class="MsoNormal">Several plants in the mint family are used in Chinese medicine. Herbs in the mint family are recognizable by their square stems, and many mint products in Chinese medicine share similar medicinal actions. The most famous mint products in Chinese medicine are Huo Xiang (Pogostemonis Herba), Zi Su Ye (Perillae Folium), and Bo He (Menthae Herba), and each of these herbs shares a similar feature: Their stems tend to be used to move qi to treat problems of the middle burner while their leaves tend to resolve the exterior. The leaves are the more yang aspect of the plant; they are located at the outer surface of the plant’s body and they tend to focus on the outer surface of the human body. By contrast, the stem is more centrally located on the plant and the stem’s qi-moving action likewise tends to target the center of the human body.

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There is an amazing amount of consistency between the various mint products in terms of their dual action of moving qi in the interior while releasing the exterior. In fact, many exterior-resolving agents are capable of moving qi when they are prescribed in the absence of exterior evil; my teacher Feng Ye would often emphasize this fact in conversations about the fundamental nature of acridity and its dispersing effect. However, the tendency of mint products to resolve the exterior while harmonizing the center is somewhat distinctive, as is the fact that this tendency is correlated with the stem vs. leaf. Naturally, one can use either the stem or leaf of items like Bo He, Huo Xiang, or Zi Su to treat either problem, but the stem is said to be more effective for harmonizing the center and the leaf is said to be stronger for resolving the exterior.

Beyond mint, patchouli, and perilla, several other mint products have been recorded in the Chinese medical literature. For example, spearmint, oregano and basil are also mint products that are covered in the Zhong Yao Da Ci Dian (“Great Encyclopedia of Chinese Medicinals”). Their actions are all somewhat similar, described in detail below:

Spearmint is acrid, sweet, and warm. It courses wind, rectifies qi, and relieves pain, and is indicated for common cold, cough, headache, distention in the stomach duct and abdomen, and painful menstruation.

Basil is warm and acrid, and enters the lung, spleen, stomach, and large intestine channels. It courses wind and moves qi, transforms phlegm and disperses food, and quickens the blood and resolves toxin. It is indicated for external contraction headache, food distention and qi stagnation, pain in the stomach duct, diarrhea, menstrual irregularities, knocks and falls, snake and insect bites, eczema, and itchy dormant papules.

Oregano is acrid and it resolves the exterior, rectifies qi, and transforms dampness. It is indicated for common cold with fever, vomiting, distention and fullness in the chest and diaphragm, diarrhea, jaundice, and child gan accumulation.

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