What is the difference between Baifuzi and Fuzi?
Baifuzi and Fuzi are drugs from different families, with different properties, flavors, and effects. They should not be confused with each other.
"The Compendium of Materia Medica" states: "Baifuzi is a drug from the Yangming meridian, similar to Fuzi, hence the name, but it is not actually Fuzi."
Family and Morphology
Fuzi is the subterranean stem of the perennial herbaceous plant Aconitum carmichaeli, which belongs to the Ranunculaceae family and is mainly produced in Sichuan. Its outer skin is gray-black, and the inside is white. Depending on the different processing methods, it can be called Yanfuzi, Paofuzi, Heifupian, or Baifupian. Please note: Baifupian is the result of peeling off the outer skin of Fuzi and fumigating it with sulfur to make it white. Do not interpret Baifupian as Baifuzi based on literal meaning.
Baifuzi looks similar to Fuzi but is smaller. The Baifuzi referred to in the "Chinese Pharmacopoeia" is the tuber of the perennial herbaceous plant Colchicum autumnale from the Liliaceae family. It is also known as Yubaifu because it is produced in Yuzhou, Henan. Its surface is whitish or pale yellow, and the inside is white. In some regions, such as Shanghai, the Baifuzi commonly used is the tuber of the perennial herbaceous plant Veratrum nigrum from the Ranunculaceae family. Because it is mainly produced in Northeast China, it is also called Guanbaifu. Its surface is brownish, and the inside is white. In Shanghai, Yubaifu is called Jixinxian Baifuzi and Guanbaifu is called Zhujie Baifuzi.
Properties, Flavors, and Effects
Fuzi: It has a strong pungent and hot flavor, is toxic, and enters the heart, spleen, and kidney meridians. Its functions are to revive yang and rescue collapse, warm the middle and relieve pain, and dispel cold and dry dampness. It is mainly used for spleen and kidney yang deficiency, cold and dampness in the yin, and loss of yang and cold dampness obstructing pain, especially suitable for lower jiao cold dampness.
Baifuzi: It has a pungent, sweet, and warm flavor, is toxic, and enters the Yangming stomach meridian. Its functions are to dispel wind and cold, expel cold dampness, and relieve spasms and pain. It is mainly used for wind and phlegm accumulation, deviation of the mouth and eyes, and headache and convulsions caused by wind in the upper jiao.
