She Xiang麝香
Moschus · Musk · Musk Deer Pod Secretion
Overview
She Xiang is the dried secretion taken from the musk sac of the mature male musk deer (Moschus berezovskii, M. sifanicus and M. moschiferus), and it is the most penetrating substance in the orifice-opening chapter: acrid, warm and aromatic enough, in the classical description, to reach the Heart and rouse a spirit that has been shut in. Beyond that rescue role it moves blood, unblocks the channels and disperses swelling, which is why it appears in trauma powders, chest-pain pills and sore-healing plasters as well as in the emergency formulas. It is also the hardest herb in the materia medica to obtain lawfully: musk deer are CITES-listed and a Class I state-protected animal in China, so the only legal material is farmed musk taken under state quota or, the artificial musk approved in China in 1994, and in most of the world neither wild musk nor a patent medicine containing it may be imported at all. This entry records what the textbook teaches about the drug — it is not a suggestion to source it.
Nature & Flavor
Acrid · WarmChannels
Heart · SpleenTypical Dosage
0.03–0.1 gActions
4 core actions
- Opens the orifices, rouses the spiritThe reference herb for closed disorders with clouded consciousness, and the only one used for both patterns: the hot type, combined with cooling herbs in prepared pills such as An Gong Niu Huang Wan and Zhi Bao Dan, and the cold type, in Su He Xiang Wan. Classical practice also reached for it in stroke, seizure and infantile convulsion where the spirit is shut in rather than leaking outward.
- Invigorates blood, unblocks the channelsBlood-stasis amenorrhea and abdominal masses, sudden severe chest or abdominal pain, and traumatic injury with fixed pain; it is the moving agent in trauma powders such as Qi Li San and in the modern chest-pain pill She Xiang Bao Xin Wan.
- Disperses swelling, relieves painBoils, abscesses and swollen painful throat — internally in milligram amounts inside pills such as Liu Shen Wan, and externally in plasters, where its penetrating quality is used to carry the other herbs into the tissue.
- Hastens a stalled deliveryThe classical texts used musk to move an obstructed labour and to expel a retained placenta. It is recorded here as historical materia medica only — and it is exactly this action that makes the herb absolutely forbidden during pregnancy.
In Formulas
Formulas containing She Xiang
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Closed-type clouding of consciousness, hot or cold pattern — specialist emergency use, in prepared pills
- Stroke, seizure and infantile convulsion with the spirit shut in
- Blood-stasis amenorrhea and abdominal masses
- Sudden severe chest or abdominal pain, including angina-type chest pain
- Traumatic injury with swelling and fixed, stabbing pain
- Boils, abscesses and swollen painful throat
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Restricted material — CITES-listed. Musk deer (Moschus spp.) are on the CITES appendices: Appendix I for the populations of Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, Appendix II for all other populations, and the animal is a Class I protected species in China. Commercial international trade in wild musk is barred, and in many countries — the United States included — importing or possessing musk, or a patent medicine containing it, is an offence. The only lawful supply is musk taken from live animals on licensed farms under state quota, or (artificial musk), the synthetic substitute approved in China in 1994 that now stands in for natural musk in most manufactured formulas. Never accept unlabelled 'musk' of unknown origin: it is either illegal or, more often, adulterated with resin, blood and animal tissue.
Substitutes. Where musk is unavailable, practice replaces it rather than chasing it. Manufacturers use artificial musk. In prescribing, Bing Pian 冰片, Shi Chang Pu 石菖蒲 and Su He Xiang 苏合香 carry the orifice-opening role, while blood-moving, pain-relieving herbs such as Chuan Xiong 川芎, Ru Xiang 乳香 and Mo Yao 没药 cover the moving part of its work.
Clinical cautions. Strongly dispersing and depleting to the original qi: short-term use only, and never in a collapse pattern, where qi and yang are already leaking outward. Not decocted. Because it works in milligram amounts, it belongs inside prepared pills dispensed by a qualified practitioner and has no place in home preparation.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Absolutely contraindicated in pregnancy, at any stage and in any amount. Musk is a classical abortifacient — the very action the old texts used to move a stalled labour and expel a retained placenta — and the ban extends to patent pills containing it and to medicated plasters worn over the abdomen or lower back.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》(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》.
4. CITES Appendices I, II and III — Moschus spp.
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.