Shu Di Huang (Prepared Rehmannia): The Gift of the Earth for Tonifying Kidney Jing — Doctor Luo Dalun on Shu Di for Health
Opening: the Sanya receiving station, and the change in an old couple
Dear friends, good morning to you all. Today we continue talking about health. In past years Doctor Luo Dalun often said that Sanya has a wonderful environment and urged people to come for a holiday, to relax — but basically no friends came: everyone was busy making money. This year is very special: after the Spring Festival he basically became a “Sanya receiving station,” sometimes receiving two groups of friends a day. Old friends from all over the country, many not seen for years, all came to ask about various health problems, to get together and chat.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Yesterday I saw a couple — an older brother and sister-in-law, old friends of many years. I know their health very well: we’ve been close for over a decade and used to see each other often. This time when they arrived, I took one look and was shocked: they were completely different from before. In the past I thought the brother had qi deficiency and often helped him tonify the spleen qi. But this year, what had happened to the couple? They had both become somewhat yin-deficient with kidney essence insufficiency. First, they had reached their sixties; second — why do I feel I’m seeing so many yin-deficient people these days? It never seemed this obvious before.
After the pandemic, why are so many people yin-deficient?
Doctor Luo Dalun says the sudden increase in yin deficiency is shocking. The old master Doctor Li Ke once even said: “In all my years of clinical practice, I have never seen a truly yin-deficient patient.” That may be an exaggeration, but it’s true that yin deficiency was never as common as it is now.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I think this has to do with the pandemic. External pathogens fought against your body and consumed the material foundation of the “yin” part of the body, pushing many people into a state of yin deficiency. So these days when I see so many yin-deficient people — it’s strange and shocking: yin deficiency, kidney essence insufficiency. That day I chatted with the brother and sister-in-law. I said: you’ve prepared a lot of health products and you truly care about your health — you exercise, you regulate your body, you do it all well. But from now on you must learn to use one herb, a yao shi tong yuan (medicinal-and-edible) substance that will be especially good for the second half of your lives. What is it? Shu di (prepared rehmannia). I had them take out a notebook and write it down on the spot.
Why the emphasis? Because kidney jing is the root of the material foundation. The ancients spoke of “zhen yin” (true yin) — how is it different from ordinary “yin”? True yin is the kidney jing. After going through a pandemic, fighting constantly against external pathogens, modern people have consumed their jing-fluids and yin-blood. What is the root of this material foundation? It is jing. When the upper part is consumed, jing is slowly consumed along with it, so we see an enormous number of people with kidney essence insufficiency.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I now see a great many people with red or dark red tongues — kidney essence insufficiency, even kidney yin deficiency — and it’s not just in China. In the last couple of days people overseas sent me tongue photos, and I saw plenty there too. A friend who recently returned from the United States has a disease with no solution anywhere in the world. When he came back, it was clearly yin deficiency. He saw several TCM hospitals in China; only Beijing Kuanjie TCM Hospital (Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine) had formulas that took his yin deficiency into account. The other two, both large TCM hospitals, didn’t consider it at all — there was no yin-nourishing herb in the prescriptions, yet this was obviously a yin-deficient person with insufficient liver yin. Even someone returning from abroad is like this. So what is going on? After the pandemic, people’s constitutions may have changed. This is exactly why we need to learn to use the kidney-jing-tonifying, yin-nourishing herbs: for tonifying kidney jing there is shu di huang; for nourishing yin there are shi hu, e jiao, sha shen, mai dong, sheng di and so on. We all need to master them.
The Ming dynasty’s “Zhang Shu Di” — Doctor Zhang Jingyue and the Four Pillars of Materia Medica
How important is shu di? This takes us back to a great master of the Ming dynasty — Doctor Zhang Jingyue (Zhang Jiebin, courtesy name Jingyue, also known as Tong Yizi). Zhang Jingyue was a master: he classified and annotated the Huang Di Nei Jing (Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon) in meticulous detail, producing the Lei Jing (Classified Canon) — a book that became the official textbook for imperial physicians in the Qing dynasty’s Imperial Medical Academy. Zhang Jingyue treated countless patients; it was said he “revived no fewer than ten thousand lives” — over ten thousand patients were cured by him.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Zhang Jingyue was a great master. What was his nickname? “Zhang Shu Di” — because he especially loved using shu di. He had a famous theory of the “Si Wei” (Four Pillars) of materia medica: using herbs is like a state standing on its four cornerstones — shu di tonifies the kidneys (tonifying the lower burner), ren shen (ginseng) tonifies the heart and lungs (tonifying the upper burner), da huang (rhubarb) clears heat, and fu zi (aconite) warms yang. He explained these herbs very clearly: once you understand shu di, ren shen, fu zi, and da huang, you basically understand the major directions of herbal therapy. Ren shen tonifies the qi of the heart and lungs above; shu di tonifies the kidney jing below — these four dimensions are the core skeleton of Zhang Jingyue’s prescribing. Everyone who studied him started from here.
The life of rehmannia: fresh rehmannia, sheng di, and shu di
Where does shu di huang come from? It grows in the ground — produced in Wenxian County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, the famous Huai Di Huang (“Huai” refers to the ancient Huaiqing Prefecture around Jiaozuo; one of the Four Great Huai Medicines). It is the same lu tu (dark clay) soil that produces these herbs.
When rehmannia is dug up it is xian sheng di (fresh rehmannia), and the fresh form is especially good. What is fresh rehmannia for? Clearing heat, cooling the blood, and generating fluids — it is used when treating warm febrile diseases with external pathogens present; its ability to push pathogens outward is excellent, which is why the ancients often prescribed fresh rehmannia during warm epidemic diseases. When fresh rehmannia is sun-dried, it becomes gan di huang / sheng di huang, abbreviated “sheng di.” Sheng di cools the blood and nourishes yin — when a yin-deficient person gets a prescription, sheng di is frequently in it.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: These days it’s not easy to obtain: technology has advanced, but our intentions have regressed — try to buy fresh rehmannia at a pharmacy? There is none. The ancients could get it; now we can’t. So how does rehmannia become shu di? Jiu zheng jiu shai — nine steamings and nine dryings: steam it, dry it, steam it again, dry it again, all the while adding rice wine as an auxiliary. In this process something changes within the herb — this is the wonder of nature: slowly, fresh rehmannia becomes shu di huang. The nature of shu di is no longer so cold; it becomes warm. What does something warm tonify? — The ancients said “nourish yin and tonify true yin,” but we should say it plainly: this is tonifying kidney jing.
What exactly does shu di tonify? — the classical materia medica says it plainly
Why does tonifying kidney jing mean tonifying the bone marrow? Because the kidneys govern the bones and generate marrow. The Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica) says shu di “fills the marrow, builds muscle, generates essence and blood, tonifies the internal deficiencies of the five organs, unblocks the blood vessels, benefits the ears and eyes, and blackens the beard and hair; for men’s five labors and seven impairments, for women’s injuries of the middle, uterine bleeding, irregular menstruation, and the hundred illnesses of pregnancy and childbirth” — all of this describes what happens when kidney jing is sufficient: the hundred ailments of the body resolve. The Qing-dynasty Ben Cao Cong Xin also says it “nourishes the kidney water, seals and fills the bone marrow, benefits the blood vessels, and tonifies true yin” — and what is true yin? It is jing.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The ancients could never quite explain what this “jing” is. In fact, jing is the root of our life: we bring prenatal essence from our parents, add the refined essence of food and drink, combine it with the clear qi of the air, absorb nutrients to form kidney jing, and store it in the kidneys — this substance is the root of our life. When kidney jing is sufficient, the teeth are firm, the hair is good, the spirit is full, and bodily functions are normal. When kidney jing is insufficient — through overconsumption, staying up late, excessive worry, indulgence, plus the natural rule of aging — the body begins to decline. At seventeen or eighteen your essence is naturally abundant; at sixty or seventy it is naturally insufficient. That is the law of life; it happens whether or not you resist it.
How does the body sound the alarm when kidney jing is insufficient? — a self-check list
When decline begins, the body sends signals: the teeth start to loosen, no longer firm — some friends say, “Why does my tooth keep crumbling day by day? I feel a crack, little pieces chipping away” — that is kidney essence insufficiency. Then the hair grays prematurely and begins to fall out; the teeth also fall; the knees and lower back become sore and weak as aging sets in; the arms and legs no longer move as nimbly — all these are signs of aging.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Basically, whenever I meet someone with a dark red tongue (not a pale tongue, but dark red), I think: could this be kidney essence insufficiency? I’ll ask them — do your knees feel cold? Do your ankles feel cold? When you climb stairs, do your knees feel sore and weak? Is your lower back sore? Is your movement less nimble than before? The kidneys govern the bones and generate marrow; the brain is the sea of marrow — do you often feel dizzy? Is your thinking sluggish, are you constantly tired and sleepy, always wanting to slack off, without strength or vitality? And do you tear up in the wind, does your hair turn white quickly, do your teeth loosen or even fall out? If you have these signs, you should consider kidney essence insufficiency. And if you find your tongue body is dark red, you should think in this direction.
How to use shu di? — in soup or tea, 30 grams with 3 grams of cinnamon
Shu di is yao shi tong yuan (both medicine and food), and using it is simple. What Doctor Luo Dalun recommended to the brother and sister-in-law was a food-therapy recipe they could make any time.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The sister-in-law said that when the wind blew these last couple of days, her face turned a bit blue-green — she had suffered from trigeminal neuralgia before and it felt like it was about to flare up. When spring arrives, the wind-wood begins to grow (in the five phases, spring belongs to wood), and wood’s growth needs kidney water to nourish it — when kidney jing is insufficient, kidney water is insufficient, so in spring the kidney jing is even more easily depleted. At that point I said: take some shu di huang, add a little rou gui (cinnamon bark), and make soup — this will all help. When you actually have symptoms, the usual dosage is 30 g of shu di with 3 g of rou gui, made into soup, and it works; for everyday maintenance, use just five or six grams — steep it in hot water or put it in soup. Six or ten grams a day is fine.
Red tongue or fear of cold? — two directions for pairing herbs
After kidney jing is depleted, each person develops in a different direction — some move toward kidney yin deficiency, some toward kidney yang deficiency; it depends on the yin-yang condition of the body itself. So what to pair shu di with also splits into two directions.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: If the person has a red tongue, dry mouth, constant thirst, wants cold drinks, dry eyes — tonify kidney jing with shu di, but at the same time pair it with yin-nourishing herbs: add some sheng di (using the two rehmannias together), add some sha shen, mai dong, add some shi hu — the formula moves in the yin-nourishing direction. If the person has sore weak knees and lower back, and at the same time fears cold — especially cold in the lower body, cold knees and legs — again tonify kidney jing with shu di, but on this foundation warm the yang: add some bu gu zhi (psoralea fruit), some du zhong (eucommia bark), some niu xi (achyranthes root), some gou qi (goji berry), and a little tu si zi (dodder seed), warming yang gradually until the yang qi is sufficient. Depending on whether it’s yin deficiency or yang deficiency, pairing shu di with the right herbs makes it more precise. And if you truly can’t tell the difference? Then just take shu di with a little rou gui — shu di with rou gui is the foundation pairing for warming yang and transforming qi; however you use it, it won’t go off course.
Small flexible formulas: Liang Yi Gao, the Qianlong emperor’s habit, and chen pi against cloying richness
Shu di doesn’t have to be used alone; pairing it with ren shen is a classic combination. Doctor Luo Dalun told the story of receiving small wild ginseng from the northeast.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Friends have brought me lots of small ginseng and wild-grown ginseng — I’ve given so much away to friends I can’t give any more. That small mountain ginseng has very strong power, stronger even than yuan sheng shen (original-growth ginseng) or lin xia shen (forest-floor ginseng); it’s a truly fine thing. But if you eat ginseng alone casually, you’ll definitely get fire signs — so what to do? Pair it with some mai dong. How did the Qianlong Emperor take it? He also paired it with mai dong. I found mai dong alone wasn’t enough, so I added some shu di — ginseng and shu di boiled together: that is Liang Yi Gao (Two Forms Syrup): ren shen above, shu di below, one tonifies qi and one tonifies blood, one tonifies above and one below; shu di tonifies kidney jing and also nourishes blood. Alternatively, put ren shen with a little mai dong, a little shu di, and a slice of chen pi (aged tangerine peel) into soup — it tonifies both above and below, and the tonification doesn’t clog, because the chen pi helps you digest and move it. When you steep huang qi and gou qi in hot water, adding a little shu di is fine too; and if you’re worried about cloying richness or fire, just add one slice of chen pi — a chen pi tangerine peel breaks into three lobes, take half a lobe, don’t overdo it, a tiny bit is enough.
The fire fortune is in command: why we need even more to nourish jing, blood, and yin now
Doctor Luo Dalun reminds us: this era may be one in which the qi of heaven and earth is changing — we are already entering the “fire fortune” (huo yun). Once heat intensifies, the body’s yin fluids become insufficient, jing becomes insufficient, blood becomes insufficient. So nourishing kidney jing, nourishing blood, and nourishing yin are all extremely important.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The ancients placed both jing and blood under “yin,” but we can also look at “yin” on its own — yin is the substance that governs stillness and moisture. The yin-nourishing herbs are sheng di, sha shen, mai dong, shi hu and the like; the blood-tonifying ones are dang gui, Yu Ling Gao (Jade Spirit Syrup, made from longan flesh), and so on; and for generating fluids we speak of suan gan hua yin — sour and sweet flavors together generating yin — and Wu Mei Bai Tang (smoked plum and white sugar soup) is exactly that. Shi hu tonifies the fluids. But what is the source of all this blood and these fluids? The source is jing. You must fill up the jing — if the jing isn’t replenished, then over there you keep tonifying and always come up short. That is why shu di is so important; nothing else can replace it: for tonifying kidney jing, what else would you use? I don’t think anything has the power of shu di.
Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan: shu di is the “boss” in both
How high is shu di’s status in formulas? Just look at the two most famous kidney-tonifying prescriptions.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: In Liu Wei Di Huang Wan (Six-Ingredient Rehmannia Pill), the most important herb is shu di huang, with the largest dosage — bigger than all the other herbs combined. In Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan (Kidney Qi Pill from the Golden Cabinet), the top ingredient is also shu di. This is what the ancients left us — a usage that dates from Doctor Zhang Zhongjing’s time. Among all the kidney-jing-tonifying herbs, shu di ranks first, absolutely first, with no exception; the others (such as gou qi) are all there to support it. Why? Because kidney jing is the root; jing is the root — kidney jing transforms into kidney qi, and kidney qi transforms into kidney yin and kidney yang. This is like Laozi’s saying, “The Dao gives birth to one; one gives birth to two; two gives birth to three; three gives birth to the ten thousand things”: the Dao gives birth to one — that is kidney jing; one gives birth to two — it becomes kidney yin and kidney yang; kidney yin and kidney yang combine into kidney qi; kidney yin, kidney yang, and kidney qi together give birth to our body. So all those kidney-strengthening and yang-warming herbs are merely supporting shu di.
Closing: treat shu di as a treasure and put it to good use
Doctor Luo Dalun concludes: shu di is a unique gift heaven gave the Chinese people — ask a foreigner to find something that tonifies kidney jing and they’ll struggle; they don’t have this culture, and heaven didn’t give it to them. Only this one plot of land in Wenxian County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province, China, produces it. We should all learn about the culture of di huang — the culture of shu di.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Treat shu di as a fine thing and keep it at home. I keep two jars in my fridge; whenever I make a soup, I take it out and toss in a few pieces. On ordinary days I steep it in my health pot — I grab a small handful of shu di cubes and put them in; it helps nourish your kidney jing, and that’s good for you. Especially after the pandemic, if your body begins to show signs of decline — look at whether your tongue is red. If you find your tongue is always that dark red color, you can prepare: shu di huang tonifies kidney jing. For this kind of consumptive state — dark red tongue, sore weak knees and lower back, tearing in the wind, hair turning white quickly, loose or falling teeth — kidney essence insufficiency, go and use it. Doctor Zhang Jingyue wrote so many essays defending shu di, explaining why people didn’t understand it, one by one — including his own experience using it; I’ll share that with you another time. One reminder: genuine shu di is the nine-steam-nine-dry shu di from Wenxian County, Jiaozuo, Henan Province — this should be a craft passed down as intangible cultural heritage. Nowadays much shu di is mass-produced; the machines turn and no one gives it nine steamings and nine dryings. Only the one made with patient, careful nine-steam-nine-dry work is the real thing. If you’re interested, go and learn about it.
Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s wellness lecture on traditional Chinese medicine.