A story of heritage, plants and balance.
The calabash is a gourd that, once hollowed out and dried, becomes a light, sturdy container. For centuries, itinerant Chinese physicians carried herbs and pills in calabashes as they travelled from village to village. That is where our name comes from.
What began as a herbalist's shop in Paris's 13th arrondissement has become Laboratoire Calebasse, guided by the same purpose: to make Chinese herbal tradition accessible without compromising the standards it demands.
Two generations, three chapters, one shared purpose: to preserve the depth of an ancient body of knowledge and give it a meaningful place in modern life.
LIU Shao Hua, a gynaecologist and practitioner of Chinese medicine, founded « À la Calebasse Verte » in Paris's 13th arrondissement. The aim was never to build a brand. It was to practise, to teach and to make Chinese herbal knowledge genuinely accessible in France.
Her son, WU Ruosi, carried the story forward and founded Laboratoire Calebasse. A doctor of pharmacy and practitioner of Chinese medicine, he brings two complementary perspectives together: traditional Chinese medicine provides the framework, while modern science provides the tools to study, test and refine. The word « Laboratoire » in our name reflects that approach.
Herbal teas, whole herbs, food supplements and classical formulas: today, Calebasse keeps this knowledge alive in several forms while remaining rooted in its historic Parisian home, where personal advice and human connection remain central.
They come from Chinese tradition, but they are not rigid rules. They still guide how we advise, research and formulate today.
Care before technique. This is the principle LIU Shao Hua has upheld since 1997 and passed on to the entire team. Every recommendation should combine professional knowledge with genuine care, with your wellbeing coming before any other consideration.
Chinese tradition places great importance on maintaining balance in everyday life. That principle continues to shape our approach today: supporting wellbeing before small imbalances become harder to ignore.
Research can always go deeper. A good formula, however, does not need to be complex for complexity's sake. We look for combinations, proportions and preparation methods that make sense, and remove what is unnecessary.
The breadth of our catalogue is one of the main reasons practitioners and individual customers across France have trusted us over the years.
Acupuncturists, naturopaths and integrative medicine physicians across France choose Calebasse for the reliability of our formulas, the quality of our ingredients and the rigour of our approach.
Understanding a herb means knowing where it comes from, how it is prepared and what form it takes before it becomes part of a formula.
Trace every ingredient to its source, respect traditional processing and control every step.
We have never believed that a technical specification alone is enough to choose an ingredient. We examine the region of origin, botanical species, preparation method and manufacturing conditions.
Our standards bring together two approaches we do not see as opposites: the accumulated knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine and modern methods of identification, testing and production.
Our quality charter defines how we work. These commitments define who we work with and under what conditions.
Nature is the source of our ingredients. We comply fully with CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and refuse any trade that could threaten the survival of a wild plant or animal species.
We do not partner with laboratories that test on animals, and we do not use products obtained through the killing of animals. The few animal-derived materials we use come from existing by-products and are reserved for external-use products.
We have zero tolerance for child labour. We refuse to purchase from suppliers that employ children, remain attentive to working conditions among our growers and require all partners to respect International Labour Organization standards.
We favour small local growers, whose work allows for close attention to cultivation and quality. The principle is the same as for our ingredients: know where they come from and under what conditions they were produced.
Because our work depends on nature, we also have a responsibility to reduce our environmental impact. We work to reduce waste and favour reusable or recyclable packaging wherever possible.
Laboratoire Calebasse recycles packaging returned to us. Send us your empty containers, or leave them with your practitioner, to help us keep materials in circulation for longer.
Laboratoire Calebasse has grown, but its story remains rooted in one place: our herbalist's shop at 15 rue de la Vistule, Paris.
The shop continues what has been at the heart of Calebasse since 1997: direct contact with people, time for thoughtful advice, and a living approach to Chinese herbal medicine that goes far beyond a catalogue of ingredients.
A few kilometres away, our laboratory carries the same work forward in another form: selecting, preparing, formulating and producing with the same attention to each herb and to the way ingredients work together.
Calebasse does not see tradition and modernity as opposites. We identify what is most valuable in tradition, examine it with today's tools and adapt it to contemporary life without losing its meaning along the way.
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