 500 ml of rice wine.

Preparation: Wash the stems and leaves of Trachelospermum jasminoides, dry them in the sun, and crush them into coarse powder. Put them into a clean wide-mouthed glass bottle, pour in rice wine, seal and soak for about 20 days, filter and remove the residue. Drink 20 ml per day.

Efficacy: It can dispel wind, dredge meridians and relieve pain. It can be used to treat rheumatic pain in the muscles and bones, such as acute rheumatic arthritis, or acute attacks of chronic rheumatic arthritis, redness, swelling, heat and pain in the joints.

Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica states that "it should be taken with wine", and Hunan Pharmacopoeia records that for rheumatic pain in the tendons and bones, Trachelospermum schrenkiana can be used alone to soak in wine. This single-recipe wine is easy to use.

Tip: Trachelospermum erythrorhizome is not a medicinal or edible variety and should be used under the guidance of a professional doctor.