The four Qi and the five flavors
Cold, cool, warm, and hot; sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty. The two coordinates for choosing an herb.
How it starts
Every substance in the Chinese materia medica is described by two coordinates before any indication: its nature (Qi) and its flavor (Wei). It is the equivalent of the coordinates of a point on a map: without them you can memorize “astragalus for fatigue,” but you cannot reason.
The rest of the lesson opens with Chinese Herbal Medicine.
In this lesson you will learn
- Explain what the four Qi describe and why they are not a physical temperature.
- List the five flavors with their action, their organ, and the harm of their excess.
- Read both axes at once to choose between two herbs of the same group.
- Anticipate the damage each flavor does when it is overused.
What is inside
- 1The four Qi (Si Qi 四气)
- 2The five flavors (Wu Wei 五味)
- 3The two axes are read together
- 4How this is used in practice
One of the 33 lessons in
Chinese Herbal MedicineMateria Medica and Formulas
“The needle moves; the herb replenishes.”
The other half of Chinese medicine. How a plant is described in the language of Chinese medicine (the four Qi, the five flavors, channel tropism), the nine major categories of the materia medica, the Jun-Chen-Zuo-Shi architecture of a formula, the twenty classical formulas that anchor practice, and real-world safety: interactions, hepatotoxicity, pregnancy, and product quality.
By the end of the course, you will know how to
- Read the profile of any Chinese herb and know what it does and where it acts.
- Recognize the nine categories of the materia medica and their leading herbs.
- Break down a classical formula into emperor, minister, assistant, and envoy.
- Modify a base formula to fit a specific patient.
- Spot the interactions and risks that mean you should not prescribe.
- Divide the work between needle and herb in the same case.
What you will study
Module 1 · 5 lessons
The language of herbs
Before the first herb: how Chinese medicine describes what a remedy does.
- What Chinese herbal medicine is (and what it isn't)
- The four Qi and the five flavorsYou are here
- Channel tropism, direction, and tendency
- Toxicity, processing (Pao Zhi), and quality
- Dosage forms: from decoction to granules
Module 2 · 8 lessons
The materia medica
The nine major categories, with the key herbs of each and their full profile.
- Releasing the exterior (Jie Biao Yao)
- Clearing Heat (Qing Re Yao)
- Purging and warming the interior
- Dampness, water, and Bi pattern
- Phlegm, cough, and dyspnea
- Regulating Qi and resolving food stagnation
- Moving Blood and stopping bleeding
- Calming the Shen, pacifying the Liver, and opening the orifices
Module 3 · 3 lessons
The tonics
Bu Xu Yao: the star category of modern herbal medicine, and the one most often misprescribed.
- Tonifying Qi and Yang
- Nourishing Blood and Yin
- Astringents and antiparasitics
Module 4 · 5 lessons
Building a formula
From the single herb to the prescription: the part that truly sets Chinese herbal medicine apart.
- Jun, Chen, Zuo, and Shi: the architecture
- The classical formulas you need to know
- The practice formulary
- Modifying a formula
- Prescribing: dose, preparation, and regimen
Module 5 · 3 lessons
Beyond the decoction
The other three ways a plant enters treatment: the plate, the skin and the local herbalist.
- Chinese dietetics (Shi Liao)
- External use: washes, compresses, and plasters
- A bridge to Western herbalism
Module 6 · 9 lessons
Safety and clinical practice
The part that separates a professional from someone selling herbal teas.
- Interactions, liver, and kidney
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, childhood, and older adults
- Clinic I: digestive and respiratory
- Clinic II: gynecology, Shen, and pain
- Clinic III: dermatology
- Supportive care in oncology
- Integrating needle and herb (and using Fitoki)
- Integrated clinical case
- Final exam · Chinese Herbal Medicine
Requirements
Acupuncture I, or equivalent knowledge of Yin-Yang, Wu Xing, the vital substances, and Zang-Fu.
How it works
Specialties
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Read “The four Qi and the five flavors” today
This lesson and the rest of the course: 33 lessons, 10 hours, quizzes and exercises. You pay once and it is yours for life, with one year of Atlas Pro as a gift (if you already have it, it adds to the time you have left).
Chinese Herbal Medicine
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