What is Bai Shao?

Bai Shao, which is also called
Radix Paeoniae Alba or
White peony root, the name of traditional Chinese medicine. It is the dry root of Paeonia lactiflora Pall. Excavated in summer and autumn, washed, removed the head and the tail and fine roots, boiled in boiling water to remove the outer skin or peeled and then boiled, and dried in the sun. It has the effects of nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, astringing yin and stopping sweating, softening liver and relieving pain, and calming liver-yang. It is often used for blood deficiency and chlorosis, spontaneous sweating, irregular menstruation, night sweats, abdominal pain, hypochondriac pain, cramped pain in limbs, headache and dizziness.
white peony root
It is medicinal root, pungent and bitter; slightly poisonous; has the effects of warming yang and removing dampness, replenishing deficiency, and strengthening the spleen and stomach. Bai Shao is used among the people to treat illnesses such as rheumatic cold pain, rheumatoid arthritis, lumbar muscle strain, body deficiency and neurasthenia, limb convulsions, chronic convulsions, dog bites.
Growth environment of Bai Shao
Bai Shao grows in mountains, valleys, forests, hillside roadsides or bushes at an altitude of 1500-2800 meters.
Bai Shao is distributed in northern Dali and most parts of Yunnan, and it can also be found in Anhui, Zhejiang, Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan and Tibet.

Types of Bai Shao
Peony
Peony, born in hillside meadows and forests, distributed in Northeast China, North China, Shaanxi and Gansu. It is cultivated in many cities and villages.
Peony, perennial herb, 40-70cm high, glabrous. Root hypertrophy, fusiform or cylindrical, dark brown. Stems erect, branched above, with several sheath-like membranous scales at the base. The leaves are alternate; the petiole is 9cm long, and the petiole at the top of the stem is shorter; the lower part of the stem is a compound leaf with two times and three leaves, and the upper leaf is a compound leaf with three leaves; the leaflet is narrowly ovate, elliptic or lanceolate, 7.5~ 12cm, 2-4cm wide, apex acuminate, base cuneate or oblique, edge with white cartilaginous denticles, both surfaces glabrous, below sparsely pubescent along the veins, nearly leathery. Flowers bisexual, several flowers on top of stem and leaf axil, 7-12cm in diameter; bracts 4-5, lanceolate, varying in size; sepals 4, broadly ovate or nearly round, 1-1.5cm long, 1-2cm wide 1.7cm, green, persistent; petals 9-13, obovate, 3.5-6cm long, 1.5-4.5cm wide, white, sometimes with deep purple spots or pink at the base, petals of various colors and double in cultivars; many stamens , filaments 7-12mm long, anthers yellow; disk shallow cup-shaped, wrapping carpel base, apex lobes obtuse; carpels 2-5, free, glabrous. Follicles are oval or oval, 2.5-3cm long, 1.2-1.5cm in diameter, with rafters at the apex, flowering from May to June, and fruiting from June to August.
Paeonia trichomes
Paeonia trichomes, born in mountain shrubs, are distributed in northeast China, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi and other places, and are mostly cultivated in various places.
The main difference between Paeonia trichomes and Peony is that the carpels and young fruits are densely pilose, and the mature follicles are sparsely pilose.
Processing methods of Bai Shao
Collection and processing
Excavated in summer and autumn, washed, removed the head and tail and fine roots, boiled in boiling water to remove the outer skin or peeled and then boiled, and dried in the sun.
Processing method
Bai Shao
Wash, moisten, cut into thin slices, and dry.
Stir-fry Bai Shao
Take clean white peony slices, and stir-fry according to the clear frying method (Appendix ⅡD) until slightly yellow.
Bai Shao with wine
Take clean white peony root slices and stir-fry until slightly yellow according to the method of roasting with wine (Appendix ⅡD).
Bai Shao TCM
Medicine part
The dry roots of the plant.
Taste
Bitter, sour, slightly cold in nature.
Tropism
Bitter, sour, slightly cold in nature.
Effect
Nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, astringing yin to stop sweating, softening liver to relieve pain, and calming liver yang.
Attending
For blood deficiency and chlorosis, irregular menstruation, spontaneous sweating, night sweats, hypochondriac pain, abdominal pain, cramped pain in limbs, headache and dizziness.
Related compatibility
Treatment of women's hypochondriac pain: four liang of Cyperus cyperi (two bowls of yellow vinegar, one liang of salt, boiled dry), cinnamon, corydalis (stir-fried), Bai Shao. It is a fine powder, two qian per serving, boiled in soup, and taken at any time. ("Zhu's Collection of Medical Prescriptions" Shaoyao Decoction)
Dosage
6~15g.
Taboo
It should not be used with veratrum.
Related discussion
(1) "Herbal Classic": "Major pathogenic abdominal pain, remove blood numbness, break hard accumulation, control cold and heat hernia, relieve pain, facilitate urination, and replenish qi."
(2) "Bie Lu": "Smooth the blood vessels, slow the middle, dissipate evil blood, chase blood, remove water vapor, sharp bladder, large and small intestine, subside carbuncle, (treat) cold and heat, abdominal pain in middle-evil, lumbago."
(3) "Rihuazi Materia Medica": "Treating wind and tonifying tuberculosis, mastering all diseases of women, and all diseases before and after childbirth, clearing menstruation water, reducing fever and irritability, replenishing qi, curing febrile diseases caused by heaven, miasma and fright, Women's blood circulation, and intestinal wind and diarrhea blood, hemorrhoids and fistulas on the back, sores, headaches, eyesight, red eyes, pterygium."
Bai Shao benefits
1. Bai Shao nourishes blood, harmonizes camp and health, relieves spasm and relieves pain, suppresses sweat, and calms the liver. It is bitter, sour and slightly cold in nature, and enters the Liver Meridian as well as the Spleen Meridian. It can be used to treat irregular menstruation, dysmenorrhea, and metrorrhagia.
2. Bai Shao has astringent effect, can stop sweating, can be used to treat spontaneous sweating, and can also be used to treat night sweats.
3. Bai Shao enters the liver meridian, which can relieve the distension and pain of the oblique ribs and abdomen. The combination of peony and licorice can only play an analgesic effect, and can also treat persistent diseases and pains in the limbs.
4. Bai Shao peony can be used to treat headaches and can also be used to treat vertigo. However, white peony root cannot be used alone for symptoms of deficiency and cold, and the use of white peony root should be applied under the guidance of a doctor.
Bai Shao side effects
1. Bai Shao is cold in nature, and diarrhea may occur after eating, especially for people with spleen and stomach deficiency.
2. Pregnant women may aggravate uterine contractions, affect fetal development, and even cause miscarriage.
3. People with urticaria and eczema may aggravate their condition if they eat it.
Therefore, people with spleen and stomach deficiency, pregnant women, people with urticaria and eczema should use Bai Shao with caution and follow the doctor's advice.
How to take Bai Shao?
Bai Shao can be directly brewed with boiling water, porridge, or made into medicinal wine when taking it.
Brew with boiling water
Bai Shao is a relatively common Chinese herbal medicine. It can be directly brewed with boiling water when taking it at ordinary times, which can be used to relieve stomach pain.
Cook porridge
When taking Bai Shao root, you can also cook porridge with some rice or millet, or the taste is relatively good.
Made into medicinal wine
Bai Shao root can also be made into medicinal wine, which can play a certain auxiliary role, relieve the symptoms of kidney deficiency in men, relieve limb fatigue, impotence, and premature ejaculation.
Decoction
Bai Shao Gan Cao Tang
The name of a traditional Chinese medicine prescription. From volume three of "Eight Methods of Medicine". As an agent, it has the effect of medicine. Indications for gastric pain, the syndrome is above the navel and abdomen, between the chest and diaphragm, and it will heal from time to time, and it will be safe if it heals.
Composition: Bai Shao 100g, Licorice Root 50g.
Function: soothing the liver, relieving spasm and relieving pain.
Indications: liver cancer pain. Anorexia, fullness in the epigastric cavity, distending pain in the liver and ribs, sallow complexion, listlessness, weight loss day by day, and repeated treatments are ineffective.
Source: "Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine" 1983.2

Other usages of Bai Shao
Beauty usage
Bai Shao is a kind of traditional Chinese medicinal material that can beautify the skin. It can lighten spots, whiten skin, and nourish the skin. When people want to use it for beauty, they can directly grind Bai Shao into fine powder, and then add appropriate amount of honey or egg white to make it thick. Thick paste, after washing the skin of the face, apply it directly on the skin, wash the face after half an hour, use it once or twice a week, the skin whitening effect is particularly obvious.
Therapeutic usage
Bai Shao is not only a kind of Chinese medicinal material, but also a therapeutic ingredient with excellent efficacy. Usually, Chinese medicinal materials such as Bai Shao, angelica and He Shou Wu are put together and decocted in water until it becomes a soup. Drink it directly, which can benefit essence, hair growth and nourish blood Qi. In addition, Bai Shao, astragalus, angelica and eupatorium can also be cooked and drunk with rice, which can play an important role in relieving pain and strengthening the spleen and stomach.
How to choose Bai Shao?
Appearance
When choosing Bai Shao, the first thing to look at is the root shape of the white peony. Most of the dried roots of Bai Shao are cylindrical, and the roots are thick and long,
A little more even and straight. It is about 6 centimeters long and 1.3-2.2 centimeters in diameter. The quality of this kind of white peony is the best.
Color
when choosing Bai Shao, the first thing to look at is the root shape of the white peony. Most of the dried roots of Bai Shao are cylindrical, and the roots are thick and long,
A little more even and straight. It is about 6 centimeters long and 1.3-2.2 centimeters in diameter. The quality of this kind of white peony is the best.
Texture
The root of Bai Shao is relatively solid and heavy, and it is not so easy to be broken.
Smell
Good-quality Bai Shao has no smell, and it tastes bitter and a little sour.
Epidermis
If the cork is not completely removed, brown spots will appear, and sometimes transverse lenticels will appear.
Root
Good Bai Shao root will have obvious longitudinal wrinkles and fibrous root scars, but not many.
Cross-section rays
Generally, the cross-section rays of good-quality Bai Shao root will be in the shape of a chrysanthemum. If there are no obvious cross-sectional rays, it is a defective product.
How to buy Bai Shao?
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