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Today, I would like to present the first part of a three-part series about flavor combinations in Chinese herbal medicine. You may remember that the issue of flavors is one of the things I’ve been discussing with my students at NCNM. The question of what the symbol of flavor actually means and how it can best be used by practitioners is one of considerable importance, in my opinion. I tend to become suspicious of any piece of information that is said over and over again, yet never described in much detail. Flavor fits that description, in my experience.
In my class, I ask students to conceive and complete a project on a topic of interest in the realm of herbal medicine. Most students decide to dive deeply into exploring a single herb, using research, art, poetry, dance, horticulture, cooking and a variety of other means to understand the herb more completely. It’s been wonderful to see them open to the experience of really knowing herbs. Some students choose to move in another direction, working with a particular topic.
One of my students, Mitesh Master, opted for the latter. He has decided to spend two terms exploring aspects of the herb flavor conversation. I asked his permission and he said it was alright if I shared his work with Deepest Health readers. Because the paper is long, I’ll split it up. Please feel free to comment – he does read the blog and is eager to engage in conversation about the topic. Enjoy!
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An exploration of Flavor Combinations, by Mitesh Master
Purpose of Experiment
This experiment was designed out of an understanding that single herbs operate differently is conjunction with another single herb. Herb pairs help manifest particular qualities of the the herbs in a synergistic fashion which can then serve in the process of healing. This particular exploration is around combinations of flavors.
Do two herbs with different flavors have a synergistic effect?
The herbs used for flavors come from the Tang Ye Jing.
|
Dominant > |
Sour |
Pungent |
Sweet |
Bitter (Kidneys) |
Salty (Heart) |
|
Sour |
Wu Wei Zi |
Xi Xin |
Maidong |
Houpo |
Zhuye |
|
Pungent |
Zhishi |
Gui Zhi |
Gan Cao |
Dahuang |
Huangqin |
|
Sweet |
Shaoyao |
Sheng Jiang |
Ren Shen |
Zexie |
Baizhu |
|
Bitter |
Dan dou Chi |
Chuan Jiao |
Dazao |
Xuanfu Hua |
Huanglian |
|
Salty |
Shuyu |
Fuzi |
Fuling |
Xiaoshi |
Di Huang |
Table 1: Tang Ye Jing Primary and Secondary Flavors
The Tang Ye Jing assigns organs to flavors differently than the NeiJing. The Tang Ye Jing assigns flavors based upon shared gesture. The NeiJing assigns flavors based upon contrary gestures. For example, the Lung has a natural gesture of contraction, that akin to Metal and Fall. Therefore then NeiJing would assign Pungent to the Lung because its gesture is dispersive. Therefore, it would counteract the over-contractive pathology of the Lung. However, the Tang Ye Jing would assign the flavor of Sour to the Lung because they share the same gesture.
|
Flavor |
Suwen Chapter 5 |
Tang ye Jing Organ |
Representative TYJ Herb |
|
Sour |
Goes to Liver and Restrains |
Lungs |
Wu Wei Zi |
|
Pungent |
Goes to Lungs and Disperses |
Liver |
Gui Zhi |
|
Sweet |
Goes to Spleen and Tonifies |
Spleen |
Ren Shen |
|
Bitter |
Goes to Heart and Descends |
Kidneys |
Xuanfu Hua |
|
Salty |
Goes to Kidneys |
Heart |
Di Huang |
Table 2: Flavors and Organs according to Tang Ye Jing and NeiJing SuWen
The crux of this experiment comes from the Neijing SuWen Chapter 5: 陰陽應象大論 (Yīnyáng yìng xiàng dà lùn – Great Treatise on Yin and Yang’s Application to Appearances) states the following:
辛甘發散為陽
Xīn gān fā sàn wèi yáng
Pungent and sweet emit and disperse forth yang
Along with another held true statement regarding flavors that I was unable to find in the Neijing was “Sweet and sour generate fluids.” Unknown to me at the time of the conception of the experiment, the next line in Chapter Five states:
酸苦涌泄為陰
Suān kǔ yǒng xiè wèi yīn
Sour and bitter gush and leak forth yin
Knowing these two statements I wanted to see if this was true with the flavor assignments of the Tang Ye Jing hold these principles as well. Furthermore, I wanted to investigate the other flavor combinations. The following table shows the ten different dual combinations of flavors and which ones I investigated.
|
Two Tastes Combinations |
Outcome |
|
Pungent + Sour |
Not Investigated |
|
Pungent + Sweet |
Investigated |
|
Pungent + Bitter |
Not Investigated |
|
Pungent + Salty |
Not Investigated |
|
Sour + Sweet |
Investigated |
|
Sour + Bitter |
Not Investigated |
|
Sour + Salty |
Not Investigated |
|
Sweet + Bitter |
Investigated |
|
Sweet + Salty |
Investigated |
|
Bitter + Salty |
Not Investigated |
Table 3: Two Flavor Combinations
In the future I would like to investigate the rest of the dual combinations as well as triple, quadruple and all five flavors. A list in the appendix shows the possible combinations.
Methods and Design
The real question is if there is a convergence of experiences amongst herbs on a subjective level.
A primary baseline of subjective experience harmonized to the Tang Ye Jing flavors was done with the primary flavors from Table 2 above.
Following that a search for experiential convergence was taken first looking to see if Pungent and Sweet did indeed generate yang and if Sour and Sweet generated fluids. This was a secondary baseline was to inform and guide me through the final portion of the experiment: tasting flavor combinations that were not commented upon.
While there seems to be seven or eight, depending on how you interpret the SuWen lines from above, herbs that were left open to interpretation. However, in order to refine my methods and for the sake of time, I decided to limit the scope to two more combinations that center around the Sweet Flavor. They were Sweet with Bitter and Sweet with Salty.
With that said, one can see in Table 1, a combination like Pungent and Sweet can result in several herbs to be tasted. First would be Ren Shen with Gui Zhi. In addition I’d want to investigate the Primary Sweet, Secondary Pungent Herb: Gan Cao. As well as the Primary Pungent, Secondary Sweet Herb: Sheng Jiang. This balloons the experiment to twelve herbs to be tasted as shown in Table 4.
|
Dominant -> |
Sour (Lungs) |
Pungent (Liver) |
Sweet (Spleen) |
Bitter (Kidneys) |
Salty (Heart) |
|
Sour |
|
Effects to Be Investigated |
Generate Fluids (Would like to Find Su Wen Passage) |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Pungent |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Generates Yang Qi (Would like to Find Su Wen Passage) |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Sweet |
Generate Fluids (Would like to Find Su Wen Passage) |
Generates Yang Qi (Would like to Find Su Wen Passage) |
|
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Bitter |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Salty |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
Effects to Be Investigated |
|
Table 4: Herbs to Be Tasted
For the calibration herbs 6 oz of each were decocted in 8 oz of water and gently boiled to a 4 oz reduction. For the combinations dual single herbs 12 oz were decocted in 16 oz of water in a gentle boil and reduced to 8 oz.
They were ingested slowly savoring the experience. Each tasting lasted about 20 to 30 minutes for the full effect and about 10 minutes between tasting to clear the experience.
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In the next part of the series, Mitesh provides the basic (TCM) and more advanced (Shennong Bencao Jing, Heiner Fruehauf) information about the herbs he tastes. I will provide links to more information as available. The third part of the series will explain Mitesh’s conclusions and thoughts about further research. I will, with his permission, post his follow up paper at the end of this term.
Again, please feel free to comment!
Tags: shennong-ben-cao-jing, students, senses, Cultivation, Theory, tang-ye-jing
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great Work Mitesh!
I’m looking forward to the remaining work!
One quick comment: Good luck finding the statement that Sweet and Sour generate fluids or engenders yin in the Suwen. :)
Chapter 22 says that Pungent moistens…
Michael
I had to scroll quite a way to find your comment, but just had to stop by and say that your entry in the Social Media Summit contest just made me laugh out loud — oh, you know – lol, but really this time!
Good luck, — and to me, too. Perhaps we’ll both win and meet there!
~Linda
Mitesh,
Great work, this is a great project!
brandon
I’ve really enjoyed reading your articles. You obviously know what you are talking about! Can`t wait to read the other part
Hi Mitesh and Eric,
I have a very different reading of the Chinese you used, so I thought I would share it. Let me break down the title of Su Wen Chapter Five:
陰陽 Yin and Yang
應 corresponding
象 image
大論 great treatise
(I cover the term 應象 in Vol I of Classical Chinese Medical Texts…Ch 7 I think)
I would say this is closer to Great Treatise on the Correspondences of Yin and Yang. If you look closely at the contents, especially the beginning part of this chapter, you will see a list of what corresponds to yin and yang (heaven, earth, water, fire, etc.)
I see the two lines you included as simply a continuation of further categorizing concepts into yin and yang categories. The character 為 is used to mean “is considered” or more clearly in the context of these correspondences, “is”. Let me just list a couple of the earlier correspondences so that the pattern is clearer:
清陽為天
clear yang is heaven / clear yang corresponds to heaven
濁陰為地
turbid yin is earth/ turbid yin corresponds to earth
地氣上為雲
earth qi (that) ascends is clouds
天氣下為雨
heavenly qi (that) descends is rain
So by extension, I would say the whole sentence 氣味辛甘發散為陽，酸苦涌泄為陰 means: The qi and flavors of pungent, sweet, emitting and dispersing (herbs) are yang; sour, bitter, upwelling and draining (herbs) are yin.
So yin and yang are not objects of the verbs, but are equated to the action of the verbs and the flavors. Also, yin and yang here mean the relative categories, not substances yang qi and yin qi. Also, this text is not stating that pungent and sweet flavored herbs emit and disperse, but is saying that herbs that do any one of these four things are in the category of yin.
At any rate, I fully support your efforts in getting first hand knowledge of the herbs by tasting and experimenting. I hope I didn’t burst your bubble at all and good luck with your studies!
Pretty good post. I just came by your blog and wanted to say that I’ve really enjoyed reading your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!
Thank you everyone who spent time reading this. I’m glad to hear all the feedback!
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