Effects of Changpu

Speaking of Changpu, I think of the Dragon Boat Festival. I remember that on the fifth day of May, during the Dragon Boat Festival, Changpu and mugwort would be inserted on the lintel of the front door of my house, and then in the afternoon or evening, I would use this to boil water to give the children a bath. It can detoxify, relieve itching, and remove moisture. It is also said that washing with this will prevent you from getting prickly heat in the summer. However, Changpu still has ornamental value, and is also used for the greening of waterscapes and water bodies. So, apart from this, what other functions and effects does Changpu have? Let's learn about it below.

Acorus calamus is slightly warm in nature and pungent in taste. It has the effects of opening the orifices, resolving phlegm, regulating qi, activating blood circulation, dispersing wind and removing dampness. It is often used to treat epilepsy, convulsions, phlegm-induced coma, wind-cold-dampness arthralgia, muteness, toxic dysentery, and external application for carbuncles, scabies, and calamus. It is used for epilepsy, phlegm-heat convulsions, chest and abdominal distension, and chronic bronchitis. There are dried rhizomes of the Saxifragaceae plant Rockia that are used to impersonate Acorus calamus on the market. Be careful to identify them when using them.

1. Phlegm blocks the clear orifices and causes coma. This product is pungent, bitter, dry, warm and has a penetrating aroma. It not only has the effect of opening the orifices and refreshing the mind, but also has the effects of removing dampness, resolving phlegm and eliminating filth. Therefore, it is good at treating mental confusion caused by the obstruction of the clear orifices by the evil of phlegm, dampness and turbidity.

2. Forgetfulness, insomnia, tinnitus, and deafness. This product enters the heart meridian, opens the heart, benefits the mind, calms the mind, improves hearing and eyesight, so it can be used for the above-mentioned symptoms.

3. Lockjaw dysentery. This product has aromatic properties that can eliminate dampness, dry up dampness, and regulate gastrointestinal qi. It can be used in combination with Coptis chinensis, Poria cocos, and Echinochloa chinensis, such as Kaiyin Powder (Medical Insights), to treat food indigestion and heaviness after dysentery caused by dampness, heat and toxicity in the colon.

4. Dampness blocks the middle burner, causing fullness, distension and pain in the abdomen. This product is pungent, warm and aromatic, and is good at removing dampness and turbidity, invigorating the spleen and stomach, promoting the flow of qi stagnation, and relieving bloating. It is used to treat dampness and turbidity blocking the middle part of the body, abdominal distension, and pain. It is often used together with Amomum villosum, Atractylodes macrocephala, and Magnolia officinalis. If the dampness turns into heat, there is accumulation of dampness and heat, body heat, vomiting and diarrhea, chest and abdominal distension, and yellow greasy tongue coating, it can be used in combination with Coptis chinensis, Magnolia officinalis, etc., such as Lianpu Drink (from "Cholera Treatise").

In addition, the effects and functions of calamus include the following: it also has a good effect on hoarseness, carbuncles, rheumatism, and bruises.

Calamus wine recipe

Recipe: 3 fen of calamus (soaked in rice water overnight and then roasted), 0.5 liang each of akebia, lodestone (crushed and wrapped in cotton), cinnamon (peeled off), 1 liang each of siler (remove the fork) and angelica dahurica (remove the reed head).

Preparation method: Grind the above six ingredients into pieces as big as sesame seeds, soak them in one dou of wine, and keep them for seven days in cold weather and three days in hot weather.

Main indications: Treat deafness.

Usage: Drink three or two cups on an empty stomach every day, and take it as needed.