Man Jing Zi, the fruit that rises

Man Jing Zi reads “the fruit of the creeping Jing”: the first character sets the spreading chaste tree, which runs over the sand, apart from its upright neighbour in the same genus. A pharmacopoeia adage singles it out: “among fruits and seeds, all make things descend; only Jing Zi rises”. It is the fruit of an aromatic shrub of the Verbenaceae, the simple-leaf chaste tree, which grows on coastal sands and lakesides and is planted on Chinese coasts to hold the sand. Harvested from September to November, in several passes, the fruit is spherical, greyish-black and covered with a fine whitish-grey bloom; Jiangxi is one of its recognised growing regions.

Clearing the head, brightening the eyes

In traditional Chinese medicine, the fruit is slightly cool, pungent and bitter: pungency disperses Wind, bitterness clears Heat. But the essential lies in its lightness, which Li Shizhen sums up thus: “its body is light and floating, it rises and it disperses”. It is associated with the Bladder, whose Tai Yang meridian passes over the top of the skull and the nape of the neck, and with the Liver, which according to tradition opens into the eyes. Its signature is to clear the head and brighten the eyes: tradition uses it when the head feels heavy, as if wrapped, and when the gaze loses its clarity.

A direction rather than a force

Its own strength is modest, and that is what defines its use: the fruit gives the direction, the supplementing herbs provide the push. It is readily added to a formula to steer it towards the upper body. With chrysanthemum, it clears Wind-Heat from the head and the eyes: one disperses, the other cools. The dry-fried fruit, the most widely used form today, is gentler on the Stomach. It should not be confused with the common European chaste tree, another plant of the same genus, foreign to the Chinese pharmacopoeia. Modern research is particularly interested in casticine.

Key benefits

Wind & Heat dispersed

Pungent and slightly cool, it dispels the Wind and clears the Heat that rise to the head, according to Chinese tradition.

Clear vision & bright eyes

Through the Liver, which opens into the eyes, it promotes clear vision; the classics credit it with brightening the eyes.

Eyes & clear head

Light and rising, it carries its action towards the head and supports eye comfort, according to Chinese tradition.