The Four Characteristics and Five Flavors of Commonly Used Chinese Medicines (I)

The medicinal properties of Chinese medicine, that is, the four qualities and five flavors, elevation, floating and sinking, medicinal attribution, as well as the nature of the drug itself, such as light, heavy, moist, dry and other properties of the texture.

1, the four sexes: cold, cool, warm, hot

The four sexes, also known as the four qi, refers to the Chinese medicine can be divided into cold, cool, warm, hot four properties.

The four qualities of Chinese medicine are usually differentiated into strong, weak, slow and urgent. For example, the same belongs to the cold, there is a slight cold, cold, cold, cold.

In the four properties of Chinese medicine, cold and warm are two opposing properties. In other words, cold and cool are of the same nature, as are heat and warm. Cool is next to cold and warm is next to hot.

In addition, some Chinese medicines are of flat nature, i.e., the medicinal properties are calm, which means that the attributes of cold and heat are not significant.

Cold and cool medicines: medicines that usually have the effects of clearing heat, diarrhea, detoxification, cooling the blood, and nourishing yin, and that can treat heat evidence, are called cold and cool medicines.

Warm-heat medicines: usually have the effect of clearing heat, warming the interior, and helping Yang, and can treat the cold evidence of drugs, called warm-heat medicines.

Peaceful medicines: medicines that can be taken regardless of whether they are cold or hot.

Tomorrow we will share with you the five flavors of Chinese medicine.