Ji Xue Teng, “the chicken blood vine”
Ji Xue Teng reads “the chicken blood vine”, and the name comes from what you see: when cut, the stem oozes a bright red sap that thickens in the air. It is a large woody vine of the legume family, Spatholobus suberectus, which climbs very high in tropical and subtropical forests; its reference terroirs are Guangxi, Guangdong and Yunnan. The stem is used, in slices. Everything is judged on the cut surface: it shows three to eight semicircular rings in which wood alternates with a reddish-brown resin, and the more rings there are, the better the slice. In Yunnan, a renowned paste was once made from it once a year, around the Dragon Boat Festival.
Moving and nourishing the Blood
In traditional Chinese medicine, the vine is warm, bitter and sweet in flavour, and the two flavours tell its two actions: bitterness disperses and makes things descend, sweetness nourishes. An eight-character formula sums it up: it moves without breaking, it nourishes without clogging. Most plants that stir the Blood dry it out; most of those that nourish it are heavy and stagnate. The vine does both in moderation, which makes it precious when the Blood is both lacking and slowing down. With Chinese angelica, which nourishes first where the vine moves first, it covers both sides.
Restoring suppleness to the tendons
It enters the Liver, which stores the Blood and governs the tendons, and the Kidney, which governs the bones: it is through this pair that tradition explains its action on the tendons and joints. When the Blood no longer nourishes the tendons, or the fine branches of the meridians close, tradition describes a loss of suppleness; warm and mobile, the vine restores the passage and, since it nourishes, gives the tendons what they need to hold. The Ben Cao Gang Mu Shi Yi credits it with warming the lower back and knees and says it is particularly suited to older people. Beware of namesakes: Da Xue Teng, another red vine, does not have the same use.
Key benefits
Nourished Blood
Sweet, the vine gently nourishes the Blood, without clogging, according to Chinese tradition.
Blood circulation
Bitter and warm, it moves the Blood without forcing it, when it is both lacking and slowing down.
Supple tendons
Through the Liver and Kidney, it makes the tendons supple and supports joint suppleness.
