Hello, I am glad to answer your question. White peony (Paeonia lactiflora) and red peony (Paeonia lactiflora) are commonly used in Chinese medicine clinics, although their names are similar, but the direction of the disease is very different, how should we distinguish between them? In fact, the similarity between the two is only the root of the same family of plants (white and red belong to the buttercup family), but in terms of appearance and properties, principle of action, flavor and efficacy, and clinical application, they are very different. Next, Dr. Zhu combined with the theory of Chinese medicine from the history of paeoniae to the role of flavor, for you to do a comprehensive differentiation and analysis.

★ Red peony was mixed with white peony in the Han Dynasty

In ancient times, white peony and red peony were once used together. The pharmacological monograph Shennong Ben Cao Jing (神农本草經) written in the Han Dynasty recorded the properties and flavors of peony, please note that white peony and red peony were not categorized at that time, and according to the description of the efficacy of the application of the text, it can be judged that there was no categorization. "For example, the Classic of the Materia Medica says, "Paeonia lactiflora is beneficial to qi", which is in line with the effect of white peony as a tonic, and it also says, "Paeonia lactiflora is the mainstay of abdominal pain from evil qi, and it promotes blood paralysis, which is similar to the effect of red peony as a means of invigorating blood circulation and removing stasis. Read the east han medical doctor zhang zhongjing's "typhoid" can be found, peony used for camp weak guard strong, the so-called camp weak is yin blood insufficiency, make up for the camp weak with white peony; women's blood stagnation, zhongjing also use peony, this peony may be red peony. From this we can see that red and white peony were mixed in the Han Dynasty.

Paeonia lactiflora, with a bitter and flat taste, is good for evil abdominal pain, removes blood paralysis, breaks up cold and heat, hernia, relieves pain, induces urination, and benefits qi - Shennong Ben Cao Jing (The Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica)

★The cultivation of peonies in the Tang and Song dynasties produced white peonies

Because of the ornamental value of peony flowers, the Tang Dynasty gradually produced the habit of planting peonies, such as the "Ode to the Flowers of the Paeonia" said: "Yeye paeoniae, planted in the front garden". During the Tang and Song dynasties, the appearance of peony plantations changed its trait pattern, originally wild in Shaanxi, Sichuan red peony, transferred to Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and other places, so that the plantations changed its trait odor. The difference between red peony and white peony was first introduced in the Collected Notes on the Classic of the Materia Medica (本草经集注).

The color of rootstock of planted peony is lighter than that of wild peony, which is brownish-black, the skin and wood are gradually tightened, and the section of rootstock is denser than that of wild peony, which forms the present "white peony". Wild peony maintains the characteristics of black rhizome and loose texture, which is close to the present "red peony".Song Dynasty "evidence class herb" will be called white peony "golden peony", red peony called "wood peony". In fact, Dr. Zhu found through observation, many of the same species of herbs, wild and planted products have a large difference in appearance, such as Cangzhu wild products have a large odor, cut section brownish-yellow, obvious cinnabar points, planted products, the odor is smaller, section white and no cinnabar points. White peony is due to the planting of the changes that occur after the production. Cultivated products odor morphology changes, drug efficacy is bound to have a different manifestation. The Shennong Ben Cao Jing Hundred Record" said "ancient and modern names are different from each other, the earth and soil production, the smell is different," the smell of peony produced by the variation, the elevation of the drug will be changed.

There are two kinds of Paeonia lactiflora, one is Golden Paeonia and the other is Wooden Paeonia. Golden Paeoniae is used to save the disease, white in color with lots of fat and flesh; Wooden Paeoniae is purple in color and thin with lots of veins--Zhenqi Ben Cao (The Materia Medica).

★ White peony's medicinal properties, flavor and principle of action

• White Paeonia lactiflora, anciently known as "Golden Paeonia", is now the main production area of Anhui and Zhejiang, Bozhou's white peony production is large, the specifications of the classification, the appearance of the herb isCylindrical in shape, brownish red or brownish black in color, white in color after peeling, heavy in texture, flat and dense in section, with obvious radial texture (chrysanthemum heart), the specific principle of action is as follows:

• White peony is bitter, sour and sweet in flavor, "Nei Jing" says "Sour and bitter gushing and draining is yin", sour and bitter drugs are mainly sedative, good at nourishing yin, sedative is cold, cold drugs are cold, cold can clear heat. Sour into the liver, bitter into the heart, the liver and gallbladder, the heart and the small intestine, white peony can act to the liver and gallbladder, as well as the heart and the small intestine, can be cleared of liver and gallbladder fire, sour cold sweet drug can realize the effect of sour and sweet yin, the product can soften the liver and nourish blood, can be used for liver and blood insufficiency, the liver and the liver qi to the Qi Qi is not smooth, the emergence of pain, so the white peony can soften the liver and nourish the blood, relieve the pain, but also can be cleared of the heart and the small intestine of the heat of the stagnant evil.
• In addition, white peony enters the liver, and in large quantities, it can also invigorate blood, as the liver stores blood and can regulate blood volume. Draining the small intestine can realize the effect of diuresis.

Stopping the abdominal pain of Blood deficiency, astringing the fever of Blood deficiency - Materia Medica Zhengyi

• ② White peony, the herb texture heavy, color white, heavy main descending, color white belongs to gold, gold can control wood (liver), liver is wood, plus the taste of acid into the liver, endowed with heavy gold. The liver is wood, plus the flavor of acid into the liver, endowed with heavy gold energy, restraining the liver yang on the reversal, soften the liver and nourish the blood can also be adjusted to the liver yang hyperactive.

White peony (exclusively into the liver), white and red, white peony, sour taste, slightly cold and non-toxic, work exclusively into the liver meridian blood astringent qi - "Materia Medica Seek Truth" (本草求真)

• The effects of Paeonia lactiflora can be summarized as: nourishing blood and softening the liver, easing the pain, astringing the yin and camping, and calming the liver yang. Clinically, it is mostly used for the pain of liver-blood deficiency, ophthalmopathy, dizziness, and hyperthyroidism.

★The medicinal properties and principles of action of red peony

• Red peony, ancient name "wood peony", now mostly wild species, mainly produced in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Hebei, the quality is better. Shaanxi, Sichuan has "mountain red peony" can also be used in medicine, a few areas have planted red peony, but the efficacy is not stable, the amount of marketed medicine is not much. Characteristics of red peony are black or dark brownish-black color of the outer skin, and there are longitudinal lines are not smooth, the texture is looser than white peony, there are cracks and voids, the taste of the taste of the bitter taste, acidic taste is small, which is different from the white peony. The skin and heart (wood) are looser. The specific principle of action is as follows:

• (1) red peony medicine, taste bitter and sour, bitter in acid light, bitter can drain heat, medicinal properties of cold, cold can clear heat, bitter can enter the heart, because the heart is the master of the blood, the heart fire is only hyperactive, inevitably the blood is subjected to heat, the blood and the heat knot, so the red peony can be cleared and cooled the blood, blood circulation and blood stasis.
• ② red peony, sour flavor into the liver, cold medicinal properties, can clear the liver and diarrhea, clinically, Chinese medicine practitioners are mostly used for liver fire with.

Red Paeonia lactiflora, with a bitter taste that can drain the liver, and a sour taste that enters the liver, specializing in draining liver fire--Drug Chemistry Meanings

• On balance, red peony has the following effects: clearing away heat and cooling the blood, activating blood circulation and removing blood stasis, clearing the liver and removing fire.

★ Summary of the difference between white peony and red peony

①Differences in appearance and traits

White peony drinking slices have smooth outer skin and section, the skin is closely connected with the wood, more brittle than red peony, broken with a crisp sound.

The outer skin of Paeonia lactiflora has longitudinal stripes and is woody in texture, with a looser texture than Paeonia lactiflora, and the skin is more sparse to the wood. Note that Dr. Zhu found that the end of the root of Paeonia lactiflora, which is close to Paeonia lactiflora, is easy to adulterate into the drinkable tablets of Paeonia lactiflora but there is also a clear difference in taste between the two.

②Difference in flavor

White peony has a sour and bitter taste with an average bitterness. Red peony has a medium bitter flavor with sweetness after bitterness, which is where the difference lies.

③Difference in efficacy and effect

White peony is on the tonic side and can soften the Liver, nourish Blood, relieve pain, calm the Liver and submerge Yang.

Radix Paeoniae Alba favors drainage, which can clear heat and cool blood, drain fire and remove blood stasis.

Summarize: During the Han Dynasty, white peony and red peony were known as "peony", and there were more wild products in that period, which were similar to red peony's traits, and during the Tang and Song Dynasties, the emergence of planted products changed the type of peony, and the planted peony is now white peony. Due to the planting of a long time ago, so that the two traits of the efficacy of a great difference. Such as white peony skin smooth, more boiled after slicing process, section dense porcelain. Paeonia lactiflora is generally the original herb after water boring can be sliced and processed, so the section is more wood.

Clinically, white peony favors tonicity and can be used in liver-blood deficiency and liver-yang hyperactivity. Radix Paeoniae Alba favors excretion and can be used in cases of exuberant Liver Fire, exuberant Heart Fire, and Blood-Heat intertwining. In fact, the two are sometimes interchangeable, as Xu Shuwei mentioned in "Fay Wei Lun" (伤寒发微論) that "in Gui Zhi Tang (桂枝汤) for external stroke, white peony can be used in cases of deficiency of Ying and Blood, and red peony can be used in cases of deficiency of Ying and Blood and heat".

Lastly, I hope my answer was helpful!

Note: The text refers to ancient works on materia medica and classical theories of Chinese medicine, combined with personal experience and opinions, and pictures from the Internet.

Thanks for the invitation to answer.

Paeonia lactiflora, as a classic herb commonly used in Chinese medicine, has a long history of use.

The Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica says: "Paeonia lactiflora, bitter taste, flat, the main evil abdominal pain, remove blood paralysis, break the firm accumulation, cold and heat, the disease mark, relieve pain, diuretic, beneficial to the qi." In the Song Dynasty has been widely planted, visible dosage.

Nowadays, the clinical use of peony is mostly divided into white peony and red peony separately, naturally, with their different effects.

For example, the Southern Song Qi Liang period of the great physician Tao Jinghong in the "Materia Medica Classic Annotated" began to say: "now out of the White Mountain, Jiangshan, Maoshan best, white and long feet. The rest of the place also have and more red, red small benefit." Is based on the root of the red and white to distinguish between white peony, red peony different, but then failed to attract the attention of the medical profession.

It is only since the Song Dynasty that Chinese medicine practitioners have gradually made a clearer distinction between white peony and red peony.

How did the ancients differentiate white peony from red peony based on color, texture, and shape?

First, let's see how the ancients distinguished between white peony and red peony -

The Northern Song Dynasty pharmacologist and scientist Su Song in his book "Ben Cao Tu Jing" quoted from "An Qisheng Serving and Practicing Method", "There are golden peony, white color with more fat flesh, wood peony, purple color with thin and more veins."

And it also says: "Summer flowering, there are several kinds of red, white and purple ...... autumn time to pick the root, the root also has red and white two colors."

As you can see, during the Northern Song Dynasty, we in Chinese medicine have already discussed the distinction between white peony and red peony very clearly.

To the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty imperial physician Chen Jia Mo in his "Materia Medica Meng Tsuen" for the red and white peony is divided in this way: "flowering although the color of the five products, the human medicine but red and white two roots."

Qing Dynasty Chinese medicine practitioner Ye Zhi Monk in the "Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing Zan" also said: "Gold thick fat greasy, purple thin pulse more."

All of the above are differentiated by various generations of medical practitioners from the shape, color, and texture of white peony and red peony.

How did ancient Chinese medicine practitioners distinguish white peony from red peony by the color of the flowers?

There are also many ancient and modern Chinese medicine practitioners who distinguish between white peony and red peony from the color of the flowers.

For example, in the Yuan Dynasty, Wang Hao Gu, who once studied medicine with Element Zhang along with Li Dong Yuan, thought this way, "If you see red flowers today, they are red peony, and if they are white, they are white peony." Think so, plain and simple.

And what did Li Shizhen of the Ming Dynasty think?

Li Shizhen also believes that "the red and white of the root follows the color of the flower." It means that the color of the root follows the color of the flower, so differentiating between white peony and red peony based on the color of the root or flower can be used.

However, Zhang Xichun did have a different point of view on this, he wrote in the "medical Zizhong ganshi lu": peony "its flowers or pink or purple, but no matter what color, the color of its roots are the same."

As such, Zhang Xichun clearly pointed out that the flowers are not only red and white to distinguish white peony from red peony, and that the roots are not so distinctly red and white.

This knowledge, so that the Ming Dynasty physician Lu Zhi Yi on the white and red two drugs is gradually recognized, he in the "Materia Medica multiply Ya half brown" is another innovative method, which said: peony "white root solid white, red root is also white, each root cut to take a piece of, each with the law of the record, the fire wine moistened, covered over the night, the white root to white, red root to red."

Lu Zhiyi's division was also agreed upon by Liu Ruojin and Zhang Zhicong of the Qing Dynasty, which is certainly important, but for today's medicinal herbs in such large quantities, it would be too unworkable to go to such tedious lengths to identify them.

Later, some medical doctors also suggested that the root of the domestic species is large and white, and the root of the wild is red and thin, but this division is not enough to be based on.

We have combed through the differences and divisions that people make between white peony and red peony, and we now know that it lies mainly in the method of preparation.

White peony, remove the head and tail roots, wash, scrape off the rough skin, boil water slightly until no hard center, dry in the sun.

Red peony, on the other hand, simply must have the soil, rhizomes, and roots removed and dried for raw use.

It turns out that the distinction between white peony and red peony is so simple.

Difference in efficacy between white peony and red peony

The difference in the efficacy of white peony herb and red peony herb was clearly identified during the Song Dynasty, and until today, there is basically a consensus - white peony is good at astringing yin and camping, softening the liver and nourishing the blood, and easing pain; while red peony favors cooling the blood and activating the blood.

From the above, it can be seen that White Paeonia lactiflora favors tonicity, while Red Paeonia lactiflora favors breakage, which is the basic characteristic of the separation of the two herbs, Red and White Paeonia lactiflora.

White peony is often used with atractylodes to tonify the spleen, with Sichuan peony to diarrhea the liver, with ginseng to tonify the qi, with angelica to tonify the blood, with licorice to stop abdominal pain, and with yellow dock to stop diarrhea and dysentery.

And red peony, often with rhinoceros horn (now replaced by water buffalo horn) cool blood to stop bleeding, with betel nut to treat the five drenching, with the mast to diarrhea liver fire, with the windbreak hair pox and rash, with the smallpox pollen to dispel the fetish and regenerate the new.

From the above usage, many paeoniae pairs were later derived.

For Chinese medicine applications, how can white peony be used other than boiled and dried?

According to different concoctions, people have also explored more uses of white peony herb in practice, in addition to ordinary boiled and then dried, there are also fried white peony, wine white peony, vinegar white peony, earth fried white peony, gui fried white peony, white peony charcoal and so on, and their efficacy is also each with its own strengths.

For example, fried white peony, which is mild in nature, can soften the liver, harmonize the spleen and stop diarrhea;

White peony fried in wine is good for menstruation, warming the middle cold and relieving abdominal pain;

Stir-fried white peony with vinegar can be endowed with its acidic and astringent nature, which has the effect of astringing fluid and benefiting yin;

The earth fried white peony, slightly the same as fried white peony, but more cut in the nature of the middle Jiao, and its with roasted licorice, for the best agent to strengthen the spleen, and can strengthen the spleen to regulate blood;

White peony charcoal, on the other hand, stops bleeding.

This shows the superb and wonderful use of Chinese medicines by ancient and modern Chinese medicine practitioners over the centuries.

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In traditional Chinese medicine, many drugs although the same thing, but if the medicinal parts of the different parts of the drug then it will be different, such as ginger and ginger skin. Some are the same thing, the same medicinal parts, but the picking season is different, the effect of the drug is not the same, such as orange red and green skin. But the same thing, the same medicinal parts, picking season is the same, if the color is different, there will still be different drug effects, such as today I want to talk about the red peony and white peony.

Red peony and white peony are both the dried roots of peony in the buttercup family, but red peony has another drug source in the buttercup family, Sichuan red peony, which is usually harvested in summer and fall. Although the two drugs in botany is not much difference, but in traditional Chinese medicine are two very different drugs.

According to Chinese medicine, red peony is bitter in flavor, slightly cold in nature, and belongs to the liver meridian. It has the effect of clearing heat and cooling blood, dispersing blood stasis and relieving pain. Tao Hongjing recorded in the Collected Notes on the Classic of Materia Medica, "Paeonia lactiflora red has a small benefit, and the common formula to relieve pain is not to reduce angelica." It is used for treating warm poisonous hair spots, vomiting and epistaxis, eye redness and swelling, liver depression and dystocia, menstrual closure and dysmenorrhea, abdominal pain in the abdomen and mass, bruises and injuries, carbuncle, swollen sores and ulcers, and other conditions. The dosage of decoction is 6-12 g. Caution should be exercised in treating blood deficiency without blood stasis and carbuncle ulcers, and against veratrum.

Radix Paeoniae Alba is a cold blood-activating herb with good effect of cooling blood and activating blood circulation. It can be used in the treatment of heat into the camp blood, warm toxin spotting, vomiting and epistaxis, etc. It is often paired with some heat-clearing and detoxifying and blood-cooling medicines to stop bleeding. The blood activating and stasis dispersing effect of red peony can be used in the treatment of many kinds of blood stasis certificates, such as the treatment of blood-heat stagnation and dysmenorrhea, it can be used with medicines such as motherwort and danshen to activate blood and regulate menstruation; such as the treatment of blood stasis and abdominal pain in the abdomen and impediment, it can be used with medicines such as cinnamon sticks, peony and poria powder to activate blood and eliminate symptoms.

Red peony can also be used for bruises, bruises and pain, and heat and toxicity, carbuncle sores and ulcers. And red peony specializing in the liver meridian, can clear the liver meridian heat, for the treatment of liver fire attack, resulting in eye redness, swelling and pain or eye cataracts and other diseases.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), white peony has a bitter, sour flavor and is slightly cold in nature. It belongs to the liver and spleen meridians. It has the functions of nourishing blood and regulating menstruation, softening the liver and relieving pain, astringing yin and stopping sweating, calming the liver and submerging yang. It is used for treating headache and dizziness, dystocia, abdominal pain, contracture of limbs, blood deficiency and atrophy, menstrual disorders, spontaneous sweating, night sweating and other conditions. Decoction dosage of 6 to 15 g. Evidence of deficiency and cold should not be applied alone, anti-veratrum.

White peony is both a blood tonic and menstruation regulator, for blood deficiency and menstrual disorders have a very good therapeutic effect, such as the treatment of blood deficiency, yellow face, menstrual disorders, can be used in conjunction with ripened glutinous rice, Angelica sinensis, and other blood tonic medicines; and for the treatment of menstrual abdominal pain, can be combined with painkillers Yanhuisuo with; and also for the treatment of yin deficiency, blood-heat menstruation and dislocations, can be used in conjunction with Colla Corii Asini, the skin of the earth's bones. White peony is acidic and can be collected, which can astringe the yin and stop sweating. It can also be used to treat sweating symptoms such as stopping sweating due to deficiency of surface, spontaneous sweating due to deficiency of qi and night sweating due to deficiency of yin by combining with medicines for relieving surface, tonifying qi and clearing deficiency heat.

Paeonia lactiflora's pain relieving effect is the result of nourishing the blood and softening the liver, treating blood deficiency and liver depression, coercive headache with angelica, atractylodes macrocephala, chai hu and other medicines; treating the tendon and vein constriction and pain arising from the loss of nourishment of the liver in the blood deficiency, often with licorice; treating the liver and spleen disharmony, abdominal pain and diarrhea, often with atractylodes macrocephala, antifungal and other medicines. Finally, white peony can also treat hyperactivity of liver yang, for hyperactivity of liver yang dizziness and headache, it is often used with dihuang, hyssop, ochre and other drugs.

After these two drugs, and finally add a cultural trivia, peony, also known as "away from the grass" in ancient times, Dong Zhongshu once said: "a peony can be away from, so I will not give it."

White peony and red peony are like dangzhi and dangshen, only the names are similar, other things such as color, shape, and action are very different.

White peony is a commonly used blood tonic, white peony has nourishing blood and astringent Yin, soft liver and spleen, relieve the role of pain, and blood and diarrhea, liver, spleen and stomach, can be used to treat blood deficiency, leakage and dehydration, with false sweating and other evidence, with Chaihu, Hovenia, etc. to treat the dystocia, such as Chaihu Shuo Liver San. Can soften the tough liver qi, so that the spleen and stomach to be safe, so often used with licorice to treat liver and spleen disorders and abdominal pain, contracture diarrhea and dysentery and other evidence. White peony has the function of nourishing blood, and is used with Angelica sinensis, Radix et Rhizoma Dioscoreae, Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong to nourish and nourish the blood, which can cure yellowish color and lack of luster.

Radix Paeoniae Alba is commonly used to promote blood circulation, cool blood and clear heat, promote blood circulation and reduce swelling, mostly used in cases of blood heat and blood stasis, such as menstrual difficulties, menstrual closure, post-partum stagnant blood accumulation into lumps and pain, as well as carbuncle swelling and pain in the case of the application of the often combined with the blood circulation drugs such as chuanxiong to promote blood circulation and blood stasis, with the clearing of heat and cooling of the blood, such as shengdi, danpi, in order to treat carbuncle sores and ulcers. In Gui Zhi Fu Ling Pill and Tong Qiao Xie Xie Tang, red peony is used to activate Blood circulation and remove Blood stasis to relieve stagnation in Blood. Fried red peony favors activating Blood and relieving pain, and is mostly used for stagnant pain; wine red peony favors activating Blood and dispersing Blood stasis, and is mostly used for amenorrhea or dysmenorrhea.

The difference between the functions of white peony and red peony is mainly that white tonifies but red diarrhea, white collects but red disperses. "White benefits the spleen and can diarrhea wood in the earth; red disperses evil and can move stagnation in the blood." White peony nourishes liver yin, red peony drains liver fire, white peony tonifies but does not disperse, red peony disperses but does not tonify, and the two herbs can be used in cases of yin deficiency with stasis and heat.

"All ginsengs and paeoniae rebel against quinoa." Neither white peony nor red peony can be used with veratrum.

White peony and red peony are both roots of peony, just different concoctions.

White peony is white, red peony is red