Mian Mountain, a grand landscape in Jiexiu region, Shanxi Province, features splendid peaks, deep valleys, and remarkable sites like Hugging-Belly Cliff (Baofu Ya) and Honeycomb Spring (Fengfang Quan). From summer to autumn, it attracts numerous visitors. The mountain abounds with rare flora, particularly medicinal herbs. Membranous Milkvetch (Mian Huangqi) and Ural Licorice (Fen Gancao) recorded in Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) have been renowned through history.
Locals rarely recognize medicinal plants beyond occasionally digging Ural Licorice for sale. In shaded high-altitude areas grows Blood-Checking Herb (Xue Jian Chou). Visitors often collect it to treat hemorrhagic conditions with remarkable efficacy. My family has long preserved this herb, which resembles withered mugwort with bland taste and appearance.
At age 10, I developed hematochezia (bloody stool). After dozens of failed treatments, an elderly farmer gave me this herb. Boiling it as tea stopped bleeding within days. Subsequent 20-day spleen-strengthening therapy completed my recovery, making me value it profoundly.
Later, a neighbor with hematemesis (vomiting blood) stopped bleeding after taking small doses. During the Gengshen year (a traditional Chinese calendar designation), my wife suffered postpartum hemorrhagic syncope. When conventional medicines failed, this herb revived her promptly.
At a county office discussion, Liu Linfu from the Ministry of Justice requested the herb for his months-long hematemesis unresponsive to pounds of ginseng and deer antler. Sending ~10 grams cured him within days. Qian Jigang‘s niece-in-law survived postpartum hemorrhagic coma after all treatments failed (funeral preparations had started). Later surveys confirmed its universal effectiveness against postpartum hemorrhage, earning it the name ”Childbed-Syncope Herb (Xue Yun Cao)”.
Pharmacy inquiries revealed Blood-Checking Herb sold in Yuzhou (Henan) resembled Red Fleeceflower Root (Chi Shouwu) but differed from Mian Mountain’s authentic variety. No classical medicinal texts document this herb. This reflects how exceptional remedies—unrecorded by Shennong (legendary herbalism founder) or included in Golden Cabinet Classics (Jingui Yaolue)—remain buried in remote mountains, unknown to medical communities. Alas! Many such treasures likely await discovery. This account supplements pharmacopeia records—may conscientious minds heed it.
(Key adaptations:
- Medical terms: “hematochezia”, “hematemesis”, “hemorrhagic syncope”
- Standard translations: Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu), Golden Cabinet Classics (Jingui Yaolue)
- Pinyin without tones for locations/names: Yuzhou, Liu Linfu, Qian Jigang
- Cultural notes: Gengshen year, Shennong
- Metric conversion: “two qian” → ~10 grams)
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