Application of Bitter Medicinals with Effect of Promoting Diuresis in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica in Classical Prescriptions
JIA Lijie
QU Yi
Abstract：The article first screened out 27 kinds of bitter medicinals with the effect of promoting diuresis from Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica,analyzed their efficacy characteristics,then combined the original text of Treatise on Cold Pathogenic and Miscellaneous Diseases to analyze the compatibility and application regularities of 15 medicinals used in classical prescriptions,and finally drew the following conclusions.①In the medicinals with the effect of promoting diuresis recorded in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica,the bitter medicinals accounted for the largest proportion.Most of them were cold in nature and have the efficacy characteristics of dissipating masses,eliminating food stagnation,removing blood stasis,and clearing heat.②The bitter medicinals with the effect of promoting diuresis in Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica were mostly used in classical prescriptions to treat various syndromes of qi counterflow caused by stagnation.When combined with pungent medicinals and bitter medicinals with other effects,they were respectively applicable to the stagnation symptoms caused by the accumulation of qi and water in the chest,abdomen and epigastrium,and water accumulation diseases gathering in the blood or accompanied by a heat syndrome.③The primary characteristic of bitter medicinals with the effect of promoting diuresis lies in their downward-directing and breaking/dispersing properties.④The herb pair of Chishao(Paeoniae Radix Rubra)-Fuling(Poria)has the effect of nourishing yin and promoting diuresis.Its application in classical prescriptions suggests that water accumulation can also cause exterior heat.⑤Zhimu(Anemarrhenae Rhizoma)in Guizhi Shaoyao Zhimu Decoction(桂知母汤)serves dual functions:"draining water"and clearing heat.
Keywords：bittermedicinals with the effect of promoting diuresisTreatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseasesclassical prescriptionsShennong's Classic of Materia Medicacompatibility regularities
Publication Date：2025-05-05
Online Publishing Date：2026-05-22(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：6( 516-521 )