Bai qian is a herb that helps relieve coughing

"BAI qian", or cynanchum glaucescens, is a herb that helps relieve coughing.

It is said to have been used by the legendary Hua Tuo - a doctor in Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD220) - in saving the life of a child.

Hearing a child's coughing and crying while in a hostel, Hua was determined to help as he knew the child wouldn't live much longer.

After careful diagnosis, Hua lit a lantern and went for herbs at midnight. He found the herbs on the slope in front of the hostel near a river. He dug the herb out, cut the roots for decoction, and had the child drink it. He departed early next morning and left the leaves to the father, so that he could find more. The child was completely cured within days.

People in the whole village learned of the "magic" herb to stop coughing, but didn't know its name. Since it was dug up in front of the hostel, owned by a man surnamed Bai, they named it "Bai qian," literally meaning Bai's front. Click here to learn Scleroderma in TCM.

"Bai qian" is a warm herb with a bitter taste. It travels through the lung meridian. It can help calm abnormally ascending "qi," dissolve phlegm and relieve coughing.