Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

bì chéng qié / 荜澄茄 / 蓽澄茄 / cubeb

Latin pharmacognostic name: Litseae Fructus

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names: 澄茄 chéng qié; 毕茄 bì qié; 毕澄茄 bì chéng qié

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Interior-warming agents

Properties: Acrid; warm.

Channel entry: spleen, stomach, kidney channels, and bladder channels.

Indications:

• Warms the center and relieves pain: Cold pain in the stomach duct and abdomen; vomiting and retching; diarrhea.
• Dispels bladder cold: Inhibited urination or turbid urine.
• Some sources also give stomach reflux vomiting; dysentery; food accumulation with flatulence; phlegm aggregation.

  Dosage & Method:

  Oral: Decoct (2–5g); use in pills and powders. Topical: Apply as a powder and rub on teeth.

  Warning:

  Contraindicated in yīn vacuity with heat.

  Product Area:

  Piper cubeba: Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and the West Indies. Litsea cubeba: Guǎngdōng, Hǎinán.