Mugwort is the dried leaf of Mugwort in the composite family. The taste is hot, bitter and warm. Liver, spleen, kidney channel. Mugwort leaves are picked when the summer flowers are not open, remove impurities, and dry. It is preferred to have large leaves, gray back of leaves, more fluff and strong aroma. It has the effect of warming channels, stopping bleeding, dispelling cold and relieving pain, and can remove dampness and relieve itching for external use.

Medicinal evolution of Artemisia argyi leaf

Mugwort leaf is an early medicine known and used by Chinese people. There is a record in Zhuangzi that "Yue people smoked it with mugwort". It can be seen that mugwort leaf has become an important and commonly used medicine at that time.
There are few records about medicine in Huangdi Neijing, the first theoretical work of Chinese medicine, but mugwort leaf is one of the few drugs mentioned in Huangdi Neijing. Zhang Zhongjing, a famous doctor in the Eastern Han Dynasty, has two prescriptions for the use of moxa, namely gum moxa decoction and cypress Ye decoction, which are still commonly used in TCM clinic.
Li Shizhen in the "Programme of Materia Medica" mentioned: Moxa leaves into medicine, warm, bitter taste, non-toxic, pure Yang, through the twelve channels, with Yang, qi and blood regulation, dampness-cold, hemostasis and other effects, is also often used in acupuncture. Therefore, it is also known as "medical grass", and now Taiwan is popular "herbal bath", most of which are the use of wormwood.
The highest medicinal value of wormwood is nothing more than May, especially after the Dragon Boat Festival, the temperature rises, the growth of wormwood will be too strong, thus losing its good medicinal value. After picking wormwood on the Dragon Boat Festival day, it can be dried for future use.
Because wormwood is known as "female protection grass". In modern times, moxa is commonly used to smoke umbilical therapy on the legs and abdomen to achieve weight loss effect. For people with cold physique, the effect is more significant. Moxa can remove cold and dampness, prevent colds, and play a good role in enhancing physical fitness.
Wormwood can regulate qi and blood, warm meridians, put wormwood into warm water to soak your feet or bathe, can play a good role in soothing pain, warm the menstrual warm palace effect. Therefore, mugwort leaves are usually made into medicine packets or essential oils for easy use.

Dietary evolution of Artemisia argyi leaf

The Tang Dynasty's "Food Therapy Materia Medica" has a record of wormwood used for food therapy: "If you suffer from cold air, take cooked moxa noodles wrapped as wontons, can be as big as balls Xu, golden sore, collapse, cholera, stop leakage." Lunar March 3 is the best picking period for moxa, around the Qingming Festival, people will pick fresh moxa leaves to make food. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, mugwort leaf became a tribute and was enjoyed in the royal court. According to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom years, general Li Xiucheng was trapped by the Qing soldiers, farmers will glutinous rice and mugwort juice made of blue dumplings, mixed with grass for Li Xiucheng to eat, unexpectedly found that the taste is quite good.
Today, mugwort leaf is still an essential therapeutic delicacy for people everywhere. Around Qingming, Hakka people eat a glutinous rice cake made of wormwood as the main raw material. The tender mugwort leaves are rammed together with glutinous rice flour to make a dough, covered with peanuts, sesame and white sugar and other fillings, you can make green soft glutinous rice cake, has a very good therapeutic effect.
Ganzhou likes to make Aimee fruit. The Hakka people in Guangdong use the roots of wormwood to make soup to warm the stomach. The content of natural progesterone in mugwort leaves is significantly higher than other plants, especially suitable for women to take. In some parts of Anhui province, pregnant women have the custom of eating mugwort leaves boiled eggs, which are eaten during pregnancy or confinement to warm the palace, regulate qi and blood, and nourish the body. Eating wormwood made of food, can achieve the purpose of preventing colds, but can not eat more, eat twice a week. Directly use dry wormwood to soak water to drink, or mix honey with water, can play a role in clearing heat and removing fire.

Evolution of Artemisia argyi leaf for external use

Mugwort leaf is a very magical plant, as early as the Spring and Autumn period, people have used it as a necessary process of acupuncture. After needling the acupoint, then taking the lit mugwort leaf smoke, can be antibacterial and anti-infection. It can be seen that even in distant ancient times, mugwort leaf is still a very important herb. The ancients also like to soak mugwort leaf bath, mugwort leaf bath rational qi and blood, cold dampness, hemostasis, sleep, warm menstrual effect, method: take mugwort leaf 30-50 grams, in the bathtub with boiling water brewing for 5 minutes after taking out, add water to the appropriate water temperature can bathe.

Mugwort leaves are more widely used externally in modern times. Rubbing mugwort leaves directly on the skin can have the effect of preventing mosquitoes and flies; The curative effect of moxibustion combined with Xiaoda Patch in the treatment of cold-dampness obstruction type periarthritis of shoulder is more significant than that of oral meloxicam tablet and indometacin paste in the treatment of pain in the affected area and the mobility of shoulder joint. Putting mugwort leaves in pillows can promote sleep and improve sleep quality. The custom of bathing with mugwort leaves and ginger is widely spread in the folk. Women after childbirth two deficiency of Qi and blood, open Cou, empty inside and outside, a little careless can be attacked by wind cold, body aches, fear of cold, out of the symptoms of deficiency cold; Postpartum body muscles and bones are relatively relaxed, if improper cultivation or invasion by external evil, easy to appear joint pain, at this time, mugwort leaf bath to relieve cold and pain, warm channels and channels, promote the body's blood circulation and metabolism.
However, mugwormwood leaves have a small poison, and external fumigation can cause allergic reactions, causing itching and erythema. Aerosol inhalation can cause dry throat, nausea, coughing, etc., or need to be used carefully.

Evolution of pharmacological action of Artemisia argyi leaf

The effect of Artemisia argyi leaves on dispelling cold is mainly reflected in two aspects: dispelling cold and relieving pain, warming and dehumidifying. Clinically, it can be used for vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dysmenorrhea caused by spleen and stomach and lower jiao deficiency cold. Such as "Materia Medica hook Yuan" contained: "Ai, Yang in the Yang, warm cooked heat, can rise can fall, pure Yang grass also." Mugwort leaves taste hot, warm, and is called "pure Yang grass", which has the effect of dispelling cold. In addition, mugwort leaves warm menstruation hemostatic function prominent, is a gynecological medicine. The ancient books also gave affirmation to the gynecological application of mugwort leaves, "Materia Medica Hui Yan" pointed out: "If you take the pill powder soup drink, warm and dehumidifying, regulating the meridians, strengthening the uterus, so the woman's side in more use."
In modern times, relevant studies have shown that mugwort leaf extract, mugwort leaf volatile oil, and mugwort smoke can kill or inhibit a variety of fungi and bacteria to varying degrees. Tannin compounds in mugwort leaves have strong coagulation effect and are the most effective coagulation substances in Mugwort leaves. Tannin can coagtate protein and has hemostatic function. The monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids in Artemisia argyi have antiasthmatic effects. Modern research has found that mugwort leaf has anti-tumor effect. In view of the uniqueness of traditional Chinese medicine, it is applied in the prevention and treatment of cancer. Through moxibustion or the daily promotion and use of mugwort leaf products, it can gradually regulate the human environment, improve the body's immunity, prevent cancer cells, and play a certain degree of inhibition on the potential risk of cancer.

Through comparative study, it is found that mugwort has important value in traditional culture, and we should deepen the understanding of mugwort and popularize the culture of "mugwort" in order to better protect and inherit.