An Xi Xiang安息香
Benzoinum · Benzoin · Siam Benzoin Resin
Overview
An Xi Xiang is the resin that hardens on the wounded trunk of Styrax tonkinensis, appearing in trade as brittle reddish-brown lumps with a vanilla-like sweetness when warmed. The textbook appends it to Su He Xiang as a milder relative: acrid, bitter and neutral rather than warm, entering the Heart and Spleen, so it can be turned to either a cold or a hot closed disorder depending on what it is combined with. Alongside rousing the spirit it moves qi and blood and settles pain, which is its more everyday use — postpartum dizziness from blood stasis, cold gripping pain in the chest and abdomen, and fright in small children.
Nature & Flavor
Acrid, bitter · NeutralChannels
Heart · SpleenTypical Dosage
0.6–1.5 g per day, in pills or powders — like the rest of the chapter it is not decocted.Actions
3 core actions
- Opens the orifices, rouses the spiritClosed disorder with sudden clouding of consciousness — stroke with phlegm collapse, fainting from severe qi constraint, and the sudden loss of awareness the classics called. Being neutral, it is directed by the herbs around it toward either the cold or the hot pattern.
- Moves qi and blood, stops painCold, gripping chest and abdominal pain, and postpartum dizziness or blocked lochia from blood stasis.
- Calms fright in childrenInfantile fright convulsion and restlessness with turbid, foul qi in the old formularies; it is also the aromatic burned as incense for the same purpose.
In Formulas
Formulas containing An Xi Xiang
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Closed-type clouding of consciousness, cold or hot pattern by combination — in prepared pills
- Fainting from severe qi constraint; sudden collapse of the type
- Cold, gripping chest and abdominal pain
- Postpartum dizziness and blocked lochia from blood stasis
- Fright convulsion and restlessness in small children
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Sourcing. The pharmacopoeia takes benzoin from Styrax tonkinensis — Siam benzoin, tapped in Vietnam, Laos and Thailand and grown in southern China. Sumatra benzoin, from Styrax benzoin in Indonesia, is a different article of commerce with a different smell and a different constituent profile, and the two are not interchangeable in a prescription. Adulteration with rosin, sand and bark is common in cheap lots; the resin should soften and become fragrant on warming rather than simply melting to a sticky mass.
Clinical cautions. Aromatic and dispersing: for short-term use in an acute closure, not for long courses, and inappropriate where yin is deficient with rising fire. Not used in a collapse pattern. Not decocted, and not a substitute for emergency medical care when someone loses consciousness.
Allergy. Benzoin is the base of compound benzoin tincture (Friar's balsam) and is a well-documented contact allergen; anyone sensitised to benzoin or to the balsam-of-Peru fragrance group should avoid topical preparations containing it.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Avoid in pregnancy. It is strongly aromatic and moves both qi and blood — the same reasons the whole orifice-opening group is set aside during pregnancy — and it should be used at that time only if a qualified practitioner judges the situation to require it.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Xin Xiu Ben Cao《新修本草》(classical source, public domain).
2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
3. 《中华人民共和国药典》.
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.