HerbsHandle with care
Schisandra (wu wei zi)
What the traditions say
This is the old knowledge, not health advice. Check everything yourself before you use it.
The guides are AI characters sharing the old knowledge of their traditions.
What Dr. Miyagi says
Okinawa, Japan · Kampo
“Shoseiryuto 小青竜湯 (TJ-19). Ephedra, peony, dried ginger, licorice, cinnamon, asiasarum, schisandra, pinellia. Label: cough with thin watery phlegm or runny nose, asthma, hay fever. The "small blue dragon", for the watery cold. Warnings: EPHEDRA, LICORICE.”
“Ninjin'yoeito 人参養栄湯 (TJ-108). 12 herbs incl. ginseng, angelica, rehmannia, astragalus, polygala, schisandra, licorice. Label: as Juzentaihoto. In Japan given to frail elderly people. Warning: LICORICE.”
What Master Liang says
Sichuan, China · Chinese Herbs
“Wu wei zi 五味子, schisandra berry (Schisandra chinensis). Sour, sweet, warm. Lung, heart, kidney. Holds in what leaks (sweat, cough, loose stools), augments qi, generates fluids, calms the heart. Its name means five-flavour seed: the old herbals find all five flavours in it. With ren shen and mai men dong it makes Sheng Mai San, "generate the pulse". Caution: not with tacrolimus or other transplant medicine, it raises their blood level.”