Ai Ye (Argy Wormwood Leaf)

Name

Ai Ye (Folium Artemisiae Argyi), recorded in Ming Yi Bie Lu.

Source and quality

Plant

The leaf of the perennial Artemisia argyi Levl. et Vant., family Asteraceae.

Where it is grown

Most regions.

Harvest

Collected in summer before it flowers.

Smell and taste

Aromatic; bitter.

Better grade

Gray-white on the underside of the leaf, with a dense covering of floss.

Processing

Purified, then dried in the sun or in the shade; used raw, ground into velvet, or dry-fried to charcoal.

Nature and action

Acrid, bitter, warm and slightly toxic; enters the liver, spleen and kidney channels. Warms the channels and stops bleeding, dispels cold, and prevents abortion.

When it is used

Bleeding

Because it is fragrant, acrid and warm, it dispels cold and warms qi and blood to warm the channels, which makes it a principal herb for stopping bleeding by warming the channels. It is used for bleeding from deficiency cold, especially uterine bleeding.

For uterine bleeding from deficiency cold in the lower burner with insecurity of the thoroughfare and conception vessels, it is decocted alone or combined with herbs that warm the channels, dispel cold and nourish the blood to stop bleeding, such as E Jiao, Shao Yao and Sheng Di Huang in Jiao Ai Tang from Jingui Yaolue.

For bleeding of many kinds, such as vomiting of blood, nosebleed and hemoptysis caused by reckless blood flow due to blood heat, it is combined with herbs that clear heat and cool the blood, as with Sheng Di, Sheng He Ye and Sheng Bai Ye (Ce Bai Ye) in Si Sheng Wan from Fu Ren Da Quan Liang Fang. In that formula Ai Ye not only strengthens the action of stopping bleeding but also prevents the cold and stasis that can accompany many cold herbs.

Menstrual irregularities and dysmenorrhea

Ai Ye warms the channels and vessels, dispels cold and dampness, relieves pain and regulates menstruation. It is the principal herb for lower-burner deficiency cold, or cold in the uterus, in gynecological conditions. It is commonly indicated for lower-burner deficiency cold with irregular menstruation, abdominal pain during menstruation, infertility from a cold uterus, and clear leukorrhea.

It is often combined with herbs that dispel cold and relieve pain, and herbs that nourish the blood to regulate menstruation, such as Wu Zhu Yu, Rou Gui and Dang Gui in Ai Fu Nuan Gong Wan from Zhi Zhi Fang.

Threatened abortion

It is the essential herb for warming the uterus and preventing abortion in gynecology. In Zhou Hou Fang it is decocted in wine and indicated for threatened abortion from liver and kidney deficiency-cold during pregnancy. It is often combined with herbs that nourish the blood, tonify the kidney and prevent abortion, such as E Jiao and Sang Ji Sheng.

Separately, it can be ground into velvet and made into moxa sticks and cones, which are used to fumigate body acupoints to warm qi and blood and penetrate the channels and collaterals, indicated for various pain from yang deficiency with exuberant cold, or from invasion by wind, cold and damp.

Dose

Decoction 3~10g. Use externally as appropriate. Stir-fry it to charcoal for stopping bleeding by warming the channels; use it raw for its other actions.