Herbal Mnemonics 

By Jason Bussell,  MSOM, Dipl. OM

 I am working on a book to help people study for the NCCAOM herb board.  I took the test in February 2005 and failed.  As those of you who know me can attest, I am an extremely intelligent and humble man, so my failure speaks to the difficulty of the test.  I bought every herb prep out there, but I found studying with others to be more helpful because I could remember their mnemonics.  So I am compiling a book of mnemonics about herbs and formulas and I would like yours.  They don’t have to cover every function, but should help remember at least one aspect of the herb or formula.  It can use the pinyin or latin name , but English is not really helpful since it is not on the test.  Please send me your mnemonics and I’ll mention you in the credits of the book.  Send to Jason@acfom.com. 

 Di Yu  know that you’re bleeding?  (Do you know that you’re bleeding)

Because Di Yu (Sanguisorbae Radix) cools the blood and stops bleeding.
 

Huai Hua Mi?  Huia Mi?  Huai am I bleeding out my ass? (why am I bleeding)

Because Huai Hua Mi (Sophorae Flos Immaturus) treats bloody dysentery, bleeding hemorrhoids and heat in the LI; (as well as coughing blood, nosebleeds and uterine bleeding).

 
If you’d been Yu Jin a condom, you wouldn’t have hepatitis right now.  (Using)

Yu Jin (Curcumae Radix) benefits the gall bladder and treats jaundice.
 

Belamcandea is Belam-candy.  And Belam-candy is Sucrets and Halls (it treats sore throat and cough)

She Gan (Bemcandandae Rhizome) treats heat toxin causing sore throat and transforms phlegm to stop cough.
 

Ting Li Zi = Thin Lizzy.  I went to the Thin Lizzy concert and now am coughing and wheezing from all the smoke, and I am bloated and have trouble peeing from all the beer I drank. 

Ting Li Zi (Lepidii/ Descurainaie Semen) treats phlegm in the lungs and excess type cough, and treats fluid accumulation due to obstruction of lung and bladder qi. 
 

Ma Huang   Ma is for mother, cause you want your mother when you’ve got a cold.  Huang is for yellow, like the copius urine it inspires to help get rid of edema

Ma huang (herba ephedra) treats early stage external wind-cold and helps breathing; and it promotes urination and treats edema.
 

The “D” in Di Gu Pi is for deficiency heat.

Di Gu Pi (Lucii Cortex) treats deficiency heat as well as excess heat, and drains both kidney fire and lung heat. 
 

Pu Ji Xiao Du Yin   Pu Ji = pudgy.  Use for pudgy face.    

Pu Ji xiao du yin (Universal benefit decoction to eliminate toxins) treats acute massive febrile disease of the head, which presents with red and swollen face.
 

Thanks to Andrea Friedman Ishikawa for her offerings (presented in italics)
Xia Ku Cao -- Jacque Cousteau sailing on the Caribbean waters Clearing heat and quelling the equatorial fires on his sailboat.

Also, Jacque Cousteau eats seaweed, which treats his goiter (and other nodules); and he helps with sea sickness which can present as dizziness and headache (ascendant Liver yang).  Additionally, he can see under water because his eyes are benefited.

Because Xia Ku Cao (Prunellae Spica) cools liver fire, disperses clumps and benefits the eyes

Another way to remember the effect on nodules is that “The Prunella Spike punctures nodules”
 

Huo Ma Ren--  Oh My, Ren!  could this really be marijuana? I hear this stuff can really loosen your stools, but gently.

Huo Ma Ren (Cannibis Semen) enriches yin, moistens intestines and unblocks dry constipation

 
Chan Tui-- If you're a French singer (chanteur/euse), chan tui can really help, when you have laryngitis from wind heat invasion. You'll soon be singing like a cicada.

Also, cicadas crawling on you can give you a rash and their wings can cause wind; take off their bodies and ingest them to clear up the rash and wind.

Chan Tui (Cicadae Periostracum) cools the lung and soothes the throat, vents rashes, extinguishes internal wind and disperses exterior wind-heat.
 

Xi Jiao (Cornu Rhinoceri)  If a rhino is charging me, I go cold with fear and shake in my boots.   I turn white, eliminating my skin blotches and stopping my bleeding.

Xi Jiao cools blood, stops bleeding, eliminates toxins and clears blotches on the skin, calms the shen and extinguishes liver wind and tremors.
 

Bai Hu Tang (White Tiger Decoction)-  The tiger is white because she lives in the snow, so she is cold; and she is great.  4 greats in fact.

Bai hu tang treats qi level heat that presents with the 4 greats (fever, thirst, sweating, pulse)

 
Hu Qian Wan (Hidden Tiger Pill)  The tiger hides in the bushes.  If he waits there too long, his back and legs will become atrophied.

Because the Hidden Tiger Pill treats atrophy disorder from liver and kidney deficiency.
 

Qing Ying Tang (Clear Ying Level Decoction) - clears heat from the ying level.  Duh.
 

Marguerite Valance offered this mnemonic for the formula Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang,
Pamela Anderson’s real name is Suzy Jiang Qi Tang, and like Pamela, the formula focuses on excess above and deficiency below (excess phlegm in lung with deficient kidneys failing to grasp the lung qi).
 

 How ‘bout I buys you (bai zhu) a towel   This towel dries dampness inside and out; and can be used as a blanket to calm the baby.

.Bai Zhu (Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizoma) strengthens spleen, dries dampness, stabilizes the exterior to stop sweating, and calms the fetus.   

Imagine a man named Leon Chow.  Now, Leon’s a cool guy (slightly cold), but this summer he’s out on the corner, where he is exposed to the wind-heat.  He’s sick and he’s got toxic abscesses on his skin.

Lian Qiao (Forsythiae Fructus) clears heat and relieves toxicity, for external wind-heat with high fever and sore throat; and it reduces abscesses and nodules.
 

She’s young (she xiang), but she’s not too young to have a miscarriage.  So don’t use it in pregnancy. 

She Xiang (secretio moschus) is contraindicated for pregnancy.  It strongly opens the orifices and moves the blood.   
 

So he’s young (Su He Xiang), but he’s not too young to have a stroke.

Su He Xiang (Stryax Liquidis) opens orifices, penetrates turbidity and relieves pain.  It’s for closed-type stroke)
 

After I washy my car in the summerheat, (hua shi) I have to dry it.

Hua Shi (talcum) clears summerheat,  promotes urination and dries dampness (may be used topically)
 

All of the wu’s are warm or hot, all of the nu’s and niu’s are not. 

Wu Gong (Scolopendra Subspinipes),  Wu Jia Pi (Cortex Acanthapanacis Gracilistyli)  Wu Ling Zhi (Excrementum trogopteri seu pteromi) Wu Mei (Fructus Pruni Mume) Wu Wei Zi (Fructus schisandrae Chinensis fruit) and Wu Yao (Radix Linderae Strychnifoliae) are all warm.  Wu Zhu Yu (Fructus Evodia) is hot

Niu Bang Zi (Fructus Arctii Lappae) is cold.  Niu Huang (Calculus Bovinis) is cool.
Niu Xi (Radix Achyranthis Bidntatae) Nu Zhen Zi (Fructus Ligistri Lucidi) Chuan Niu Xi (Fructus Cyathulae Officinalis) are all neutral.
 

Wormy the worm (Wu Mei).  The dehydrated, coughing worm with diarrhea.

Wu  Mei (Fructus Pruni Mume) is sour so it astringes lung qi and diarrhea, generates fluids and it expels worms.  Charred, it can stop bleeding.
 

Dou Chi San (guide the red powder).  The red is the heart fire and it gets guided out through the urethra. 

Dou Chi San clears heart fire and promotes urination.  The same as Mu Tong
 

Hu Qian Wan (Hidden Tiger Pill).  The tiger was hiding in a cramped place, so his bones and sinews are weak. 

Hu qian wan is used for patients (especially seniors) with undernourished tendons and muscles. It also tonifies yin and treats empty heat. 

If you are going to toss your cookies, this herb will help you huo xiang (hold on) to them.

Because Huo Xiang (Pogostemonis/agastaches herba) alleviates nausea.  It also is acrid and slightly warm, enters lung, spleen and stomach, releases the exterior, transforms dampness and harmonizes the middle. 
 

The four valiant men have their arms branded with the royal seal, and now their wounds are oozing. 

Because Four valiant decoction is for ulcerated sores on the limbs from fire-toxins, blood stasis, or improper use of Yang tonics.  And by the way, the formula has five ingredients.  Jin Yin Hua, Lian Qiao, Niu Bang Zi, She Gan, and Ma Bo.   

Da Qing Ye (isatidis folium, isatidis leaf).  “Did I qing you?”  One of the translations of qing is to clear (although in this case Qing means blue-green) .  Da Qing Ye clears heat and fire toxins.  It also cools the blood and dissipates maculae.  It is bitter and very cold.

Gua Lo makes guano.  It moistens intestines and directs turbid phlegm downwards.  It also is sweet and cold.  It clears heat, transforms phlegm heat, unbinds the chest, dissipates nodules and abscesses (particularly in the intestines, lung, and breast).  Si Gua Lo (Retinervus Luffae Fructus) does similar, but also unblocks channels. 

Ju Hua (Chrysanthemi Flos).  My friend Hua just converted to Judiasm to be cool.  The Jew Hua is all about the liver and onions.  Liver, because it calms the liver, extinguishes wind and clears the eyes.  Onions because their pungency disperses the lung), and Ju Hua disperses wind heat.   It is also sweet, bitter and slightly cold.  It can resolve toxic sores and swellings.  Contraindicated in Stomach cold and diarrhea.

Yea! Jew Hua got rid of my carbuncles and sores.  I yell “Yea Jew Hua” so much that I have a sore throat.  Ye Ju Hua (Chrysanthemi Indici Flos) drains fire and resolves toxins.  It treats sore throat and red eyes and can be used as an external wash.  Bitter, acrid, slightly cold.

Bye Jilly (Bai Ji Li).  Jilly is a woman with a red face, due to her ascendant liver yang.  She wears glasses due to eye disorders, and she has an itchy rash. 

Bai Ji Li (Fructus Tribuli) pacifies liver, anchors yang, dispels wind, brightens eyes, and stops itching.  It is bitter, acrid and neutral.

 
Dan Dou Chi (Sojae Semen prepartum, prepared soybean).  In 1982, Musical Youth had a hit song called Pass the Dutchie which was about smoking pot.  The chorus went “pass the dutchie on the left hand side”.  So I say, Pass Dan Dou Chi on the left hand side.  When you smoke pot, the herb gives off smoke, releasing the exterior.   Smoke rises and Dan Dou Chi has an ascendant nature.  It also releases constrained heat above the diaphragm.  When someone takes in too much smoke, it burns their lungs and they cough it out, releasing the constrained heat above the diaphragm.   It eliminates irritability (stoners are often laid back, not irritable).  It’s sweet, slightly bitter, and can be either warm or cold depending on its preparation. 
 

Linking Decoction (Ye Guan Jian) is so named because it addresses the link between liver yin deficiency and its associated symptoms, acid regurgitation, hypochondriac pain.  Remember Linking the Liver.
 

The kidneys are backwards.  Usually, the right side is yang and left side is yin, but this is reversed in the kidney (as shown in the pulses).  So when you Restore the Left (Zuo Gui Yin) of the kidney, it restores the yin.  Restoring the Right (You Gui Wa) restores yang.  You can remember that You is the right because chances are that You are right handed (thanks to Nicole Settle for this one).

Jing Jie- Herba seu Flos Schizonepetae
Schizonepetae = schizophrenic  Imagine a schizophrenic sitting on the couch with the windows open.  He has a rash. 

Herba Schizonepetae dispels wind and helps measles and uticaria
 

The Gypsies put out the fire.  Gypsum = Gypsies

Shi Gao (Gypsum) clears heat from the lung, and stomach, and clears heart-fire. Topical use for burns and sores.
 

Du Huo – Angelica Pubescences Radix: (pubescent angels)  When your little angels hit puberty, they have growing pains. 

Du Huo enters the kidney and treats pain; chronic or acute.  Especially good for wind-cold-damp bi in the legs and lower back.  It also releases exterior and can treat toothaches.
 

Xu Duan (you da one) who saved my baby. 

Xu Duan (Radix Dipsaci) calms the fetus, prevents habitual miscarriage and stops uterine bleeding.  It also tonifies kidney and liver, moves the blood, strengthens tendons and bones, and reduces abscesses and sores.
 

You can’t go wrong with Du Zhong. 

Du Zhong (Eucommia Bark) tonifies Kidney Yang, strengthen s tendons and bones. 
 

It was Shi Hu (she who) helped my thirst and deficiency heat

Shi Hu (Dendrobi Herba) nourishes yin, clears heat and generates fluids.  It also tonifies kidney, liver, essence and improves vision.
 

I Sang Ye a song now that I’m not coughing anymore.

Sang Ye (folium mori albae) expels wind-heat, disperses lung qi and relieves cough.  It also drains liver fire to benefit the eyes, cools blood, stops bleeding, and relieves night-sweats. 
 

These two are separate but very similar.

• I get drunk, but if I drink this, I’m ready to Ge Gen (go again).
• When you have diarrhea, you go, then you have to Ge Gen (go again)

Ge Gen (Radix Puerariae) relieves alcohol intoxication, and relieves diarrhea.   It also relieves wind heat from exterior, generates fluids, and erupts measles. 
 

(Dr. Cai is the dean of the school I attended.)
When I had malaria, it was Chai Hu (Cai who) helped my shao yang disorder and stopped my diarrhea. 

Chai Hu (Radix Bupleurum) relieves Shao yang stage disorders and malaria; it lifts the yang qi and relieves diarrhea; and it disperses liver qi.
 

Fang Feng Tong Sheng Tang - Ledebouriella powder that sagely unblock.  It unblocks the colon.  Treats internal and external excess heat that can manifest as constipation  fever, sore throat, dizziness, thick nasal congestion, mania, etc. 
 

These two were submitted by Tom Hurrle, as he learned them from John Pirog.

Huang Bai = Huang Bo = Down low.  Treats damp heat down low (lower jiao)

Huang Qin treats heat closer to the chin (upper jiao) – thank you Tom and John.
 

I always though of the kidneys as being suspended or “hung” in the back.  So Huang Bai is hung by the kidneys.  (because it treats lower jiao and kidneys)

To be sure, Huang Bai, (cortex phellodendri) clears damp-heat from lower jiao, eliminated Kidney deficiency fire, and drains toxicity. 

Huang Qin (Radix Scutellariae Baicalensis) drains fire toxins from upper jiao, stops bleeding, calms the fetus (scutellariae if the fetus has the scoots) and lowers ascending liver yang.