Chinese Medicine Half Monthly Talk | Phragmites australis

· Interesting stories ·

Who says the river is so wide that it can be navigated with just a reed boat?

This poem by Ji Kang during the Three Kingdoms period was actually derived from the Book of Songs: "Who says the river is wide? A reed can cross it." A small reed can cross the river to the other side!

The bold Su Shi also wrote in his poem: "Even if it is as light as a reed, it can still cross the vast expanse of water." A small boat as light as a reed can still cross the vast expanse of water. A reed can inspire such heroic spirit!

Reeds grow with roots. The small reed root is equally great. It has great merits in curing diseases and saving lives. The real cases are better than the legendary stories.

Guiyi Street is an ancient commercial street in Tianjin with a history of more than 600 years. It is known as the cradle of Tianjin's commerce.

In commercial areas, every inch of land is worth a lot of money. One day in 1928, amid the sound of celebratory firecrackers, a new Chinese medicine clinic opened on Guyi Street. The owner of the clinic was from Licheng, Shandong. He was middle-aged at the time and was the famous doctor Wang Jingzhai (1883-1953) who later became famous in Tianjin.

Talking about his career in traditional Chinese medicine, it was related to the little reed root, which helped him start a wonderful life.

Wang Jingzhai comes from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. His grandfather and father were both famous local doctors, and their deeds were recorded in the "Licheng County Annals". Because he lost his parents at a young age, Wang Jingzhai learned medicine by himself. When he was young, he practiced medicine in Jinan and ran a medicine shop. He was good at pediatrics and had unique experience in measles, one of the four major pediatric diseases. When treating measles, reed root was often used to clear lung heat. Because it was widely used, he even prepared it before going out for consultation.

In 1925, when he was still practicing medicine in Jinan, he was invited by the patient's family to visit Dalian. The patient was a four or five-year-old child who was suffering from measles and was on the verge of death. When Wang Jingzhai arrived, the child had a fever and shortness of breath, and his bowel movements were gone. The whole family was crying and preparing for his death. Thanks to the fresh reed root he brought with him, Wang Jingzhai personally boiled the medicine and slowly fed the child. After a while, the child urinated like a stream. He persuaded the mother not to cry, and then gave the child a prescription to clear the lungs and expel evil, and the child was cured.

This child was the only child in the family. The family was extremely grateful to Wang Jingzhai for his rebirth. Through the introduction of the child's father, Wang Jingzhai was able to develop in Zhili (Hebei) and served as the chief executive twice. After the Northern Expedition, he returned to medicine in 1928 and came to Tianjin to open a Chinese medicine clinic on Guyi Street at the age of 45. As soon as his clinic opened, patients came to seek medical treatment in an endless stream, and he soon became a famous doctor praised by the people of Tianjin. Wang Jingzhai's famous medical case of using reed root to treat measles in Dalian was also included in the first volume of "Jinmen Medical Essence" compiled by the Tianjin Municipal Health Bureau.

Reed root is sweet and non-toxic, and can be eaten as both medicine and food. However, it did not enter the earliest herbal monograph "Shennong's Herbal Classic", but was included in "Shennong's Herbal Classic Annotations" by Tao Hongjing, classified as a plant and listed as a low-grade medicine. Although it is a low-grade medicine, it can "cure diseases according to the earth". Reed root, rooted in the earth, in the hands of Chinese medicine practitioners who know it, does its best to play its due role in curing diseases.

· Source of medicinal materials ·

The dried rhizome of the grass plant Phragmites australis. It can also be eaten fresh.

· Nature and flavor ·

Sweet in taste, cold in nature. Enters the lung and stomach meridians.

· Efficacy and indications·

Clears away heat, promotes the production of body fluid, stops vomiting and promotes urination.

It is suitable for heat disease, loss of body fluid, thirst, vomiting due to stomach heat, lung abscess, and cough due to lung heat.

· Usage and Dosage·

For internal use: decoction, 15-30g. For fresh products, use more and mash the juice for oral administration.

· Diet therapy recommendation ·

Perilla, Reed Root and Mung Bean Soup

100g reed root, 15g basil leaf, 10g ginger, 100g mung bean. First boil the reed root, ginger, and basil leaf, remove the residue and take the juice, add mung bean and boil until it is soft, drink the bean soup. Or serve it as porridge with meals.

Therapeutic effects: It can nourish the lungs, relieve heat and reduce fire, soothe the stomach and stop vomiting, and promote diuresis and detoxification. It is suitable for fever, thirst, internal heat, dry mouth, red and astringent urine, and vomiting due to stomach heat. It is also suitable for drinking in hot and humid weather in summer, which helps the body to eliminate dampness, detoxify and dispel heat.

· Kind tips·

Reed root is cold in nature, so people with weak spleen and stomach should not take it. "Shen Nong's Herbal Classic" warns: "Do not take it if you vomit due to cold."

Author: Ding Zhaoping, editor of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Review expert: Xu Yamei, chief physician of Dongzhimen Hospital