Pinyin: Guizhi
Aliases
Liugui
Source
Plant from the Lauraceae family: Cinnamomum cassiaCinnamomum cassiaPresl's dried young branches.
Botanical Description
See the entry under "Rougui" (Cinnamomum cassia).
Harvesting and Processing
Harvested in spring and summer, remove the leaves, sun-dry, or slice and sun-dry.
Medicinal Properties
This product is long cylindrical, mostly branched, 30-75 cm long, with the thick end diameter 0.3-1 cm. The surface is red-brown to brown, with longitudinal ridges, fine wrinkles, and small nodular leaf scars, branch scars, and bud scars, with dot-like lenticels. The texture is hard and brittle, easily broken; slices are 2-4 mm thick, with a red-brown bark portion in cross-section, a yellowish-white to light yellow-brown wood portion, and a slightly square pith. It has a distinctive aromatic odor and a sweet, slightly pungent taste, with a stronger flavor in the bark portion.
Chemical Constituents
Contains cinnamaldehyde, benzyl benzoate, and cinnamyl acetate.β- Cubebene, calamenene, coumarin and other constituents.
Pharmacology
Has certain antibacterial and antiviral effects; on the central nervous system, it has antipyretic, analgesic, sedative, and anticonvulsant effects; it has significant anti-inflammatory effects; it can increase myocardial nutritional blood flow, and also has anti-allergic, anticoagulant, and other effects.
Properties and Channel Entry
Acrid, sweet, and warm. Enters the Heart, Lung, and Bladder channels.
Functions and Indications
Dispels sweat and resolves the muscles, warms and unblocks the channels and vessels, assists Yang and transforms Qi, settles ascending Qi and descends rebellious Qi. Used for wind-cold common cold, epigastric and abdominal cold pain, blood-cold amenorrhea, arthralgic joint pain, phlegm-rheum, edema, palpitations, and running piglet disorder.
Dosage and Administration
Internal: decoct in water, 1.5-6 g; high dosage up to 15-30 g; or made into pills or powder. External: appropriate amount, mashed or ground into powder for topical application.
Precautions and Contraindications
Use with caution during pregnancy.
Prescriptions
1. For Taiyang disease after purgation, with rapid pulse and chest fullness: Guizhi (Cinnamomum cassia, peeled) 90 g, Gancao (Glycyrrhiza uralensis, honey-fried) 60 g, Shengjiang (Zingiber officinale, sliced) 90 g, Dazao (Ziziphus jujuba, split) 12 pieces. Boil with 7 sheng of water, reduce to 3 sheng. (Guizhi Qu Shaoyao Tang from *Shang Han Lun*). 2. For wind-dampness attacking the body for 8-9 days in cold damage, with body pain and vexation, inability to turn sides, no vomiting or thirst, floating, vacuous, and rough pulse: Guizhi (peeled) 120 g, Fuzi (Aconitum carmichaelii, processed, peeled, broken) 3 pieces, Shengjiang (sliced) 90 g, Dazao (split) 12 pieces, Gancao (honey-fried) 60 g. Boil the five ingredients with 6 sheng of water, reduce to 2 sheng. Remove the residue. Take warm in three divided doses. (Guizhi Fuzi Tang from *Shang Han Lun*). 3. For a pregnant woman with cold damage, floating pulse, heavy head, and abdominal cramping pain: Guizhi, Shaoyao (Paeonia lactiflora), Danggui (Angelica sinensis) each 30 g. Grind fine, each dose 30 g, decoct in water and take orally. (Guizhi Shaoyao Danggui Tang from *Ji Yin Gang Mu*). 4. For excessive sweating causing the patient to cross hands over the heart, with palpitations felt under the heart that desire pressure: Guizhi (peeled) 120 g, Gancao (honey-fried) 60 g. Boil with 3 sheng of water, reduce to 1 sheng. Remove the residue. Take in a single dose. (Guizhi Gancao Tang from *Shang Han Lun*). 5. For chilblains: Guizhi 60 g, add 1000 ml of clean water, decoct on high heat, after boiling for 10 minutes, remove from heat, pour into a basin and allow to cool to a tolerable temperature (so as not to burn the skin; retain the dregs for reuse with the same decoction next time). Immerse the affected limb in the liquid, gently massage while washing. Wash for 10-15 minutes each time, once in the morning and once in the evening. [*New Chinese Medicine* supplement, 1980, (3): 16].
