An Xi Xiang (安息香) — Benzoin Resin | TCM Herb Guide

At a Glance

• Herb: An Xi Xiang
• Chinese name: 安息香 (Ān Xī Xiāng)
• Latin name: Benzoinum
• Nature: Warm
• Taste: Acrid / Bitter
• Meridian: Heart / Spleen / Liver
• Category: Herbs that Open the Orifices
• Introduction: An Xi Xiang (安息香), Benzoinum, is the dried balsamic resin obtained from incisions in the bark of Styrax benzoin or S. tonkinensis, trees native to Southeast Asia. Named after ‘Anxi’ (Parthia, the ancient Persian empire), it was an important trade commodity along the Silk Road. In TCM it opens the orifices to revive consciousness, moves qi and blood to disperse stasis, and relieves pain. Its benzoic acid and cinnamic acid esters have antimicrobial, anti-platelet, and mild expectorant properties in modern research.

Action

• Opens orifices and revives consciousness
• Moves qi and disperses blood stasis
• Relieves pain from cold-qi stagnation
• Resolves phlegm and removes turbidity

Clinical Application

• Cold-type orifice obstruction: sudden unconsciousness with cold phlegm — combines with Su He Xiang, She Xiang, Bing Pian
• Chest pain and abdominal pain from cold-qi stagnation — combines with Mu Xiang, Ru Xiang, Chen Xiang
• Postpartum blood stasis with pain — combines with Dang Gui, Chuan Xiong, Ru Xiang
• Epilepsy from cold-phlegm — combines with Ban Xia, Tian Nan Xing, Yuan Zhi
• Wind-cold bi syndrome with joint pain — used in external liniments

Precautions

• Dosage: 0.6–1.5 g per dose in pills; not suitable for decoction — aromatic and volatile
• Contraindicated in pregnancy
• Contraindicated in heat-type orifice obstruction or yin deficiency with heat
• May cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals — test before use
• Distinguished from Su He Xiang: both warm orifice-openers, but An Xi Xiang has stronger blood-moving action

Formula

• Su He Xiang Wan (苏合香丸): An Xi Xiang, Su He Xiang, She Xiang, Bing Pian, Mu Xiang, Ding Xiang — opens cold-type orifice obstruction
• An Xi Xiang Wan (安息香丸): An Xi Xiang, Ru Xiang, Mo Yao, Dang Gui — disperses stasis, relieves pain
• External: An Xi Xiang tincture (benzoin tincture) — antiseptic wound preparation used in both TCM and Western medicine

Combinations

• Benzoin (安息香) + Musk (麝香) + Storax (苏合香) → Su He Xiang Wan (苏合香丸): warm orifice opening; cold-type stroke and sudden fainting
• Benzoin (安息香) + Borneol (冰片) + Cattle Gallstone (牛黄) → open orifices by dual warm and cool approach; phlegm-heat or cold-phlegm causing sudden loss of consciousness

Pharmacological Effects

• Cns stimulant
  • opens orifices — revives consciousness
• Expectorant and bronchodilatory
  • inhaled benzoin vapors
• Antimicrobial
  • benzoic acid — antibacterial, antifungal
• anti-inflammatory; mild analgesic; topically: promotes wound healing, preservative

Classic Description

• Ben Cao Gang Mu (《本草纲目》): ‘Benzoin is acrid, bitter, and balanced with no toxicity; ground to powder and taken with boiling water; or incorporated in pills and powders; moves blood, descends qi, calms the spirit, averts malevolence, kills ghosts.’
• Tang Ben Cao (《唐本草》): ‘Governs malevolent qi in the heart and abdomen, ghost possession, repels evil.’
• Hai Yao Ben Cao (《海药本草》): ‘Governs male seminal emission, warms the Kidney, repels malevolent qi, treats nightmare possession and ghost confusion, sudden turmoil with wind pain, and postpartum blood collapse.’
• Ben Cao Bei Yao (《本草备要》): ‘Acrid, aromatic, moving and penetrating; opens the orifices, drives away foul qi, treats sudden fainting and phlegm stagnation.’