Chinese medicine is like a person, with movement, stillness, hardness and softness

In addition to the well-known properties of Chinese medicine, such as nature, flavor, meridians, rising and falling, floating and sinking, there are several special types, such as smell, thickness, moistening and dryness, movement and stillness, and hardness and softness. Understanding these properties can better apply them in clinical practice.

Today, let's talk about the movement and stillness and hardness and softness of Chinese medicine——

Movement and stillness: Characterizes the flow and stillness, urgency and gentleness of the drug's action, etc.

Ancient doctors considered the properties of medicines and used "move" and "guard" to represent the dynamic and static properties of the medicine respectively.

Most of the moving drugs are yang, and the drugs are good at moving. They can reach up and down, inside and outside the human body. Their nature is moving. After taking them, the drug effect is exerted quickly and the effect is fast, but the duration is relatively short. Some moving drugs also have the function of guiding the meridians, which can guide other drugs to the diseased area. Most of the moving drugs are mainly used to expel evil, such as rhubarb, ephedra, chuanxiong, green peel, and amomum.

Calming medicines have the characteristics of calming, guarding, and slowing down. Calming medicines are mostly yin, soft and stagnant in nature, and their efficacy is slow to take effect, but the duration is long. They can mostly replenish the deficiencies of internal organs and the deficiency of essence and blood, such as wolfberry, yam, and Ligustrum lucidum.

The dynamic drug is compatible with the static drug. The dynamic drug is fluid without hurting the vital energy, while the static drug is calm without hindering the flow of qi. For example, the dynamic drug Amomum villosum is compatible with the static drug Rehmannia glutinosa, which can prevent Rehmannia glutinosa from being greasy and stomach-damaging; the static drug Licorice is compatible with the dynamic drug Rhubarb, which can alleviate the laxative effect of Rhubarb without hurting the vital energy. Dynamic drugs have the property of fluidity, and improper use will disperse the vital energy; similarly, static drugs have the property of calmness, and improper use will block the flow of qi.

Hardness and softness: Characterizes whether the drug can replenish yang and yin, and has a slow or severe effect

"Gang" originally means hard and strong; "rou" originally means weak and soft. Gang is yang, and drugs that are strong and moving take effect quickly and have a swift effect; rou is yin, and drugs that are soft and quiet take effect slowly and have a soothing effect.

For example, aconite, dried ginger, and cinnamon that warm the interior and dispel cold, restore yang and rescue from adverse conditions; rhubarb and sodium sulfate that have a laxative effect; gansui, euphorbia, and genkwa that expel water and expel fluid; pilose antler, cynomorium songaricum, and epimedium that warm and tonify kidney yang - most of these medicines are urgent and work quickly, and are suitable for critical diseases and syndromes such as loss of yang, internal retention of water and fluid, constipation due to real heat, and kidney yang deficiency. Therefore, they are all considered to be rigid drugs. Due to their strong nature, they should be taken temporarily and stopped when the disease is cured. They should not be taken for a long time.

Such as raw rehmannia, angelica, ophiopogon, asparagus, tortoise shell and turtle shell which replenish yin and blood, hemp seed and Prunus mume seed which moisten the intestines and promote bowel movements, white peony root, schisandra chinensis and cornus officinalis which soften the liver and restrain yin, jujube, yam and honey which replenish the middle and benefit qi, and sour jujube seed and cypress seed which nourish the heart and calm the mind - most of these medicines are soft, sweet, sour, salty and soft, can regulate the functions of the internal organs, and have the function of nourishing. They can be used for symptoms such as qi deficiency, blood deficiency, yin deficiency, and lack of body fluid and constipation. Therefore, they are considered to be soft medicines and are mostly yin, soft and nourishing.

The same type of medicine has different hardness and softness due to the different properties. For example, Clematis chinensis and Saposhnikovia divaricata are both wind-removing medicines. The former is quick and effective, belonging to the category of wind-removing medicines, which can promote the five internal organs and circulate through the twelve meridians, and has a "hard" medicinal property; the latter is pungent and slightly warm, and is a lubricant among wind-removing medicines, which can remove wind without being dry, and has a "soft" medicinal property.

There are three types of drugs: hard and soft. They are divided into yin and yang, slow and urgent. Hard drugs are suitable for yin syndrome, and soft drugs are suitable for yang syndrome. Hard drugs are suitable for urgent syndrome to eliminate the evil quickly, and soft drugs are suitable for slow syndrome to achieve the effect slowly.

Different growth environments also result in different hardness and softness of drugs. Shi Shoutang, a doctor in the Qing Dynasty, believed that hardness and softness represent the difference in the texture of drugs, and the different moistening and drying properties of drugs, and the differences in the speed of action. Hard drugs receive more yang energy from the sky during their growth, and the texture of the drugs is drier, with little or no fluid, and the properties of the drugs are mostly dry and strong, such as dried ginger, aconite, and magnolia bark, which have the functions of returning yang and drying dampness; soft drugs receive more yin energy from the earth during their growth, and the texture of the drugs is delicate, rich in oils and juices, and the effects are mostly weak and mild, such as wolfberry and cornus officinalis, which have a moist and mild texture and mild properties.

Combining movement and stillness, hardness and softness, can help you make the best use of your strengths and avoid your weaknesses, and cure the disease

Movement and stillness, hardness and softness are the comprehensive and opposing properties of drugs. Movement and hardness belong to Yang, and hard drugs are more active, just like lively boys in human beings; stillness and softness belong to Yin, and soft drugs are more quiet, more like quiet girls in human beings. Moving drugs often have the effects of regulating qi and removing stagnation, aromatic and removing dampness, purging and relieving constipation, promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis, and are mostly strong and sharp; static drugs generally have the effects of nourishing blood, nourishing yin, and astringing, and are mostly soft and gentle. In clinical use, it is necessary to consider the movement, stillness, hardness and softness of drugs, so as to maximize their strengths and avoid their weaknesses, reduce side effects and improve efficacy.

Author: Sun Meng, Chief Pharmacist, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital

Review expert: Li Bin, deputy chief pharmacist of Tianjin Medical University General Hospital