I hope you find these herb facts moving. We’re almost done with the first week, so it’s time to take a bow!

But first, let’s talk about Wang Bu Liu Xing…

HERB FACT:

Wang Bu Liu Xing (vaccariae semen) belongs to the category Herbs that Invigorate the Blood.

It has such a strong action of promoting movement that its name means “Even the King cannot stop its movement.”

EXPLANATION:

So this is the story, or at least how it was explained to me:

Normally, if you were out walking around and you saw the king, you would be required to stop and bow. But Wang Bu Liu Xing’s nature is so moving that, even if it saw the king, it would not stop.

(I suppose you could also say that even if the emperor ordered it to stop, Wang Bu Liu Xing would not stop.)

This moving nature has two main applications: in the upper body, it promotes lactation; in the lower body it unblocks menstruation.

So Wang Bu Liu Xing is useful for insufficient lactation due to stagnation, and for amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, and delayed initiation of labor due to stagnation.

INSUFFICIENT LACTATION:

Insufficient production of breast milk usually has two causes: qi and blood deficiency (there is not enough raw material to produce the milk) or Liver qi stagnation (the milk is there but the flow is blocked).

Because of its moving and unblocking nature, Wang Bu Liu Xing is best used for the latter.

Other “unblocking” herbs that can promote lactation include Mu Tong, Tong Cao, and Dong Kui Zi.

A SUBSTITUTE FOR PANGOLIN SCALES:

Wang Bu Liu Xing has very similar actions to Shan Jia (manitis squama), which is pangolin scales.

However, pangolins are endangered, and you cannot get their scales without killing the animals. So Shan Jia is no longer used.

Whenever I think of Wang Bu Liu Xing, I always remember a funny story from my herbs class in school:

While we were discussing Wang Bu Liu Xing, my Chinese teacher wanted to mention that this was a substitute for Shan Jia, but he couldn’t remember the English word “pangolin.”
So he tried to describe the animal, saying that this herb was used in place of the scales of that animal. But the problem was, none of us knew what a pangolin was. The best we could come up with was armadillo.
So even weeks later there was one girl who was still confused about if armadillos were a substitute for pangolins, or if Wang Bu Liu Xing was armadillo scales.

Traditionally, Shan Jia and Wang Bu Liu Xing were used together as paired herbs, but now Wang Bu Liu Xing is used instead of Shan Jia (at least when the goal is to promote movement of blood and encourage lactation). 

ANOTHER WAY TO PROMOTE LACTATION:

This isn’t really related to Wang Bu Liu Xing, but I always thought this was kind of funny…

There’s another substance that invigorates blood and promotes lactation, and that’s Tu Bie Chong (wingless cockroach).

Regarding its usage, Bensky quotes Kou Zong-Zhi:

If breast milk does not flow, grind one [and boil] in half a cup of water, then filter it clear. Have the patient drink it–but do not let her know [what it is].

So I hope you’re in a good flow and you don’t need any cockroaches to break up your stagnation.

We’ll see you next time with the first practice quiz!

(When you're ready for that, click "Complete and Continue.")

Source: Bensky, D. (2004). Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press. pp. 642-643, 1066-1067, 658