Polygala, “the will that reaches far”

Yuan Zhi, the Chinese name for polygala, reads “the will that reaches far”: the will that tradition lodges in the Kidney. Li Shizhen explains the name by the effect attributed to the plant, which benefits the intellect and strengthens the will. Its stems and leaves bear a more modest name, Xiao Cao, “the little herb”, and this double name fed a famous allusion: of the statesman Xie An, long retired in the mountains and then emerging to serve at court, it was said that in retreat he was Yuan Zhi, and once out, a little herb. Polygala tenuifolia, “with fine leaves”, is a small perennial with violet-blue flowers from the sunny slopes of northern China; its reference growing region is Shanxi.

Settling the mind, connecting Heart and Kidney

In traditional Chinese medicine, the root is warm, with a bitter and pungent flavour: pungency opens and disperses, bitterness dries and makes things descend. It is a herb that sets things in motion rather than one that nourishes. It enters the Heart, which houses the Shen, and tradition describes it as a herb that settles a restless mind and clears thinking, especially when overthinking or emotions have scattered it. Its singularity is to enter both the Heart and the Kidney: the Fire of the Heart must descend to warm the Kidney, the Water of the Kidney must rise to cool the Heart, and polygala acts as a messenger between the two. It is thus found in Gui Pi Tang and in Tian Wang Bu Xin Dan.

Dissolving Phlegm, and why it is prepared

Pungent and bitter, the root also serves to dissolve Phlegm. Tradition calls the orifices of the Heart the subtle pathways through which the mind communicates with the outside world, and turbid Phlegm can block them and cloud the mind; in the Lung, it helps bring out thick Phlegm. Raw, however, it is harsh on the throat and the stomach: for internal use, tradition prefers the prepared root, processed with licorice or honey. Licorice removes its harshness and adds its own harmonising power, and the calming action comes out stronger; honey makes it more moistening and gentler on the stomach. Modern research is particularly interested in its saponins.