Witnessed by: TCM · Unani
Chinese sumac (Rhus chinensis), of the Anacardiaceae family. Deciduous shrub or small tree with winged leaf-stalks; the drug is the aphid gall; native range: hills and open woodland across China, India and East Asia; the medicinal gall is an insect growth on its leaves. Globally recognized as wu bei zi (五倍子), yan fu zi in Chinese, summaq in Arabic, and Chinese gallnut, nutgall sumac, sumac in English. The part used is the leaf-gall (nutgall); the fruit used as sumac. A light hollow horn-shaped gall, grey and downy without, brittle and resinous within, intensely sour and mouth-puckering.
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 SUMAC
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Chinese sumac
- Scientific name
- Rhus chinensis Mill.
- Family
- Anacardiaceae
Form
- Part used
- the leaf-gall (nutgall); the fruit used as sumac
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sour · astringent
- Unani
- sour · astringent
Temperature
- TCM
- cold (han)
- Unani
- cold & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Lung · Large Intestine · Kidney
- Unani
- stomach · intestines · liver
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- lian fei (astringes the Lung), se chang zhi xie (binds the intestines to stop diarrhoea), gu jing (secures essence), lian han (checks sweating), zhi xue (stops bleeding)
- Unani
- qabiz (astringent), habis (styptic and haemostatic), muqawwi-e-meda (stomach tonic), dafe-e-ishal (checks diarrhoea)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- acute cough or diarrhoea from an external pathogen or damp-heat, where premature binding traps the evil
- Toxicity
- the very high tannin content may upset the stomach and hinder iron absorption with long use
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