Moutan (Peony) Bark (mu dan pi)

Cortex Moutan Radicis

Properties: Pungent and bitter in flavour, cold in nature, it acts on the heart and liver channels. The herb is mainly acting on the heart and liver channels, and particularly circulated in the blood. The bitter and the cold properties can remove heat from the blood, and the pungent and cold can promote the blood circulation. The characteristics of its functions are cooling blood and stopping bleeding without stasis, and promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis without inducing bleeding. It is often used to treat the syndromes of excessive and stagnant heat in the blood.

1. For epidemic febrile diseases with pathogenic heat in the ying and blood divisions, caused by heat invasion of blood manifested as maculus and eruption, hematemesis and epitaxis. It is often used in combination with the heat-clearing drugs, such as rhinoceros horn and rehmannia root, known as Xijiao Dihuang Tang (Decoction of Rhinoceros Horn and Rehmannia).

2. For the syndromes of heat due to Yin-deficiency, lingering of heat in the later stage of febrile diseases and interior heat due to Yin-deficiency, it can be used in combination with Yin-nourishing and heat-clearing drugs, such as sweet wormwood, turtle shell and rehmannia root, known as Zhi Bai Dihuang Wan (Pill of Anemarrhena, Phellodendron and Rehmannia), Qinghao Biejia Tang (Decoction of Sweet Wormwood and Turtle Shell).

3.  For amenorrhea and menorrhalgia due to blood stasis, ecchymoma caused by trauma, it is often used in combination with the drugs for promoting blood circulation and relieving stasis, such as peach kernel, cinnamon twigs and Chinese angelica root. In cases of superficial suppurative infections, periappendicular abscess, it is used in combination with the drugs for clearing heat, detoxicating, subduing swellings and draining pus, such as honeysuckle flower, forsythia fruit, peach kernel, etc.

Precautions: This herb should be used with caution in pregnant women.