Xiang Yuan, “the fragrant citron”

Xiang Yuan reads “the fragrant citron”. Its oldest name, Gou Yuan, appears as early as the Eastern Han, and its first medicinal mention, under the Tang, already links it to Qi and Phlegm. Two species are official under this name: the true citron, Citrus medica, a large fruit with a thick, bumpy rind, grown in Yunnan, Guangxi and Sichuan, and the “fragrant round”, Citrus wilsonii, smaller, from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The ripe fruit is harvested in autumn and dried in slices or half-spheres. Its fragrance made it a scholar’s-study object: a citron was placed on the desk for its scent, and the Naxi of Yunnan grew it as much for candying as for perfuming rooms.

Awakening the Spleen, opening the Middle

In traditional Chinese medicine, citron is warm, pungent, bitter and sour in flavour, and associated with the Liver, the Spleen and the Lung. The pungent sets things moving, the bitter descends, and above all the fruit is highly aromatic: tradition holds that what is aromatic awakens the Spleen. Its most common use is to move the Qi and open the Middle: when the Stomach Qi no longer descends and the Spleen Qi no longer rises, the Middle closes up; its fragrance awakens the Spleen, its bitterness gives the Stomach back its downward direction. The Ben Cao Tong Xuan credits it with helping food along and strengthening the Spleen. It also gently moves the Liver Qi.

Dissolving Phlegm, the citron’s strong point

It is with Dampness and Phlegm that it takes the lead: according to tradition, Phlegm forms when Qi stagnates and the Spleen no longer transforms the Fluids; the bitterness of the fruit dries Dampness, and its pungency opens the Lung Qi. It thus acts on the cause and the result at once. Its close relative is Fo Shou, Buddha’s hand, another variety of the same citron tree, stronger for the Liver and Stomach, whereas citron is better for Phlegm and the chest. With aged mandarin peel, it forms the pair of the Middle. Modern research is taking a particular interest in hesperidin.