About rou gui

Rou Gui (肉桂) is the inner bark of the cinnamon tree, recorded as Cortex Cinnamomi. It is acrid and sweet in flavour and hot in temperature, entering the Heart, Liver, Spleen and Kidney channels. The catalogue files it among the herbs that warm the Interior and expel Cold. The twig of the same tree is entered separately as Gui Zhi.

Pinyin

rou gui

Chinese

肉桂

Latin Name

Cortex Cinnamomi

English Name

cassia bark·Cinnamon Bark·cinnamon bark; inner bark of Saigon cinnamon; cassia bark·inner bark of Saigon cinnamon

Japanese

nikkei

Korean

yukgye

Actions and indications

Warms the Kidneys, Spleen and Heart and fortifies Yang and Ming Men Fire

Deficient Kidney Yang and Ming Men Fire: feeling cold, cold limbs, a weak and aching lower back and knees, impotence, and frequent clear urination
Spleen and Kidney Yang deficiency with a cold, painful abdomen, poor appetite and diarrhea
Wheezing when the Kidneys fail to grasp Qi
Heart Yang deficiency, above all with chest Bi

Disperses deep Cold, warms and unblocks the channels and vessels, and relieves pain

Qi stagnation and Blood stasis brought on by deep or Deficiency Cold; Cold in the Blood leads to absent or painful periods
Cold-Damp Bi
Yin-type boils (chronic, sunken sores that weep clear fluid), and sores or abscesses that fail to heal
Enters the Blood level; a small amount strengthens the Blood-moving effect of the other herbs in a formula

Leads Fire back to its source

Deficient Yang floating upward (true Cold with false Heat, or Heat above and Cold below): a flushed face, wheezing, oily sweat that pours out, cold and weak legs, and a deficient, rootless pulse
Upper-body Heat (dry mouth, sore throat or toothache that worsens at night) coexisting with lower-body Cold (low back pain, cold legs, diarrhea and a weak proximal pulse)

Assists the generation of Qi and Blood

Long-standing deficiency of Qi and Blood, as a small addition to a tonic formula

Combinations

zhi fu zi

Lower back pain with weak legs and knees in Kidney Yang Deficiency; strongly tonifies Kidney Yang. Weak Ming Men Fire with impotence or infertility. Excess Yin driving Yang to float outward (Yin and Yang separating). Damp-Cold Bi in the channels with aches all over and difficulty turning the trunk. Kidney Yin Deficiency with Fire blazing upward, combined with Yin tonics to lead Fire back to its source

zhi fu zi + gan jiang

Anorexia, diarrhea and a cold, painful abdomen from Yang Deficiency of the Kidneys and Spleen

gao liang jiang + pao jiang + bi ba

Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency: abdomen cold and painful, with diarrhea and anorexia

ren shen + shu di huang

Heart and Kidney Deficiency with shortness of breath and palpitations

shu di huang + ma huang

Yin-type local swellings that merge into the surrounding tissue

huang qi + dang gui

Qi and Blood Deficiency with Yin-type boils, particularly those that form without ulcerating

dang gui + chuan xiong

Dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea or abdominal pain after childbirth, from Deficiency Cold in the Chong and Ren channels