Ji Min, also known as Xingye Sha Shen or Ganjue Geng, is a perennial herb. Its tender leaves are edible and it is a good wild vegetable in spring. Its roots can be used as medicine or made into preserved fruits, known as Sha Shen or Nan Sha Shen, which have the effects of strengthening the middle and relieving thirst, treating boils and swelling, black blisters on the face, and poisoning from swallowing a fishhook.
【Growing environment of Ji Min】
Ji Min is found in various regions and grows in grassy slopes. It is distributed in Henan, Shaanxi, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. It is propagated by seeds. It prefers loose and fertile soil. The suitable temperature range for its growth is 10°C to 20°C, with the optimum temperature being 20°C. It can tolerate temperatures as low as -20°C.
Ji Min is harvested from spring to late autumn. Its tender leaves can be used as food and it is a good wild vegetable in spring. Its roots can be made into preserved fruits, which have a sweet and good taste and are known as Sha Shen or Nan Sha Shen when used as medicinal food. It should be noted not to be used together with Fan Li Lu.
【Storage method of Ji Min】
Rinse fresh Ji Min with clean water, then peel the outer skin and air dry it. When using it fresh, keep the harvested roots in soil at a moderate temperature indoors and use as needed. Ji Min can be used for food when fresh, but it can be stored for a long time and used as medicinal material when dried. Especially with its sweet taste, it is a mild but rare medicinal material.
【Efficacy and functions of Ji Min】
Ji Min has the effects of strengthening the middle and relieving thirst, treating boils and swelling, black blisters on the face, and poisoning from swallowing a fishhook.
1. Strengthening the middle and relieving thirst (after ejaculation, the penis remains erect, known as "strengthening the middle"; if there is excessive drinking and urination at the same time, it is called "relieving thirst", which can cause abscesses).
Take one pig kidney, one liter of black soybeans, and one and a half dou of water. Boil until half remains. Remove the residue and keep the juice. Then add three taels each of Ji Min and gypsum, two taels each of ginseng, poria cocos, magnetite, anemarrhena, kudzu root, scutellaria baicalensis, caulis trachelospermi, and licorice root. Cook the juice until it reduces to three liters. Take it in three doses. This prescription is called "Shi Zi Ji Tang".
Take one tael each of Ji Min, soybeans, poria cocos, magnetite, caulis trachelospermi, cooked rehmannia root, cortex dictamni, radix scutellariae, dendrobium, and deer antler, half tael each of ginseng and agarwood, grind them finely, and mix with a mashed pig stomach. Stir well and make into pills the size of a wuzi (a traditional Chinese weight unit). Take seventy pills each time on an empty stomach, and swallow with salt water. This prescription is called "Ji Wan".
2. Treating boils and swelling
Crush fresh Ji Min roots and take the juice orally, and apply the residue to the sore.
3. Black blisters on the face
Take one tael each of Ji Min and cinnamon, grind them finely. Take one teaspoon each time, and swallow with vinegar soup.
4. Poisoning from swallowing a fishhook
Take eight taels of Ji Min and six liters of water, boil until it reduces to three liters. Take five he of the decoction five times a day. Ji Min can also be used to detoxify fishhook poisoning. According to "Compendium of Materia Medica", Ji Min is sweet, cold, and non-toxic. Swallowing a fishhook can be life-threatening. Take eight taels of Ji Min and six liters of water, boil until it reduces to three liters. Take five he of the decoction five times a day.
