Knowledge Base/Herbs/Chenxiang (Agarwood)
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理气药 · Qi-regulating

Chenxiang (Agarwood) chén xiāng · 沉香

Aquilaria sinensis and other Aquilaria species (resin-containing wood)

Nature and flavour. Pungent, bitter, slightly warm; Spleen, Stomach and Kidney systems.

Grouped with the aromatics that move Qi and ease pain, that warm the middle and settle vomiting, and that are described as drawing Qi downward to calm laboured breathing. The wood is valued for the resin that forms in it, and grade is judged by resin content. The traditional descriptions are what the literature records; they are not established by modern research.

性味归经。辛、苦，微温；归脾、胃、肾经。

传统上列入行气止痛、温中止呕、纳气平喘一类。本品以木中所结树脂为贵，等级亦以含脂多少论之。以上为文献所载的用法归类，所述作用未经现代研究证实。

Classical category · no formulas, no dosages, no herb-drug combinations are given.
Safety. Every Aquilaria species is listed in CITES Appendix II, so cross-border trade in the wood is controlled and a buyer is not in a position to assume a product is lawful to move. The market is also one of the most heavily substituted in the materia medica: oil-injected or unrelated wood is sold under this name, and what a buyer receives is often not resinous wood at all. Warm and aromatic, it is classically avoided where there is heat or depleted Yin, and in pregnancy. No amount is given here.

全部 Aquilaria 属植物均列入 CITES 附录 II，其木材跨境贸易受管制，买家不能假定手上的制品可以合法跨境携带。本品亦是中药里掺伪最严重的品种之一：注油或以他木冒充者常见，买家拿到的往往并非含脂之木。性温芳香，热证与阴虚者传统上不宜，孕妇不宜。本条不列用量。

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