By Eric Brand

Continuing on the topic of curcumas, I found a book that has some interesting comments about Jiang Huang vs. Pian Jiang Huang.  The book is Zhang Ting-Mo's lectures on clinical Chinese materia medica. Zhang Ting-Mo is an important and well-respected figure in the Chinese world and his materia medica books are some of the best. 

Zhang devotes several pages of discussion to Yu Jin, E Zhu, and Jiang Huang.  Regarding Yu Jin vs. Jiang Huang, he notes two principle differences: Jiang Huang tends to be stronger at quickening the blood than Yu Jin, a distinction that is referenced in some texts and articles by the statement that Jiang Huang "breaks" the blood.  The other key difference is that Jiang Huang is warm while Yu Jin is cold, so Yu Jin is suited for cases where heat and stasis occur together whereas Jiang Huang lacks that special application.

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It gets more interesting because Zhang then notes that textbooks state that Jiang Huang not only quickens the blood and moves qi, but also "frees the channels and relieves pain" (tong jing zhi tong).  On the one hand, this action of "freeing the channels" can be used to reference medicinals that dispel wind-dampness and free the channels and network vessels or it can describe blood-moving substances that free the channels and quicken the network vessels.  The action of freeing the channels can also refer to the menses, all of which makes sense for a blood-quickening medicinal.  However, the 5th edition textbook series (China's original main standard) draws attention to freeing the channels and network vessels by illustrating its applications for wind-damp (bi) conditions, and suggests combinations with other wind-damp-dispelling medicinals in the context of "freeing the channels and relieving pain."

Zhang Ting-Mo essentially goes on to state that he believes the 5th edition textbook caused confusion by conflating Jiang Huang's wind-damp applications with its blood-quickening applications, but he notes that after over twenty years of the 5th edition's influence, these stated actions have become integrated into many other books.  Zhang believes that the wind-damp applications were originally related to the ancient use of Pian Jiang Huang rather than standard Jiang Huang, and he feels that the 5th edition series merged the actions of Pian Jiang Huang and Jiang Huang without adequate attention to their differences.  In other words, he's saying that Jiang Huang wasn't the original inspiration for the wind-damp actions, but rather the wind-damp applications came from Pian Jiang Huang and the two medicinals were conflated together in early textbooks so Jiang Huang acquired Pian Jiang Huang's action.