Chinese medicine story :Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Chinese Angelica (Dang Gui)

Angelicae Sinensis Radix, Chinese Angelica (Dang Gui)

Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui). Dang Gui means return in Chinese. In ancient China, there were a newly married couple. The husband decided to go to mountains to pick up some herbs. He and his wife had an agreement: if he didn’t come back in three years, she may marry to someone else. The wife missed her husband during the time and became ill with irregular periods, agitating and dizziness. After three years she married someone else. Before long his ex-husband came back and asked her why didn’t you wait for me to return? The wife cried and said that you should returned n three years, but you didn’t, also there was no letter at all; Now I had remarried and regretted so much. This guy then gave all his herbs to his ex-wife for her treatment. The wife took the herbs tea and got better afterwards. Since then, this herb was named Dang Gui.

Another story about Dang Gui was in Three Kingdom. After Liu Chan from Shu gave in, Jiang Wei who was a commander in Jiang Men had to fake his surrendering to find a chance later to rebuild Shu again. His mother didn’t know about his plan, sent a letter to blame his surrendering. Jiang Wei could say his plan to his mother, just in case this plan was leaked. He worked out how to tell his mother about his thought eventually. He sent two bags of Chinese herbs to his mother: one was Yuan Zhi meaning ambition; another one was Dang Gui meaning returning to home. His mother understood he had a great plan. Not to let him worry about her, she killed herself.

Angelicae Sinensis Radix, were firstly recorded in a classical masterpiece of TCM Shennong Bencao Jing (200–300 A.D., Han Dynasty). They are so-called “female ginseng”, well-known for treatment of intractable gynecological disorders. They are one of the most used Chinese herbs. It is said that nine out of ten herb formula comprise Angelicae Sinensis Radix. They are mainly produced in south east of Gan Su province. They are spicy in flavour and warm in nature. They are attributed to liver, goldbladder and Pericardium Meridians. They replenish and invigorate blood; regulate periods and alleviate period pain; relieve constipation. Daily dose is 6-12 g.

1, Angelicae Sinensis Radix are used for treating blood stasis, known as microcirculation problems in modern pathology. They have vasodilation effect and improving microcirculation; anti-arthrosclerosis effects; anti-platelet aggregation effects; anti-inflammatory effects; anti-oxidative effects

2, Angelicae Sinensis Radix mimic the effects of estrogen in the body and help balance women’s hormone levels, both restraining and supplementing the body’s production of estrogen as needed.

3,They are very widely used to help establish, support and maintain healthy menstrual balance in women.

4, They have analgesic and mild sedative (calming, relaxing) actions. They are used to treat menstrual and menopausal symptoms, including migraine, cramps, mood fluctuations, and hot flashes. It is also said to help speed a woman’s recovery from childbirth and symptoms of low energy/chronic fatigue.

References
Yi-Chian Wu & Ching-Liang Hsieh
https://cmjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1749-8546-6-32