Shang Han Herbs/ Wen Bing Herbs

[Guest guest]

Jason wrote:

" Also herbs that enter the heart were attributed to bitter.

Again, nothing to do with downbearing "

 

Isn't the Heart the emperor who reins over the kingdom...

and physiologically the Qi of the Heart descends downwards to connect with

its domain?

 

There is a lot of confusion about tastes, even among the Nei jing authors...

many different passages and many ideas that have sprung forth from them.

The one taught the most in TCM colleges is the idea that the bitter taste

enters the heart,

the sweet to the spleen, the sour to the liver, the pungent to the lungs and

the salty to the kidney.

 

Other passages relate to tastes in different ways (Su wen 22, 74)....

 

Did Zhang Zhong Jing and later doctors utilize the 5 or 6 tastes in their

formulations and rationale?

 

I'm interested in pursuing the question of how the taste of herbs have been

seen in history...

it may be informed by literal taste of the herb, but there are numerous

herbs which don't fit the literal taste profile.

 

The ancient doctors must have thought about the literal taste of herbs in

relation to their functions...

as a law of signatures, but possibly also because sweet herbs have more

sugars in them,

acrid herbs have more aromatic oils in them, sour herbs may have a more

acidic profile and

bitter herbs might have more alkaloids. All of these chemicals interact

with the body's chemistry

and relate to certain organs more than others.... For instance, sweet herbs

(sugars) activate the pancreas (spleen).

 

What do people on the group think about this?

 

While we're at it, what does the flavor tell us about the directionality of

herbs?

If not, why was the flavor and Qi so important that all of the materia

medicas listed these qualities?

 

These days, it seems that the flavor of the herbs is not even considered in

a formulation.

 

K

 

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