True Friends You Can Rely On for Your Whole Life – Shanyao Yimi Qianshi Porridge

Zhonglibaren, Book 2, Chapter 2, Our Ancestor’s Secret Recipes Are Everywhere, Section 8, pg. 49

(continued from previous post)
If there are friends, in this world, who will help with all they can without calculating what they will get in return, then shanyao (山药), yimi (薏米), and qianshi (芡实) are such friends: never impatient or irritable, always composed and strong, and can be relied on for a whole life.  They will give us the most persistent, quiet and peaceful help when we are totally out of wits.  They are respected as top herbs in the Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic [1] "herbs that can be used for a long time, and can be used together with grains to sustain the human body and prolong life”.  We need to meet our truly good friends often, and keep each other company for a lifetime.  We shall never be tired of doing this.  Isn’t it lucky to have a few friends who always support us?

To weak and old people, young children with deficient original constituents [2], or patients with severe diseases, I often give the same advice for them to eat shanyao (山药) yimi (薏米) qianshi (芡实) porridge.  There were people who asked me if it was possible to gain qi and blood just by eating the porridge.  My answer is that if a person could not build qi and blood by eating the porridge he/she would not be able to gain qi and blood from anything else.  For ordinary food, including those that can increase qi and blood, our initial output of qi and blood is required to digest and absorb, before nutrients can be obtained.  People who are deficient in qi and blood do not have this initial energy.  However, shanyao, yimi, and qianshi are good food and herbs that provide us qi and blood directly with minimal requirement of initial energy output.

Let us talk about shanyao first.  Shanyao is sweat and neutral, nourishing both qi and yin [3].  It nourishes qi without causing stagnancy and fire, and promotes yin without causing wet and phlegm.  It is the most neutral herb to build zhong qi [4]. and is highly praised by all TCM doctors.  Bencao Gangmu (本草纲目) [5] says: “it is good for stomach, spleen, and kidney qi.  It can stop diarrhea, resolve phlegm, and nourish skin and hair”.  Jingyue Quanshu (景岳全书) [6] says: “Shanyao can promote the spleen and is beneficial to xu (虚) [7] symptoms. It increases essence (精) [8] and promotes kidney, and can cure all xu symptoms and damages, and heal all wounds and overstrain.” Yaopin Huayi (药品化义) [9] says “Shanyao is warm and nourishing but not too speedy, and a bit aromatic but not dry.  It can gradually adjust the lungs, and cure lung xu and prolonged coughing.  It is a very reliable herb.”  The famous doctor Zhang Xichun (张锡纯) of the late Qing Dynasty highly recommended this herb.  In his medical treatise Yixue Zhongzhong Canxilu (医学衷中参西录) [10], he recorded using large doses of fresh shanyao to cure many serious and dangerous diseases such as severe asthma and diarrhea.  He said “Shanyao can promote yin and eliminate wet, is lubricating and stringent at the same time.  Thus, it can promote lungs, kidneys, and also stomach and spleen…It is the best in all nourishing herbs, very neutral, and can be used for a long time.”  There are many varieties of shanyao.  Huaiqing Fu (淮庆府) of Henan Province, nowadays the Qinyang City (沁阳市) of Henan Province produces shanyao with best quality.  That is why shanyao is also called huaishan (淮山).  Usually, it is sliced and dried for medical uses.  There are fried and raw shanyao available in the pharmacies.  I recommend dried raw shanyao. (to be continued)

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[1] The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic (神农本草) is an herbal classic, multiple authors, Donghan Dynasty and later additions until Qing Dynasty.

[2] Original constituents are constituents given by parents as it was at birth, including heredity and the state of health at birth.

[3] Yin and yang are concepts used widely in the Chinese culture.  In TCM, yin means the body constituents that provide the basis for yang, while yang represents functions and activities of the body.

[4] In TCM, there are several different kinds of qi’s. Zhong qi is one of them.  It is the qi that flows through the center of the body trunk.  An advanced yogi, martial artist, or meditator can feel it.

[5] Bencao Gangmu (本草纲目) is an herbal classic of TCM, by Li Shizhen (李时珍), 1578, Ming Dynasty

[6] Jingyue Quanshu (景岳全书): A 64-volumes comprehensive treatise of traditional Chinese medicine, 1624, Ming Dynasty. Editor: Zhang Jiebin (张介宾)

[7] Xu (虚) and shi (实) are ways to describe symptoms.  Generally xu refers to empty and weak, and shi refers to full and stagnant.

[8] Essence (精) in TCM is the original force/vitality that starts and sustains life.  It is stored in the kidney.

[9] Yaopin Huayi (药 品化义): Classic of traditional Chinese medicine, 13 volumes, Ming Dynasty, Editor: Jia Jiuru (贾九如)

[10] Yixue Zhongzhong Canxilu (医学衷中参西录): comprehensive treatise of traditional Chinese medicine, by Zhang Xichun (张锡纯), 1909, Qing Dynasty

Shanyao, yimi, and qianshi cooked with rice (山药薏米芡实粥）