Yan Hu Suo, the corydalis that unties
Yan Hu Suo bears a name whose character has changed over the centuries. Its old name was Xuan Hu Suo; struck by a naming taboo, the character 玄 was replaced by 元, hence Yuan Hu, still read on prescriptions. Chinese corydalis is a small perennial of the poppy family, 10 to 30 cm tall, with clusters of pinkish-purple tubular flowers bearing a spur. After fruiting, the whole aerial part dies back; underground remains a small spherical tuber, harvested from May to June. Its reference terroir is Zhejiang, around Dongyang and Pan’an, where it ranks among the eight renowned herbs of the province.
Moving the Blood and the Qi together
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, corydalis is warm, with a pungent and bitter flavour: pungent disperses and moves, bitter brings down, and tradition reads in it a plant that opens rather than nourishes. It enters the Liver, which governs free flow, the Heart, which governs the vessels, and the Spleen, which holds the Middle. Li Shizhen called it “the foremost substance for moving the Blood and transforming the Qi”: it moves the Qi stagnation within the Blood, and the Blood stasis within the Qi. Because it unties both knots at once, tradition credits it with soothing what tightens, from the belly to the chest.
A herb of movement, but tempered
A classical text ranks it among the substances that open, but on the measured side: it restarts what has set without the vehemence of the herbs that break. It is prepared with vinegar, its reference form: the acidity makes its constituents more soluble in water and markedly strengthens its soothing action. With cyperus, the great herb of Liver Qi, it takes the knot from both ends: when the Qi moves, the Blood follows. With Chinese angelica, which nourishes the Blood, it does not deplete it.
Key benefits
Invigorated Blood & Moving Qi
Warm and pungent, corydalis invigorates the Blood and moves the Qi according to Chinese tradition.
Soothed Belly & Well-being
Traditionally used to soothe what tightens, it soothes the belly when the Qi and the Blood knot there.
Smooth Circulation & Knots Undone
It activates circulation and releases blockages, while keeping to measure.
