Gui Zhi, also known as Cinnamon Twig, is a dried tender twig of the plant Cinnamomum cassia Presl from the Lauraceae family. It is harvested in spring and summer, and after removing the leaves, it is dried either by sun-drying or by slicing and drying.
[Processing Method] 1. According to the book "Shang Han Lun": "Remove the bark." Currently, the original medicinal material is taken, impurities are removed, and it is separated into coarse and fine pieces. It is then washed and soaked until it becomes transparent, thinly sliced, and air-dried or dried at a low temperature.
2. According to the book "Ben Cao Hai Li": "Or use honey-roasted." According to the book "Shi Bing Lun": "Roast with honey water." Currently, refined honey is taken, diluted with a suitable amount of water, poured onto the clean Gui Zhi slices, mixed well, moistened, and placed in a pot. It is heated over low heat, stir-fried until it turns dark yellow, not sticky, and then taken out to cool. For every 100kg of Gui Zhi slices, 15kg of refined honey is used.
[Pharmaceutical Characteristics] Gui Zhi is irregularly shaped small pieces or oval-shaped thin slices. The periphery is brown to reddish-brown with longitudinal ridges. The wood part is yellowish-white or light yellow-brown, and the pith part is square. It has a unique aroma, sweet taste, slight pungency, and the bark has a stronger taste. Honey-roasted Gui Zhi has a dark yellow surface, a slight shine, and a slightly sticky texture. The aroma is weakened, and the taste is sweet with a hint of pungency.
[Processing Functions] Gui Zhi has a warm and pungent taste. It enters the Heart, Lung, and Bladder meridians. It has the functions of inducing sweating, relaxing muscles, warming and promoting the circulation of meridians, assisting yang transformation and qi circulation, and calming and descending qi. Gui Zhi is mainly used in its raw form. Raw Gui Zhi has a stronger warming nature and is mainly used for inducing sweating, relaxing muscles, and warming the meridians and promoting yang, such as in the treatment of wind-cold exterior syndromes with headache, fever, and aversion to cold in the Ma Huang Tang (Shang Han Lun). Honey-roasted Gui Zhi can moderate the pungent and warm dispersing nature and is more suitable for warming the middle and supplementing the deficiency, dispelling cold, and relieving pain. It is commonly used for stomach pain due to deficiency and cold. It is often used together with Bai Shao, Gan Cao, and rock sugar to enhance the effects of warming the middle and supplementing the deficiency and relieving pain. It is used for deficient yang, epigastric and abdominal pain, and those who prefer warmth when pressed. The sweetness of honey can moderate and supplement the deficiency, relieve pain, and alleviate urgency.
