Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

qīng pí / 青皮 / 青皮 / unripe tangerine peel

Latin pharmacognostic name: Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium Viride

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names: 青柑皮 qīng gān pí; 青橘皮 qīng jú pí

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Qì-rectifying agents

Properties: Bitter and acrid; warm.

Channel entry: liver, gallbladder, and stomach channels.

Indications:

Qīng pí courses the liver and breaks qì, and also disperses accumulations and transforms stagnation. It is used for patterns of depressed liver qì with distending pain in the chest and rib-side, as well as for distending pain in the breast, possibly with lumps. It may also be used for swollen and painful welling-abscesses of the breast, as well as for cold mounting (hán shàn) pain. Qīng pí treats food accumulation with qì stagnation characterized by distension and pain in the stomach duct and abdomen. Qīng pí breaks qì and disperses binds, so it is used to treat qì stagnation with blood stasis, manifesting in concretions, conglomerations, accumulations, and gatherings.

Dosage & Method:

Oral: 3–10g.

Product Description:

(a) 四花青皮 is the peel with four incomplete longitudinal incisions that give it the appearance of a four-petalled flower. The skin is blackish green on the outside and yellowish white on the inside yellowish white on the inside. (b) 个青皮 is the 2–2.5 cm in diameter, has a blackish green uneven skin. It is hard in substance, and when cut open the inner layers of skin appear as a yellowish white color. The skin is 1.5–3 mm thick.

Quality:

Four-petalled unripe tangerine peel should be dark on the outside and pale on the inside, and it should have a high oil content. Whole unripe tangerine should be solid and have a thick skin and strong aroma.

Product Area:

Produced mainly in Fújiàn, Zhèjiāng, and Sìchuān, but also in Jiāngxī, Yúnnán, and Húnán.

Etymology:

The name qīng pí 青皮 literally means green-blue skin.

See also:

jú (橘 Citri Reticulatae Fructus, tangerine)