Wiseman’s Chinese Medical Database

tiān kuí zǐ / 天葵子 / 天葵子 / semiaquilegia root

Latin pharmacognostic name: Semiaquilegiae Radix

Alternate English names:

Alternate Chinese names:

Origin: Plant

Use: medicinal

Category: Heat-clearing agents / Heat-clearing toxin-resolving agents

Properties: Sweet, bitter; cold.

Channel entry: liver, spleen, and bladder channels.

Indications:

• Clears heat and resolves toxin; disperses swelling and binds: Toxin and swelling of welling-abscesses and sores, including mammary welling-abscesses, clove sores, and boils; scrofula.
• Heat strangury (rè lìn): Tiān kuí zǐ disinhibits urine and frees strangury.
• When combined with other medicinals, it can be used to treat heat strangury (rè lìn).
• Modern applications: Tiān kuí zǐ is used for liver cancer, adenocarcinoma of the breast, and lymphatic tumors. For this purpose, it is combined with bàn zhī lián (半枝莲 Scutellariae Barbatae Herba, bearded scutellaria;) and bái huā shé shé cǎo (白花蛇舌草 Oldenlandiae Herba, oldenlandia;).

Dosage & Method:

Oral: 3–9g in decoctions; steep in wine or use in powders. Topical: Apply crushed.

Product Area:

Jiāngsū, Húnán, Húběi, and to a lesser extent ānhuī, Guǎngdōng, Guìzhōu, Yúnnán, Jiāngxī, and Zhèjiāng.