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Tangshen is the dried root of the plants Tangshen, plain-flowered Tangshen, or Sichuan Tangshen from the Platycodon Root family. It is mainly produced in Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, and the northeastern regions. The original plant grows in fertile soil under sparse mountain shrubs or in rock crevices on slopes. It prefers a warm and humid climate, is cold-resistant, shade-tolerant, and avoids direct strong sunlight. It thrives in loose, well-drained, fertile sandy loam or humus soil. It has a sweet taste and a neutral nature, belonging to the spleen and lung meridians. Its effects include tonifying the middle and replenishing qi, promoting fluid production, and nourishing blood. Clinical names include Tangshen, fried Tangshen, and roasted Tangshen.

bubble_chart Compendium of Materia Medica

Bencao Gangmu：From "Cong Xin": Tonifying the middle and replenishing qi, harmonizing the spleen and stomach, and relieving thirst. It is very suitable for regulating and tonifying when middle qi is weak.

Bencao Qiuzhen：﹝Comment﹞Ventilating lung cold and clearing lung heat.

Ginseng, known as Shangdang Ginseng, specifically enters the lung. During the Sui Dynasty, a person in Shangdang heard calls every night behind their house but could not find the source. About a mile away, they found a Ginseng root resembling a human body with complete limbs, and the calls ceased. Shangdang Ginseng has long, slender roots, some reaching over a foot in length or with ten branches, and its value was equal to silver. Ginseng from Liaodong, Korea, and Baekje could not compare. Li Shizhen said: Shangdang is in Luzhou. The locals considered Ginseng a local pest and stopped harvesting it. What is used now is Liaodong Ginseng. This shows that Shangdang Ginseng was the best, but since it is no longer harvested, how can there still be Tangshen? Recently, due to the high price of Liaodong Ginseng, people have used seedlings from the Taihang Mountains in Shanxi and counterfeits like Saposhnikovia Root, Platycodon Root, and Apricotleaf Ladybell Root.

Bencao Gangmu Shiyi：Benjing Fengyuan states: Ginseng produced in the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi is called Shangdang Ginseng. Although it lacks the drastic tonifying effects of sweet and warm Ginseng, it has the ability to clear the lungs with a sweet and neutral nature. It is not as cold as Coastal Glehnia Root, which specifically drains lung qi.

It has a sweet taste and neutral nature, treating lung deficiency and benefiting lung qi.

Depei Bencao：Sweet, neutral. Enters the Taiyin meridians' qi aspect. Tonifies middle qi and regulates the spleen and stomach.

Combined with Astragalus Root, it strengthens defense; paired with Lotus Fruit, it stops diarrhea. With Chinese Angelica, it activates blood; with Jujube Seed, it tonifies the heart.

To tonify the lungs, steam with honey; to tonify the spleen, add a bit of Mulberry Bark to prevent qi stagnation, or add Tangerine Peel.

Contraindicated in cases of qi stagnation and excessive anger.

Bencao Fenjing：Sweet, neutral. Tonifies the middle and replenishes qi, harmonizes the spleen and stomach, but its nature is heavy and stagnant, making it unsuitable for serious conditions.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

1. Tangshen can significantly reduce gastric juice, gastric acid secretion, and pepsin activity, and has anti-ulcer and anti-gastric mucosal injury effects. It also has a certain impact on gastrointestinal motility.
2. Tangshen can enhance the learning and memory abilities of mice, inhibit their spontaneous activity, synergize with the sedative effect of low-dose chlorpromazine, but antagonize the central inhibitory effect of high-dose chlorpromazine, and has a certain effect on the electroencephalogram of rabbits.
3. When Tangshen is included in compound formulas, it has the effect of reducing body temperature in nutrient aspect pattern. The methanol extract of Lu Tangshen has a significant analgesic effect, while Wen Dang and Banqiao Dang do not have this effect.
4. Tangshen has anti-fatigue, cold resistance, high temperature resistance, and hypoxia resistance effects, and has a protective effect against radiation injury.
5. Tangshen has a certain effect of enhancing the function of the body's immune system.
6. Tangshen can improve myocardial energy metabolism, tonify qi to strengthen the heart, enhance the hypoxia tolerance of animal myocardium, has a certain protective effect against acute myocardial ischemia caused by posterior pituitary hormones, and has the effect of lowering blood pressure and improving microcirculation disorders in animals.
7. Tangshen can reduce the number of white blood cells, increase red blood cells and hemoglobin, inhibit platelet aggregation, and has an anti-thrombotic effect.
8. Tangshen has a certain effect of increasing blood sugar.
9. Tangshen can significantly enhance the contraction of isolated uterus and has a good calming fetus effect.
10. Tangshen has a significant anti-inflammatory effect.
11. Tangshen has an anti-aging effect.
12. Tangshen can maintain the effective oxygen uptake function of the lungs, protect the alveolar epithelial tissue and capillary endothelial cells of rats, and keep the diffusion of cells through the air-blood barrier basically normal.