Huang Qi 黄芪 (Astragalus) — Chinese Herbal Medicine

At a Glance

• Herb: Huang Qi
• Chinese name: 黄芪 (Huáng Qí)
• Latin name: Radix Astragali (Astragalus membranaceus)
• Nature: Slightly Warm
• Taste: Sweet
• Meridian: Lung / Spleen
• Category: Herbs that Tonify Qi (补气药)
• Introduction: Huang Qi (黄芪) is the foremost herb for tonifying the wei (defensive) qi and strengthening the Spleen. It is the primary herb for treating exterior deficiency with spontaneous sweating, organ prolapse, and non-healing sores. Together with Ren Shen it forms the core of all qi-tonifying strategies.

Action

• Tonifies qi and raises yang (补气升阳)
• Strengthens the exterior and stops sweating (固表止汗)
• Induces diuresis and reduces edema (利水消肿)
• Tonifies qi to generate blood (补气生血)
• Expels toxins and promotes tissue regeneration (托毒排脓，生肌)

Clinical Application

• Spleen and Lung qi deficiency — fatigue, poor appetite, shortness of breath, loose stools, weak voice
• Exterior deficiency with spontaneous sweating — frequent colds, night sweating from deficiency
• Qi deficiency edema — facial and limb puffiness from Spleen qi unable to transform fluids
• Qi deficiency with blood deficiency — pale complexion, fatigue; used with blood tonics
• Qi deficiency sores — chronic non-healing ulcers, abscesses that fail to drain or close
• Central qi sinking — organ prolapse (uterus, rectum), chronic diarrhea, hemorrhage from deficiency

Precautions

• Contraindicated in exterior excess, qi stagnation, damp obstruction, yin deficiency with fire, early-stage abscesses or febrile conditions
• Use cautiously in hypertension — may raise blood pressure in excess patterns
• High doses may cause insomnia or agitation in heat patterns

Formula

• 补中益气汤 (Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang): Spleen qi deficiency with central qi sinking, organ prolapse, deficiency fever
• 玉屏风散 (Yu Ping Feng San): exterior deficiency with spontaneous sweating, recurrent colds
• 当归补血汤 (Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang): qi deficiency generating blood deficiency, post-partum pallor
• 黄芪桂枝五物汤 (Huang Qi Gui Zhi Wu Wu Tang): blood bi with numbness and weakness of limbs
• 防己黄芪汤 (Fang Ji Huang Qi Tang): qi deficiency edema and joint pain with sweating
• 归脾汤 (Gui Pi Tang): Heart and Spleen qi and blood deficiency
• 十全大补汤 (Shi Quan Da Bu Tang): comprehensive qi and blood deficiency

Combinations

• [Discourse on Spleen and Stomach — Pí Wèi Lùn (脾胃论), Li Dongyuan, 1249] Huang Qi + Ren Shen + Bai Zhu + Dang Gui + Sheng Ma + Chai Hu + Chen Pi + Zhi Gan Cao: Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang — for central qi sinking with organ prolapse, recurrent deficiency fever, extreme fatigue
• [Precious Prescriptions — Qiānjīn Yào Fāng (千金要方), Sun Simiao, 652 CE] Huang Qi + Gui Zhi (桂枝) + Bai Shao (白芍) + Sheng Jiang + Da Zao: Huang Qi Gui Zhi Wu Wu Tang — for blood painful obstruction with numbness of the limbs, exterior deficiency with wind-damp
• [Medical Revelations — Yī Xué Xīn Wù (医学心悟), Cheng Guopeng, 1732] Huang Qi + Dang Gui (当归, 1:5 ratio): Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang — for qi deficiency generating blood deficiency, post-illness or post-partum pallor, fatigue, faint pulse
• [Great Compendium of Acupuncture and Moxibustion — Zhēnjiǔ Dàchéng (针灸大成), Yang Jizhou, 1601] Huang Qi + Fang Feng (防风) + Bai Zhu: Yu Ping Feng San — for exterior deficiency with spontaneous sweating, frequent colds, lowered resistance

Pharmacological Effects

• Immunomodulatory
  • enhances macrophage, NK cell, and T-cell activity
    Cardioprotective: positive inotropic, antiarrhythmic
    Hypoglycemic: improves insulin sensitivity
    Antiviral and antibacterial
    Adaptogenic and antifatigue
    Anti-inflammatory
    Telomere-protective (cycloastragenol)
    Hematopoietic stimulation

Classic Description

• [Shen Nong’s Classic of Materia Medica — Shén Nóng Běn Cǎo Jīng (神农本草经), ~100 BCE] “Huang Qi is sweet and slightly warm. It mainly treats welling-abscesses and flat-abscesses, chronic non-healing sores; it expels putrefication and generates new flesh; treats childhood disease, eliminates taxation and emaciation, and tonifies deficiency.” (黄芪，味甘微温。主痈疽，久败疮，排脓止痛，大风癞疾，五痔，鼠瘘，补虚，小儿百病。)
• [Compendium of Materia Medica — Běn Cǎo Gāng Mù (本草纲目), Li Shizhen, 1596] “Huang Qi tonifies the three burners and tonifies qi of the middle. It raises sunken yang, treats all qi deficiency diseases. It supplements lung qi and defends the exterior; it is the chief of all herbs that supplement the earth.” (黄芪补三焦，实卫气…益元气，壮脾胃，去肌热，排脓止痛，活血生血…为补药之长。)
• [Discourse on Spleen and Stomach — Pí Wèi Lùn (脾胃论), Li Dongyuan, 1249] “Huang Qi’s sweet and warm nature enters the Spleen and Lung. It is the principal herb to raise sunken yang and tonify original qi of the middle burner. When the central earth is deficient and yang qi sinks, Huang Qi raises it.”