Hu Po (琥珀) — Amber | TCM Herb Guide
Key Takeaways
- Nature: Neutral | Taste: Sweet
- Category: Herbs that Calm the Spirit
- Latin: Succinum
At a Glance
- Herb: Hu Po
- Chinese name: 琥珀 (Hǔ Pò)
- Latin name: Succinum
- Nature: Neutral
- Taste: Sweet
- Meridian: Heart / Liver / Bladder
- Category: Herbs that Anchor, Settle, and Calm the Spirit
- Introduction: Hu Po (琥珀), Succinum, is fossilized tree resin — amber — formed over millions of years from ancient coniferous trees. Prized since antiquity in both Eastern and Western medicine, it calms the heart spirit, activates blood and disperses stasis, and promotes urination. Unlike other spirit-calming herbs, it combines sedative with blood-activating properties, making it suitable for insomnia accompanied by blood stasis signs. Its succinic acid and terpenoids exhibit sedative, diuretic, anticoagulant, and analgesic properties.
Action
- Calms the heart and spirit
- Activates blood and disperses stasis
- Promotes urination and drains dampness
- Reduces swelling (topical)
Clinical Application
- Heart-spirit disturbance: palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, dreamfulness — combines with Suan Zao Ren, Zhu Sha, Long Chi
- Amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea from blood stasis — combines with Dang Gui, Hong Hua, Tao Ren
- Urinary difficulty, hematuria, urinary stones — combines with Jin Qian Cao, Hai Jin Sha
- Postpartum abdominal pain from blood stasis — combines with Pu Huang, Wu Ling Zhi
- Childhood convulsions (mild) — combines with Tian Zhu Huang, Gou Teng
Precautions
- Dosage: 1.5–3 g as powder swallowed with water; not suitable for decoction
- Contraindicated in pregnancy — activates blood
- Contraindicated in yin deficiency without stasis or excess fire patterns
- Must be taken as powder — grinding should be fine; coarse powder reduces absorption
- Verify authenticity: true amber floats in saturated salt water; plastic imitations sink
- Expensive — Dominican or Baltic amber used as medicine-grade substitutes
Formula
- Hu Po Duo Mei Wan (琥珀多寐丸): Hu Po, Suan Zao Ren, Fu Shen, Zhu Sha, Ren Shen, Dang Gui — calms spirit, promotes sleep
- Qi Li San (七厘散): Hu Po, She Xiang, Bing Pian, Ru Xiang, Mo Yao, Hong Hua, Xue Jie, Zhu Sha — activates blood, relieves traumatic pain
- Hu Po San (琥珀散): Hu Po, Pu Huang, Mu Tong, Dong Kui Zi — promotes urination, treats hematuria and urinary stones
Combinations
- Amber (琥珀) + Sour Date Seed (酸枣仁) + Polygala Root (远志) → calm the shen, nourish the Heart; insomnia, anxiety, and palpitations
- Amber (琥珀) + Cinnabar (朱砂) + Poria with Pine Root (茯神) → Hu Po Duo Mei Wan (琥珀多寐丸): calm the shen; insomnia, dream-disturbed sleep, and palpitations
Pharmacological Effects
- Sedative and anxiolytic
- succinic acid — inhibits CNS excitation
- Diuretic
- promotes urine output
- Hemostatic; anti-inflammatory; antioxidant; platelet aggregation inhibitor
- mild anticoagulant
- promotes wound healing; cardioprotective
Classic Description
- Ming Yi Bie Lu (《名医别录》): ‘Governs calming the five organs, settling the ethereal and corporeal souls, killing malignant spirits and evil ghosts, dissolving blood stasis, and opening the five stranguries.’
- Ben Cao Gang Mu (《本草纲目》): ‘Amber is a yang substance; because it can repel evil and calm fright, it averts malevolence and pacifies the Heart spirit; because it can activate blood and dissolve stasis, it treats blood disorders and stops blood strangury.’
- Ben Cao Bei Yao (《本草备要》): ‘Pacifies the Heart, settles the will, dissolves blood stasis, opens the five stranguries; treats fright epilepsy, postpartum blood collapse, blood strangury and hematuria, and unblocks the blood vessels.’