Witnessed by: TCM · Western · Unani
Chinese peony (Paeonia lactiflora), of the Paeoniaceae family. Herbaceous perennial with large divided leaves and showy many-petalled flowers; native range: Northern China, Mongolia and Siberia; long cultivated as an ornamental and a medicine. Globally recognized as bai shao (白芍); chi shao (赤芍) in Chinese, ud-us-saleeb (عود الصليب) in Arabic, and white peony, common peony in English. The part used is root (white peony peeled and boiled; red peony dried unpeeled). Firm, pale, faintly sweet-bitter root turning astringent and slightly sour on chewing.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CHINESE PEONY
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinese peony
- Scientific name
- Paeonia lactiflora Pall.
- Family
- Paeoniaceae
Form
- Part used
- root (white peony peeled and boiled; red peony dried unpeeled)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sour · bitter
- Western
- bitter · astringent
- Unani
- bitter · astringent
Temperature
- TCM
- white (bai shao): cool · red (chi shao): cold (slightly)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Spleen
- Western
- blood · liver · nerves · uterus
- Unani
- brain · heart · nerves · uterus
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- white peony (bai shao) nourishes blood, preserves yin, softens the Liver, relieves cramping pain and calms Liver yang; red peony (chi shao) clears heat, cools and moves the blood and dispels stasis
- Western
- antispasmodic, nervine, emmenagogue; the classic root for convulsions, spasm and the falling sickness (epilepsy)
- Unani
- muqawwi-e-dimagh (brain tonic), musakkin (sedative and antispasmodic); for epilepsy, palpitation and nervous disorders
Cautions
Contraindications: white peony cautioned in diarrhoea from cold and fullness; red peony avoided in blood deficiency without stasis, and in pregnancy
Toxicity: low; large doses may loosen the bowels
Interactions
- Western
- anticoagulants: mild antiplatelet effect of paeoniflorin
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