Rehmannia 6 in Europe
Mention of Rehmannia 6 (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan) with its
ingredients, functions and uses in a European text
Rehmannia Di Huang
THE Ti huang, which we have been speaking of, is nothing else but the Root of the Great Comfrey; the best is to be found in the Province of Ho nan about the City of Hoai king, whence it is called Hoai king ti huang; these Roots, when they are dry, are as big. as one's Thumb, and a great deal longer. This Root has excellent Properties, much is ascribed to its Virtues in Europe, much more in China;
Rehmannia 6 (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan)
A Chinese Physician, who is a Christian, affirms that the Quality, who regard their Health, take every Morning some small Pills of Ti huang, just as we see many in Europe drink Coffee or Chocolate; some cut this Root into little Slices, and infuse it or else disill it in Balneo Maria [water bath]; others bruise it, and make it up into a Bolus and swallow it, taking some warm Water with it.
It is oftenest mixed with five Ingredients, viz. Aromatics, Cordials, Diuretics, gentle Sudorifics, and weak Acids, in order to raise and disperse the more thro' the Bowels the Virtue of the Ti huang, which always predominates in these Pills.
Poria Fu Ling
Of these Ingredients the principal is Fou lin [Poria]; you must not confound the Root with the Tou fou lin [Smilax], which is the Root of Efquin or China [root]; the Tou fou lin is very common in China, and exceeding cheap; but the Fou lin is very much esteemed, and is very dear.
The Taste of the Fou lin is sweet, its Qualities are mild, and it has nothing that is hurtful in it, or that needs a Corrective: It is a good Remedy in Disorders of the Liver and the Stomach, in the Dropsy and Asthma; being hot in its nature it helps to break the Phlegm which is troublesome to the Mouth and Wind-pipe, and to disperse the Flatuosities which are in the Stomach and in the Side; befides it calms the Pains of the Heart, and the violent Disorders which arise in the Mind by an excess of Sorrow or Fear; it allays great Dryness of the Mouth and Tongue; it hath this double Virtue of curing a violent Flux [Diarrhea] and a Stoppage of Urine; it stops immoderate Vomitings and Convulsions in Children, and, by strengthning the Kidneys, it disposes Women with child for an easy Labor: Neither Vinegar nor sharp Meads must be fed during the time this Medicine is taking. It may perhaps be ask'd, What sort of Shrub springs from Fou lin, what shape are its Leaves, its Flower, and its Fruit? The Chinese Herbalist, who never fails to take notice of these Particulars in treating of Plants, does not ascribe to the Fou lin either Stalk, or Leaves, or Flowers, which gives room to conjecture that it ought to be placed in the Class of Truffles. There is good Fou lin to be met with in the Province of Chen Si; and there is since found better in the Province of Yun nan, which is only made use of at Court, where it is sold for a Taël a Pound. A Merchant, says Father Dentrecolles, brought me one
of these Roots a Foot long, and not so thick in proportion, and as broad as one's Hand, which weighed three Pounds; I believe that the red Bark which covered the white Substance increased the weight of it considerably.
The Fou lin grows also in the Province of Tche kiang, and is used in the Southern Provinces, where it is much valued, but it is not comparable to that of the Province of Yun nan; a learned Physician gives the reason of it, viz. That the Fou lin of the Province Tche kiang, being of a spungy Substance, hath less Body and Strength than that of the Province of Yun nan, and cannot resist the sharp and nitrous Air of Peking; on the contrary the Fou lin of the Province of Yun nan and of Chen Si is solid, has few Pores, and is very heavy.
This different Texture, according to the Remarks of a Chinese Author, comes from hence, That the Mountain Pines, such as are those of the Provinces of Chen Si and of Yun nan, are of a more heavy Substance than the Sea-Pine, or those which grow at a little distance from it :But it may be said, To what purpose do you here speak of Pines? This is the Reason of it, and it confirms the Conjecture already made concerning the Nature of the Fou lin: The Chinese Herbalist says Father Dentrecolles, affirms, 1 That the good Fou lin is found under Ground, upon the Mountains or the Valleys near those Places where old Pines have been cut. 2. That it is form'd and receives its Growth from a most spirituous Substance flowing from those Pines, and spreading in the Mold, upon which account I have been of opinion that the Fou lin might be formed and grow in the same manner as Truffles, which are not fasten'd to the Earth by any perceivable Root; perhaps the Fou lin is a sort of Fungus from the great Roots of Pines which have been cut, whose nutritious Juice kept in the Earth is collected, and produces that Substance which is then soft, or more or less spongy in proportion to the Fatness of the Pine; the Fou lin, which I have had in my Hands, seem'd to me not to have had any Roots by which it was fastened to those of the Pine, and their Herbals speak nothing of them; now if it were fastned srongly to the Roots of the Pine, it might be considered as a fort of Mistletoe of those Roots, juft as the Pine often hath Mistletoe on the upper part of the Tree, which is not joined to it by any Fibre;
altho' it be nourish'd by it: These are the Conjectures of this Father, which will perhaps put us upon searching in Europe after the Fou lin on the Mountains whence Pines have been long since cut.
The same Physician, adds Father Dentrecolles, having assured me that the Fou lin is planted and cultivated, I then thought my self out in my Conjecture of placing it in the class of Truffles; but when he told me that he did not think that when it was planted it had a Stalk and Leaves, I then returned to my first Opinion; for having read in the Dictionary of the Academy, that there are Places where they transplant small Truffles to make them larger, and that being transplanted they do not hoot out either Stalk; Branches, or Leaves, it seemed to me that it might be the same with the planted and cultivated Fou lin: Here are two Observations to be made, which I ought not to omit; the first is, That the Fou lin, when it is used is prepared by taking off the Rind which is useless; and boiling up the inward Substance two or three times: The Second is, That, according to the Chinese. Herbalist, to find the good Fou lin, whose Substance is solid and close, such as comes from the Province of Yun nan, it must be look'd for at about six Foot roundabout the great Pines, digging about six or seven Foot deep; it is pretended that from the Place where it is found there arises a fine Vapour, which the Connoisseurs distinguith by the Eye: The good Fou lin has this Property peculiar to itself, that it lies in the Ground without rotting or being damaged by the Worms, and the longer it lies the more it grows, and the better it is.
THE Ti huang, which we have been speaking of, is nothing else but the Root of the Great Comfrey; the best is to be found in the Province of Ho nan about the City of Hoai king, whence it is called Hoai king ti huang; these Roots, when they are dry, are as big. as one's Thumb, and a great deal longer. This Root has excellent Properties, much is ascribed to its Virtues in Europe, much more in China;
Rehmannia 6 (Liu Wei Di Huang Wan)
A Chinese Physician, who is a Christian, affirms that the Quality, who regard their Health, take every Morning some small Pills of Ti huang, just as we see many in Europe drink Coffee or Chocolate; some cut this Root into little Slices, and infuse it or else disill it in Balneo Maria [water bath]; others bruise it, and make it up into a Bolus and swallow it, taking some warm Water with it.
It is oftenest mixed with five Ingredients, viz. Aromatics, Cordials, Diuretics, gentle Sudorifics, and weak Acids, in order to raise and disperse the more thro' the Bowels the Virtue of the Ti huang, which always predominates in these Pills.
Poria Fu Ling
Of these Ingredients the principal is Fou lin [Poria]; you must not confound the Root with the Tou fou lin [Smilax], which is the Root of Efquin or China [root]; the Tou fou lin is very common in China, and exceeding cheap; but the Fou lin is very much esteemed, and is very dear.
The Taste of the Fou lin is sweet, its Qualities are mild, and it has nothing that is hurtful in it, or that needs a Corrective: It is a good Remedy in Disorders of the Liver and the Stomach, in the Dropsy and Asthma; being hot in its nature it helps to break the Phlegm which is troublesome to the Mouth and Wind-pipe, and to disperse the Flatuosities which are in the Stomach and in the Side; befides it calms the Pains of the Heart, and the violent Disorders which arise in the Mind by an excess of Sorrow or Fear; it allays great Dryness of the Mouth and Tongue; it hath this double Virtue of curing a violent Flux [Diarrhea] and a Stoppage of Urine; it stops immoderate Vomitings and Convulsions in Children, and, by strengthning the Kidneys, it disposes Women with child for an easy Labor: Neither Vinegar nor sharp Meads must be fed during the time this Medicine is taking. It may perhaps be ask'd, What sort of Shrub springs from Fou lin, what shape are its Leaves, its Flower, and its Fruit? The Chinese Herbalist, who never fails to take notice of these Particulars in treating of Plants, does not ascribe to the Fou lin either Stalk, or Leaves, or Flowers, which gives room to conjecture that it ought to be placed in the Class of Truffles. There is good Fou lin to be met with in the Province of Chen Si; and there is since found better in the Province of Yun nan, which is only made use of at Court, where it is sold for a Taël a Pound. A Merchant, says Father Dentrecolles, brought me one
of these Roots a Foot long, and not so thick in proportion, and as broad as one's Hand, which weighed three Pounds; I believe that the red Bark which covered the white Substance increased the weight of it considerably.
The Fou lin grows also in the Province of Tche kiang, and is used in the Southern Provinces, where it is much valued, but it is not comparable to that of the Province of Yun nan; a learned Physician gives the reason of it, viz. That the Fou lin of the Province Tche kiang, being of a spungy Substance, hath less Body and Strength than that of the Province of Yun nan, and cannot resist the sharp and nitrous Air of Peking; on the contrary the Fou lin of the Province of Yun nan and of Chen Si is solid, has few Pores, and is very heavy.
This different Texture, according to the Remarks of a Chinese Author, comes from hence, That the Mountain Pines, such as are those of the Provinces of Chen Si and of Yun nan, are of a more heavy Substance than the Sea-Pine, or those which grow at a little distance from it :But it may be said, To what purpose do you here speak of Pines? This is the Reason of it, and it confirms the Conjecture already made concerning the Nature of the Fou lin: The Chinese Herbalist says Father Dentrecolles, affirms, 1 That the good Fou lin is found under Ground, upon the Mountains or the Valleys near those Places where old Pines have been cut. 2. That it is form'd and receives its Growth from a most spirituous Substance flowing from those Pines, and spreading in the Mold, upon which account I have been of opinion that the Fou lin might be formed and grow in the same manner as Truffles, which are not fasten'd to the Earth by any perceivable Root; perhaps the Fou lin is a sort of Fungus from the great Roots of Pines which have been cut, whose nutritious Juice kept in the Earth is collected, and produces that Substance which is then soft, or more or less spongy in proportion to the Fatness of the Pine; the Fou lin, which I have had in my Hands, seem'd to me not to have had any Roots by which it was fastened to those of the Pine, and their Herbals speak nothing of them; now if it were fastned srongly to the Roots of the Pine, it might be considered as a fort of Mistletoe of those Roots, juft as the Pine often hath Mistletoe on the upper part of the Tree, which is not joined to it by any Fibre;
altho' it be nourish'd by it: These are the Conjectures of this Father, which will perhaps put us upon searching in Europe after the Fou lin on the Mountains whence Pines have been long since cut.
The same Physician, adds Father Dentrecolles, having assured me that the Fou lin is planted and cultivated, I then thought my self out in my Conjecture of placing it in the class of Truffles; but when he told me that he did not think that when it was planted it had a Stalk and Leaves, I then returned to my first Opinion; for having read in the Dictionary of the Academy, that there are Places where they transplant small Truffles to make them larger, and that being transplanted they do not hoot out either Stalk; Branches, or Leaves, it seemed to me that it might be the same with the planted and cultivated Fou lin: Here are two Observations to be made, which I ought not to omit; the first is, That the Fou lin, when it is used is prepared by taking off the Rind which is useless; and boiling up the inward Substance two or three times: The Second is, That, according to the Chinese. Herbalist, to find the good Fou lin, whose Substance is solid and close, such as comes from the Province of Yun nan, it must be look'd for at about six Foot roundabout the great Pines, digging about six or seven Foot deep; it is pretended that from the Place where it is found there arises a fine Vapour, which the Connoisseurs distinguith by the Eye: The good Fou lin has this Property peculiar to itself, that it lies in the Ground without rotting or being damaged by the Worms, and the longer it lies the more it grows, and the better it is.