Su He Xiang苏合香
Styrax · Storax · Liquid Storax · Oriental Sweetgum Resin
Overview
Su He Xiang is the purified balsam that seeps from the wounded trunk of the oriental sweetgum, Liquidambar orientalis — a thick, grey-brown, sticky resin with a warm cinnamon-benzoin scent. Acrid and warm, entering the Heart and Spleen, it is the warming member of the orifice-opening group: where Bing Pian is cool and suits heat-type clouding, Su He Xiang is the herb for the cold, damp, turbid closure — the patient cold to the touch, the tongue coated and greasy, the pulse slow. It also warms and unblocks the chest, which is why the classical rescue pill Su He Xiang Wan survives in modern practice as a chest-pain remedy.
Nature & Flavor
Acrid · WarmChannels
Heart · SpleenTypical Dosage
0.3–1 gActions
3 core actions
- Opens the orifices, rouses the spiritCold-type closed disorder: sudden clouding of consciousness with a cold body, pallor, a white greasy tongue coat and a slow pulse — stroke, phlegm collapse and fright epilepsy of cold pattern. This is the herb of Su He Xiang Wan, the counterpart to the cooling An Gong Niu Huang Wan.
- Dispels turbidity, wakes the SpleenTurbid, foul epidemic and summer-damp attacks with abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea; carried historically as a pocket aromatic against 'unclean qi'.
- Warms and unblocks, stops painCold, oppressive chest and abdominal pain — the basis for the modern angina preparation Guan Xin Su He Wan, in which it is paired with Bing Pian.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Su He Xiang
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Cold-pattern closed disorder with clouded consciousness — specialist emergency use, in prepared pills
- Stroke or phlegm collapse of cold type, with a cold body and slow pulse
- Turbid summer-damp attacks with abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea
- Cold, gripping chest oppression and pain, including angina-type chest pain
- Chilblains and stubborn itchy skin lesions (topical, in ointment)
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Sourcing. Genuine storax is tapped from Liquidambar orientalis, a tree confined to a small area of southwest Turkey where the remaining stands are protected, so pharmacopoeia-grade resin is scarce and expensive. Commercial 'storax' is frequently the resin of the American sweetgum, Liquidambar styraciflua, or a cheaper balsam cut with rosin or oil; buy only material identified against the pharmacopoeia standard, and expect the price to reflect it.
Clinical cautions. Warm, acrid and strongly dispersing — wrong for the heat-type closed disorder unless it is fully balanced by cooling herbs, and unsuitable for yin deficiency with heat signs. Like the whole chapter it treats a crisis, so it is used briefly and stopped: prolonged use scatters the qi. It is never given in a collapse pattern. Not decocted, and not a home preparation — the dose is under a gram and belongs inside a manufactured pill.
Allergy. Storax is one of the fragrance materials in the balsam-of-Peru allergen group, and contact dermatitis from topical storax preparations is documented. Anyone with a known balsam or fragrance allergy should avoid it externally.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Avoid in pregnancy. The orifice-opening herbs as a class are strongly aromatic and moving, and are treated as unsuitable during pregnancy; Su He Xiang Wan and the related chest-pain pills carry a pregnancy warning for the same reason.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Ming Yi Bie Lu《名医别录》(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.