Epimedium is the whole herb of the Berberidaceae plant Epimedium. It got its name because sheep that ate it showed enhanced mating ability. Later, people found the name Epimedium inelegant and renamed it Xianlingpi. It is mainly produced in Shaanxi, Sichuan, Hubei, Shanxi, and other regions. It is harvested in spring and autumn, then dried and chopped. It is often used raw or processed.
Wang Ang said, "In the north, there is a sheep that eats lily plants, hence the name."
I. Efficacy and Application
Epimedium tastes pungent and sweet, and is warm in nature. It belongs to the liver and kidney meridians.
Efficacy can tonify the kidney and strengthen yang, dispel wind and remove dampness. After honey-frying, it is also good at treating cough and asthma due to deficiency of both lung and kidney. Its characteristics include rapid onset of warming kidney and strengthening yang, low price, and wide application in clinical practice.
It is commonly used for the treatment of conditions such as impotence and seminal emission, weakness of the bones and muscles, rheumatic arthralgia, numbness, and contracture.
Summary of Masterpieces by Renowned Authors:
The Classic of Materia Medica: "It primarily treats impotence and severe injuries, pain in the penis, promotes urination, boosts energy and strength, and enhances willpower."
Bie Lu: "Strengthens the sinews and bones."
Jade Mallow Medical Explanation: "Xianlingpi nourishes and benefits essence and blood, warms and tonifies the liver and kidneys, treats impotence and inability to rise, cessation of yin and inability to generate, eliminates scrofula, revives paralysis, clears wind and brightens the eyes, benefits the mind and calms the spirit."
Ben Cao Bei Yao: "Tonifies the life gate, benefits essence and qi, strengthens sinews and bones, promotes urination. Treats impotence, infertility, cold wind and consumptive qi, and numbness of the four limbs."
II. Compatibility and Application
1. For kidney yang deficiency, impotence, frequent urination, and weakness in the waist and knees. Epimedium can tonify the kidney and strengthen yang. It can be used alone by soaking in wine for consumption, and is often combined with kidney-tonifying herbs such as prepared rehmannia root, wolfberry fruit, and curculigo rhizome.
Shanghai College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Prescription: For treating menopausal syndrome, dizziness, hypertension, and other chronic diseases in women, presenting with symptoms of Chong and Ren disharmony: Curculigo orchioides 6–15g, Epimedium 9–15g, Angelica sinensis and Morinda officinalis 9g each, Phellodendron chinense and Anemarrhena asphodeloides 6–9g each. Decoct in water for oral administration.
2. For wind-cold-damp impediment or numbness of the limbs. Epimedium not only warms and supplements kidney yang but also dispels wind and eliminates dampness. To treat wind wandering pain that comes and goes without fixed location, it is often combined with Clematidis Radix et Rhizoma, Xanthii Fructus, and Cinnamomi Cortex, as in the Xianlingpi Powder.
"Shi Yi Xin Jing": "Epimedium wine, with one jin of this product, ten jin of distilled liquor, soaked for ten days, taken in small amounts daily, can treat wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, pain or numbness; also treats impotence."
Shengji Zonglu: "For treating Sanjiao cough, abdominal fullness with poor appetite, and qi disharmony: Take equal parts of Epimedium, Rubus chingii, and roasted Schisandra chinensis, grind into powder, and form into honey pills the size of wutong seeds. Take twenty pills each time with ginger tea."
Zhu Liangchun's Experience: Using a large dose of Xianlingpi combined with Shudi, Xianmao, Luxiancao, etc., can warm kidney yang, dispel wind-dampness, and treat stubborn arthralgia; if combined with Danshen, Hehuanpi, Zhigancao, etc., it can treat palpitations and severe palpitations due to yang deficiency; if combined with Gaoliangjiang, Lizhihe, etc., it has the effect of benefiting fire to generate earth, and can treat chronic stomach cold pain; if combined with Zishiying, it can treat women's uterine cold dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea, and infertility; if combined with Wuweizi, Fuling, etc., it can treat cough and asthma due to water-cold attacking the lung; if combined with Wuzhuyu, Chuanxiong, etc., it can treat cold syncope headache.
Zhu Liangchun said, "Epimedium is warm but not dry, making it an excellent product for harmonizing yin and yang."
III. Usage and Dosage
Epimedium is often used in decoctions, and can also be infused in wine, made into paste, or used in pills and powders. The usual dosage in decoctions ranges from over ten grams to several tens of grams.
Method for preparing Epimedium with Sheep Fat: For every 100 jin of Epimedium, use 25 jin of refined sheep fat. First, heat the sheep fat in a pot until melted, remove the residue, then add the Epimedium and stir-fry gently until the sheep fat is mostly absorbed. Remove and allow to cool.
Huang Yuanyu said, "Stir-fry with mutton fat."
Wang Ang said: "Remove the branches, stir-fry with mutton fat."
IV. Application Precautions
Epimedium is a warming and tonifying herb for strengthening yang, so it should not be taken by those with yin deficiency and excessive fire.
