Schisandra chinensis is the mature fruit of the vine plant Schisandra chinensis from the Magnoliaceae family. It is named for its combination of five flavors. Schisandra chinensis is divided into southern and northern varieties, with the northern variety being of superior quality. It is mainly produced in Northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, and other regions. It is often used raw or processed by steaming with vinegar or honey and then drying in the sun.
Rihuazi said: "The skin of Schisandra is sweet, the flesh is sour, the core is bitter and pungent, and it also has a salty taste, hence the name Schisandra."
Wang Ang said, "It contains all five flavors, with sour and salty being the most prominent."
I. Efficacy and Application
Schisandra chinensis tastes sour and is warm in nature. It has a thick taste and light qi, being a slight yang within yin. It belongs to the lung, kidney, and heart meridians.
Efficacy can astringe the lungs and nourish the kidneys, promote fluid production and stop sweating, secure essence and relieve diarrhea, calm the heart and tranquilize the mind. Its characteristic is particularly good at sour astringency and consolidation, while also having the function of calming the mind and nourishing the liver. Huang Yuanyu said it is an essential medicine for consumptive diseases.
It is commonly used for the treatment of conditions such as chronic cough and wheezing, nocturnal emission and spermatorrhea, enuresis and frequent urination, chronic diarrhea, spontaneous sweating and night sweats, thirst due to fluid depletion, internal heat and wasting thirst, palpitations and insomnia.
Summary of Masterpieces by Renowned Authors:
The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica: "It primarily boosts qi, treats cough and counterflow qi ascent, taxation damage with emaciation and weakness, supplements insufficiency, strengthens yin, and boosts men's essence."
Method and Image of Medicinal Use: "Promotes fluid production and quenches thirst, treats diarrhea and dysentery, replenishes insufficient primordial qi, consolidates dissipated qi, and addresses dilated pupils."
Ben Cao Tong Xuan: "Consolidate essence, restrain sweating."
Compendium of Materia Medica: Schisandra chinensis is a medicinal herb that astringes qi and promotes fluid production.
Changsha Materia Medica: "It astringes the lung metal to stop coughing, restrains the large intestine metal to halt diarrhea, excels at arresting prolapse, and most effectively subdues rebellious qi."
"Compendium of Materia Medica": "Astringes lung qi and nourishes kidney water, boosts qi and generates fluids, tonifies deficiency and brightens the eyes, strengthens yin and astringes essence, reduces fever and stops sweating, arrests vomiting and halts diarrhea, calms cough and stabilizes panting, eliminates vexation and thirst, disperses water swelling, and resolves alcohol toxicity."
II. Compatibility and Application
1. For chronic cough and asthmatic dyspnea. Schisandra chinensis can astringe, warm and moisten, astringe lung qi upward and nourish kidney yin downward, so it is suitable for chronic cough due to lung deficiency and asthmatic cough due to lung and kidney deficiency, with the effect of relieving cough and asthma. For example, to treat chronic cough due to lung deficiency, it is often combined with qi-tonifying and qi-regulating herbs such as ginseng, platycodon root, and perilla stem.
If treating kidney deficiency with rapid breathing, it can be combined with Liuwei Dihuang Wan to form Duqi Wan.
For treating lung cold cough, it is often combined with acrid-warm dispersing herbs, such as pairing with Asarum, as in the Wuwei Xixin Decoction.
For treating cough and asthma due to cold phlegm in the lungs, it is often combined with lung-warming and phlegm-resolving herbs such as dried ginger, asarum, and pinellia, as seen in formulas like Xiao Qinglong Tang and Ling Gan Wu Wei Jiang Xin Tang.
In the "Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders," whenever encountering cough, Schisandra chinensis and dried ginger are always used in combination, such as in Xiao Qinglong Tang, Xiao Chaihu Tang, and Sini San, which indeed contains profound principles.
Zou Run'an said, "The Classic states, 'The spleen qi disperses essence, which ascends to return to the lungs.' Therefore, although cough is a lung disease, its root actually lies in the spleen. Only when the essence dispersed by the spleen and ascending to the lungs is impure will the lungs' function of regulating water pathways become disordered. Later generations, when treating cough, only know to moisten the lungs and dissolve phlegm, unaware that moistening the lungs will further cloud the lungs' clarity, and dissolving phlegm will instead harm the spleen, while the phlegm retained in the lungs ultimately remains unresolved. Dried ginger warms the spleen and lungs, addressing the origin of cough; when the origin is cleared, the source of cough is cut off. Schisandra causes lung qi to descend and return to the kidneys, addressing the pathway of cough; when the pathway is cleared, qi is properly regulated and descends. Considering both herbs together, they function as one opening and one closing. Thus, formulas such as Minor Green Dragon Decoction, Minor Bupleurum Decoction, True Warrior Decoction, and Frigid Extremities Powder, which include cough as a symptom, all use them, without concern for distinctions between exterior and interior."
Hu Xishu said: Schisandra has the effect of dispelling phlegm and suppressing cough, but its sour astringency is strong. Dried ginger and asarum are too pungent, warm, and dispersing. When combined with schisandra to treat cough and asthma, it is excellent. It can dispel fluid retention and prevent excessive pungent dispersion, and when the fluid retention is removed, the fullness will dissipate.
2. For fluid injury causing thirst, spontaneous sweating, and night sweats. Schisandra chinensis can promote fluid production and also astringe sweat, making it suitable for conditions of thirst and excessive sweating. To treat heat injury to qi and yin, palpitations with weak pulse, thirst, and excessive sweating, it is often combined with ginseng and Ophiopogon japonicus, as in Shengmai Yin.
In cases of heart qi deficiency, failure of qi to restrain yin, profuse sweating, and asthmatic breathing, Shengmai Powder can be used as the base formula, with modifications as needed. If accompanied by insufficient chest yang, it can be combined with formulas such as Guizhi Gancao Decoction and Gualou Xiebai Guizhi Decoction to tonify both yin and yang, promoting mutual generation and restraint.
If treating yin deficiency night sweats or yang deficiency spontaneous sweating, it is often combined with arborvitae seed, ginseng, oyster, and other qi-tonifying and astringent herbs.
Schisandra chinensis is also adept at treating diabetes, often combined with Astragalus membranaceus, Dioscorea opposita, Trichosanthes kirilowii, and Gallus gallus domesticus, known as Jade Fluid Decoction.
Sun Simiao said, "In May, one should often take Schisandra chinensis to nourish the qi of the five organs. When encountering fatigue and weakness, lack of energy to move during the summer months and late summer, decoct Astragalus, Ginseng, Ophiopogon japonicus, and a small amount of Phellodendron amurense into a soup and take it. This can suddenly boost one's spirit and make the strength of both feet surge forth when used fresh."
3. For conditions such as spermatorrhea, involuntary seminal emission, and chronic diarrhea, Schisandra chinensis has the function of tonifying the kidneys, astringing essence, and stopping diarrhea. To treat various kidney deficiency syndromes, it is often added to the Guifu Dihuang Pill to enhance its kidney-tonifying effect.
If treating spleen and kidney deficiency cold, early morning diarrhea, it is often combined with Psoralea corylifolia, Evodia rutaecarpa, and Myristica fragrans to jointly achieve the effect of warming and tonifying the spleen and kidneys, supplementing fire and supporting earth, which is known as Sishen Wan.
Huang Yuanyu said, "The five flavors are sour, astringent, and consolidating, good at constraining the metal qi, descending the upward rush of the Xin metal to stop cough and counterflow, and ascending the downward collapse of the Geng metal to stop slippery diarrhea. One substance possesses three excellent qualities."
4. For palpitations, insomnia, and excessive dreaming. Schisandra has the effect of calming the mind and soothing the nerves. Nowadays, there is a Chinese patent medicine called Schisandra granules, which is processed from a single herb and has the function of regulating neurasthenia, nourishing the heart, and promoting sleep.
If treating symptoms of deficiency-induced restlessness, palpitations, insomnia, and dream-disturbed sleep due to depletion of heart and kidney yin and blood, it is often combined with Shengdi, Maidong, Danshen, and Zaoren, as seen in Tianwang Buxin Dan.
Modern research confirms that Schisandra chinensis has a lowering effect on elevated transaminase levels in chronic hepatitis. It is used in the proprietary medicine Hugan Pian.
5. The Use of Schisandra in "Treatise on Cold Damage Disorders". Zhongjing often pairs schisandra with dried ginger and asarum, which warms the middle and transforms fluid retention, while also restraining their dispersing properties, as seen in formulas such as Minor Green Dragon Decoction and Poria, Cinnamon Twig, Schisandra, and Licorice Decoction.
If treating phlegm stagnation transforming into heat, add raw gypsum and rhubarb, such as in Shegan Mahuang Tang, Houpo Mahuang Tang, and Xiaoqinglong Jia Shigao Tang.
If there is no exterior syndrome, one can simply warm the middle and transform fluid retention, using formulas such as Ling Gan Wu Wei Jiang Xin Tang or Ling Gan Wu Wei Jiang Xin Xia Tang.
If treating the transformation of fluid retention into heat, presenting as upper heat and lower cold, one can warm and transform cold fluid retention while clearing upper heat, using Ling Gan Wu Wei Jiang Xin Xia Ren Huang Tang.
III. Usage and Dosage
Schisandra chinensis is often used in decoctions and is also suitable for making pills and powders. When used in decoctions, it is commonly dosed from a few grams to over ten grams.
For nourishing, it is often used cooked; for suppressing cough, it is often used raw.
When Zhang Xichun used Schisandra chinensis, he referred to the intention of combining it with pungent dispersing herbs, and all were crushed for medicinal use, which can serve as a reference.
Zhang Xichun said, "The pungent taste of its kernel and the sour taste of its peel balance each other, naturally preventing excessive sourness and astringency, so that taking it will not cause bloating or fullness."
Wang Ang said, "The northern product with purple-black color is of good quality. For use in nourishing and tonic medicines, it is soaked in honey and steamed. For use in cough medicines, it is used raw. In both cases, the pit is crushed."
IV. Application Precautions
Schisandra chinensis is sour and astringent, and it has a constricting effect. It is not suitable for use in cases where external pathogens have not been resolved, internal excess heat is present, at the onset of cough, or during the initial stage of measles.
Li Dongyuan said, "If there is external pathogenic factor, it should not be used hastily, for fear of trapping the pathogenic qi. It is advisable to disperse it first and then use it."
Wang Ang said: "It is contraindicated for cough at the initial stage, rapid pulse, and those with excess fire."
Practical Notes on Traditional Chinese Medicine: Second Draft on the Afternoon of January 20, 2021#TCM Practical Notes#
