Cibot Rhizome is the rhizome of the perennial herb Cibotium barometz, belonging to the family Dicksoniaceae. It is mainly produced in Fujian, Sichuan, Yunnan, Zhejiang, and other regions. The original plant grows in acidic soil in shady and damp areas at the foot of mountains, near ditches, and under forests. It has a bitter and sweet taste, warm nature, and acts on the liver and kidney meridians. Its effects include tonifying the liver and kidneys, strengthening the lower back and spine, and dispelling wind-dampness. Clinical names include Cibot Rhizome and processed Cibot Rhizome.
bubble_chart Compendium of Materia Medica
Shennong Bencao Jing: It has a bitter taste and neutral nature. It is used to treat stiffness in the lower back and spine, joint flexibility, Zhoubi cold-dampness knee pain, and is particularly beneficial for the elderly.
Mingyi Bielu: It has a sweet taste, slightly warm nature, and is non-toxic. It is used to treat incontinence, weak legs in men, lumbago, wind evil, dripping urine, shortness of breath, blurred vision, strengthening the spine, facilitating bending and stretching, injuries in women, and heavy joints.
Yaoxing Lun: It has a bitter and pungent taste, slightly hot nature. It can treat toxic wind and weak legs in both men and women, pathogenic qi fixed arthralgia, kidney qi deficiency and weakness, tonifying men, and strengthening bones and tendons.
Kaibao Bencao: It has a bitter and sweet taste, neutral and slightly warm nature, and is non-toxic. It is used to treat incontinence, weak legs in men, lumbago, wind evil, dripping urine, shortness of breath, blurred vision, strengthening the spine, facilitating bending and stretching, injuries in women, and heavy joints.
Bencao Gangmu: It strengthens the liver and kidneys, fortifies the stomach, and treats wind deficiency.Bencao Jingshu: Cibot Rhizome receives the earth's yang qi and is influenced by heavenly yang qi, hence its bitter taste and neutral nature. Bielu states it is sweet, slightly warm, and non-toxic, with fire transformation properties. The bitter taste dries dampness, the sweet taste benefits blood, and the warm nature nourishes qi, making it a tonifying and moving herb. It enters the foot Shaoyin meridian. The kidneys govern bones, and bones are the surplus of the kidneys. Kidney deficiency leads to stiffness in the lower back and spine, and joint flexibility issues. Zhoubi cold-dampness knee pain is due to insufficient kidney qi and invasion by wind-cold-dampness evil. Tonifying the kidneys disperses the evil, relieves numbness, and benefits the knees. Elderly people with declining kidney qi and deficient liver blood have weak bones and tendons. Tonifying the kidneys strengthens bones, benefiting the elderly. Incontinence is due to kidney qi deficiency. The classics say: the waist is the house of the kidneys, and inability to move indicates kidney exhaustion. Lumbago refers to kidney deficiency invaded by dampness evil. Insufficient qi and blood allow wind evil to invade. Dripping urine is due to deficiency of kidney qi, belt vessel, and Chong and Ren meridians. Shortness of breath is due to yang deficiency. The eyes rely on blood for vision, and water abundance benefits the pupils. Deficiency in both liver and kidneys causes blurred vision. Injuries in women and heavy joints are due to blood deficiency with dampness. Eliminating dampness and tonifying the kidneys cures these conditions. Strengthening the spine facilitates bending and stretching.
Contraindications: Kidney deficiency with heat, scanty or reddish-yellow urine, bitter mouth, and dry tongue should avoid it.Bencao Mengquan: It has a bitter and sweet taste, neutral and slightly warm nature, and is non-toxic. The root resembles golden-haired Cibot Rhizome, hence the name; it is incompatible with Patrinia and compatible with Hypoglaucous Yam. It treats stiffness and pain in the lower back and spine, joint flexibility, weak knees, and tendon injuries. It also treats injuries and irregular conditions in women and incontinence in the elderly. Zhoubi cold-dampness can also be treated.
Bencao Chengya: Cibot Rhizome is tough, like tendons and bones, with a bitter taste and firm nature. Its leaves grow in pairs, resembling the spine dividing the ribs. It strengthens joints by nourishing essence and qi, embodying both substance and function.
This is named based on its function and also due to its similar appearance. Dog, meaning to knock, produces a rhythmic sound as if knocking on something; spine, meaning to accumulate, accumulates and connects the joints, tendons, and vessels from top to bottom. It governs the liver and kidney's body and function, and is the pivot for balancing the form and storage. Therefore, it treats cold-dampness Zhoubi, leading to the relaxation and tension of the pivot, causing stiffness in the back and waist, and knee pain. It is particularly beneficial for the elderly, benefiting their bones, tendons, and pivots. Bielu Zhen Quan, broadens the pivot and treats lumbago, knee pain, weak and soft feet, internal injuries, heavy joints, and severed tendons and bones. If the spine is strengthened, it strengthens the liver and kidney, fortifies the bones and tendons, facilitating bending and stretching, and alleviates shortness of breath, which is due to the failure of the pivot. Jisheng Fang treats the cold and heat of the Chong and Ren meridians, leucorrhea in maidens, this also broadens the pivot's failure to benefit the Chong, Ren, and Dai meridians. It can also broaden the Yang Wei, Yin Wei, Yang Qiao, Yin Qiao, as well as the Du and the twelve Jingmai meridians' failure of the pivot, then any disease of the pivot, and diseases affecting the pivot, can all be guided according to the situation. Wu's mild formula. Swelling of the feet after illness, Cibot Rhizome decoction for soaking and washing, this method Jingui Yaolue treats lily disease. Lily Bulb decoction for washing. Lily disease, the sovereign of the hundred vessels is diseased, this is the disease of the pivot of bones, tendons, and vessels. Extending this, its uses are truly inexhaustible, it all depends on how it is specifically administered and assisted.
Yaoxing Jie: Cibot Rhizome, bitter and sweet in taste, slightly warm in nature, non-toxic, enters the kidney and bladder meridians. Mainly treats kidney qi deficiency and weakness, wind-cold-dampness impediment, weak waist and knees, joint pain, incontinence in the elderly, and women's injuries with dripping. Hypoglaucous Yam is its adjuvant, and it is incompatible with Patrinia.Note: Cibot Rhizome enters the kidney, hence it treats bone diseases; it enters the bladder, hence it treats dampness diseases.
Bencao Beiyao : It mildly tonifies the liver and kidney.
Bitter to strengthen the kidney, sweet to benefit blood, capable of inducing strong sweating. Warm to nourish qi. Treats incontinence, kidney deficiency. Weak feet and lumbago, cold-dampness Zhoubi . The classic says: Internally not in the zang -fu organs, and externally not manifested in the skin, residing alone between the muscles, the vital qi cannot circulate, named Zhoubi . Dispels wind deficiency, strengthens the joints, facilitates bending and stretching. Nourishes the kidney, benefits the liver, thus the bones are strong and the tendons are robust, with yellow hair resembling a dog's shape, hence called golden-haired Cibot Rhizome. Hypoglaucous Yam is its adjuvant. Good when made into a paste.
Benjing Shuzheng: All beasts that carry heavy loads on their spines have concave backs that do not bend, those that travel long distances have straight and arrow-like spines, and the most powerful ones have arched backs that lean forward. Dogs, however, are exceptionally agile and swift. Therefore, their spines can be concave or arched as needed, allowing them to twist and turn freely. When chasing mice, they straighten their backs; when pursuing prey, they lean forward. They can turn around like the wind and squat and rise like waves. The roots of certain plants resemble their form, indicating their ability to facilitate joint movement. Black governs the kidneys, and green governs the liver. The kidneys are the foundation of strength and the source of skill, while the liver is the foundation of endurance and the source of flexibility. These organs are interconnected and circulate throughout the body. What emerges from below is strong, and what emerges from above is agile. The color of the roots' skin and flesh resembles these traits, indicating their ability to benefit the joints. The human spine is the longest bone, and all bones bend and extend at the joints. The ability of the joints to bend and extend lies in the ligaments, not the bones. Only the spine has joints at every inch, and these joints do not dislocate, allowing for bending and extension. Thus, the spine, while being a bone, incorporates the function of ligaments, serving as the body's pivotal mechanism. Cibot Rhizome has black skin and greenish flesh, aligning with the principle that the liver governs ligaments and the kidneys govern bones, resembling bones that incorporate ligament functions. Zhoubi is caused by wind-cold and dampness, which do not reside internally in the organs nor externally on the skin, preventing the vital qi from circulating. Therefore, in acupuncture treatment, if the pain moves from top to bottom, first stop it at the bottom, then release it at the top; if it moves from bottom to top, first stop it at the top, then release it at the bottom. This is to intercept the flow and trace its source. Cibot Rhizome treats stiffness in the lower back and spine, addressing the source of the mechanism's tension and relaxation, and cold-dampness knee pain, addressing the flow of the mechanism's tension and relaxation, which is what is meant by left relaxation and right tension, or right relaxation and left tension. Cold-dampness knee pain distinguishes it from dampness-heat knee pain and wind-dampness knee pain. The pain of multiple bi syndromes occurs in various places, coming and going, rising and settling, responding on the right to the left and on the left to the right, thus not being systemic. Now, speaking of the mechanism's tension and relaxation, it is not about the right responding to the left or the left responding to the right. Speaking of cold-dampness knee pain, it must come and go, rise and settle, occurring in various places. Therefore, the mechanism's tension and relaxation is mentioned before Zhoubi, and cold-dampness knee pain is mentioned after Zhoubi, to clarify that cold-dampness knee pain is not Zhoubi, only the mechanism's tension and relaxation is Zhoubi, and stiffness in the lower back and spine is the main indication for Cibot Rhizome, common to both conditions. This is the clearest and most detailed explanation in Benjing, corresponding closely to the Lingshu Zhoubi chapter without any discrepancy. Although it tastes bitter and has a neutral nature, its primary function is to descend. However, because it is bitter with a hint of sweetness and neutral with a slight warmth, it descends while also having an ascending quality. This means it cannot reach the ground when descending, nor can it reach the sky when ascending, but it hovers in the middle, facilitating movement. It is not for tonifying deficiency nor for expelling pathogens, but it can facilitate movement whether pathogens are present or not. Therefore, it is particularly beneficial for the elderly, as indicated by its use beyond just treating bi and knee pain, showing that it does not solely treat pathogens. The Bielu records its use for treating incontinence and irregular urination, with different treatments for men and women. Why is this? Although urination is controlled by the bladder, its opening and closing are governed by the kidneys. The timely opening and closing of the bladder is like the smooth movement of joints. If the movement is too smooth, there must be some that are too stiff; if the movement is timely, then the stiff ones will become smooth. This is because the kidneys store the essence of the five zang and six fu-organs and distribute it throughout the body's joints. Therefore, the mechanism of opening and closing can reflect the mechanism of bending and extending, and the mechanism of bending and extending can suggest the mechanism of opening and closing. Thus, we know that Cibot Rhizome treats incontinence and irregular urination, which must involve some stiffness in the mechanism. For treating atrophy, focus is placed on the Yangming, which governs all tendons. All tendons bind the bones and facilitate the joints. When the disease involves all tendons, there should be differences between men and women. Weakness in the legs and difficulty in bending and extending are signs of atrophy and the root of tension and relaxation. Heavy joints are also signs of tension and relaxation, both originating from dampness. However, if all tendons are loose, the disease progresses quickly; if all tendons are tight, the disease progresses slowly. Therefore, for men using Cibot Rhizome, it should be administered when there is weakness and lack of strength; for women using Cibot Rhizome, it can be used even when the joints are already heavy.
bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology
100% Cibot Rhizome injection administered intraperitoneally to mice at 20g/kg for 14 consecutive days increased myocardial uptake of 86Rb by 54%, showing a significant enhancement.