Burdock, “the only seed that rises”
Niu Bang Zi names the fruit of burdock, a small achene often taken for a seed. Its oldest name is less flattering: È Shí, “the ugly fruit”, because of the flower heads covered in hooked spines; it has also been called “the seed that sticks to mice”, because a mouse passing through the flower heads gets caught there. Greater burdock (Arctium lappa) is also a vegetable: around 940, it reached Japan, where its root, gobō, has become commonplace. Its reference terroir is Zhejiang, around Tongxiang; the fruit, harvested in autumn, should be plump, speckled with purplish black and oily inside.
Refreshing the throat, dispersing Wind-Heat
In traditional Chinese medicine, burdock is cold, pungent and bitter in flavour: pungency disperses what has become knotted, bitterness clears out Heat. It enters the Lung and the Stomach, the two meridians that pass through the throat, and its whole speciality lies there: clearing the throat and bringing its freshness there is what it is most often chosen for. It also disperses Wind-Heat, restores the Lung’s descending movement and loosens what has thickened. With forsythia (Lian Qiao), it broadly covers Heat in the upper body; the two come together in Yin Qiao San, one of the most prescribed formulas of the tradition.
Rising and descending at once
A saying sets it apart: “all seeds descend; only burdock seed rises”. Pungent, it rises and goes outwards, which makes it the specialist of the upper body, the throat and the skin: tradition credits it with carrying outwards, through the skin, a Heat held within, and pairs it for this with schizonepeta (Jing Jie). Bitter and slippery, it also carries Heat downwards, through the intestines. Gently roasted, it spares the Spleen and Stomach. Modern research has looked in particular at arctiin.
Key benefits
Gentle freshness & a clear Lung
Through the Lung and Stomach, two meridians that pass through the throat, it brings gentle freshness there.
Wind-Heat dispersed & an open Lung
Pungent and cold, it helps dispel Wind-Heat and restores the Lung’s descending movement.
Serene skin & Heat carried outwards
A specialist of the upper body and the skin, it contributes to skin comfort by carrying held-in Heat outwards, according to Chinese tradition.
