Xiao Ji is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of the aerial parts of Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB., a plant in the genus Cirsium of the Asteraceae family. It has the effects of cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, as well as dispersing blood stasis, detoxifying, and resolving abscesses. It is primarily used to treat epistaxis, hematemesis, hematuria, hematuria with pain, hematochezia, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, traumatic bleeding, and abscesses, swellings, and toxic sores.
Small Thistle
Xiao Ji is the name of a traditional Chinese medicine. It consists of the aerial parts of Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB., a plant in the genus Cirsium of the Asteraceae family. It has the effects of cooling the blood and stopping bleeding, as well as dispersing blood stasis, detoxifying, and resolving abscesses. It is primarily used to treat epistaxis, hematemesis, hematuria, hematuria with pain, hematochezia, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, traumatic bleeding, and abscesses, swellings, and toxic sores.
Chinese Name : 小蓟
Latin Name : Cirsii Herba
Aliases : Cat Thistle, Green Prickly Thistle, Thousand-Needle Grass, Prickly Thistle Herb, Prickly Herb, Green Greens, Tender Greens,Spear-knife Herb, Wild Safflower, Prickly Horn Herb, Wood Thistle, Prickly Stem Herb, Prickly Bud, Prickly Killing Herb, Hairy Shepherd’s Purse, Little Evil Hen, Prickly Radish, Little Thistle, Prickly Grass, Ox-Stab Thistle, Prickly Pointed-Head Herb, Little Prickly Cap
Authentic Producing Area : It is found in most regions of China.
Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: sweet and bitter; nature: cool; enters the Heart and Liver meridians
Benefits & Efficacy
Benefits
Cools the blood and stops bleeding; dispels blood stasis, detoxifies, and resolves abscesses.
Indications
Epistaxis, hematemesis, hematuria, bloody urination, hematochezia, metrorrhagia, postpartum hemorrhage, traumatic bleeding, and abscesses, swellings, and toxic sores.
Usage and Dosage
1. Internal use: Decoct 5–10 g; 30–60 g of fresh herb may be used, or pounded to extract juice. 2. External use: Pound and apply as a poultice.
Precautions
Contraindicated in cases of spleen and stomach deficiency-cold without blood stasis. 1. *Essentials of Materia Medica*: Avoid contact with iron utensils. 2. *Commentary on the Classic of Materia Medica*: Not suitable for conditions of weak stomach with diarrhea, severe blood deficiency, or spleen and stomach weakness with loss of appetite. 3. *Comprehensive Discourse on Materia Medica*: Not suitable for qi deficiency.
Chemical Constituents
It primarily contains flavonoids (monosialin, rutin), phenolic acids (procyanicic acid, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid), and sterols (taraxasterol, taraxasterol acetate, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol), among others.
Pharmacological Actions
1. Effects on the Hematological System: Small thistle can constrict blood vessels, increase platelet counts, promote platelet aggregation, enhance thrombin activity, and inhibit fibrinolysis, thereby accelerating hemostasis. 2. Effects on the Cardiovascular System: Small thistle may influence cardiovascular function through various mechanisms, such as affecting the contraction and relaxation of vascular smooth muscle and regulating cardiac function; however, its specific mechanisms of action have not yet been fully elucidated. 3. Antibacterial Effects: Decoctions of small thistle exhibit certain inhibitory effects against Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Proteus spp., Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi. 4. Anti-inflammatory Effects: Animal studies have demonstrated that small thistle exerts a certain degree of anti-inflammatory effect on formaldehyde-induced arthritis. 5. Other Effects: Small thistle also exhibits certain lipid-lowering, cholagogue, diuretic, sedative, and antitumor effects.
Relevant Discussions
1. *Rihua Zi Bencao*: The root of the small thistle is cool in nature and non-toxic; it treats heat toxins, wind disorders, and chest and diaphragm distress; it stimulates the appetite, promotes digestion, reduces fever, and replenishes deficiencies. The shoots relieve烦热 (restlessness and heat); grind them fresh to extract the juice and drink it. The small thistle has a mild effect and is only suitable for reducing fever; unlike the large thistle, it cannot nourish the body or regulate qi.
2. *Medicine: Integrating Chinese and Western Principles*: Fresh small thistle root has a slightly pungent taste, a faint fishy odor, and a cool, moist nature. Because its fishy odor resembles that of blood and its nature is cool and moist, it effectively penetrates the blood system and is most effective at clearing heat from the blood. For all cases of hemoptysis, hematemesis, epistaxis, and blood in the urine or stool caused by heat, those who take it are invariably cured immediately.It is also highly effective in treating pulmonary tuberculosis at any stage; it is suitable for use regardless of the stage of the disease and can be effective even when used alone. It also treats all types of sores, abscesses, swelling, and pain; venereal diseases and toxic dysuria; and bloody discharge accompanied by soreness and difficulty in passing urine. This is because its nature not only cools the blood and stops bleeding but also promotes blood circulation and eliminates toxins, thereby producing the aforementioned effects.Its cooling and moistening properties also excel at nourishing yin and blood, treating fever caused by blood deficiency; it is also effective for women suffering from menorrhagia or red vaginal discharge caused by heat.
Applications
Clinical Applications
1. Treatment of Sores and Ulcers: Harvest fresh small thistle leaves and rinse them several times with a 0.1% potassium permanganate solution followed by a 0.5% saline solution. Press to extract the juice, let it stand for 1 hour, then decant the upper clear liquid. Mix 20 milliliters of the dark green precipitate with 80 grams of white petroleum jelly to form an ointment.Generally, 4–7 dressing changes are sufficient for a full recovery; no adverse side effects have been observed.
2. Treatment of postpartum uterine atony and postpartum hemorrhage: Take 1–3 milliliters of small thistle extract (1:10) three times daily.An observation of 45 cases confirmed its effectiveness in contracting the uterus and stopping bleeding. Generally, 2–3 days after starting treatment, the postpartum uterus contracts by an average of 2–5 centimeters. In cases of heavy bleeding, take 4–8 milliliters 3–4 times daily; once bleeding stops, switch to the standard dose. Alternatively, decoct 2 liang of the fresh whole herb twice and divide the decoction into two doses. In most cases, bleeding stops or is significantly reduced after 2 days.
3. Treatment of leprosy-related epistaxis: Wash the whole herb, crush it, and filter the liquid through gauze. Decoct the liquid in a pot until the water has evaporated. After cooling, add an appropriate amount of preservative and store in a glass bottle for future use. To apply, dip a cotton ball in the liquid and place it on the bleeding site of the eroded or ulcerated area of the nasal septum; change the cotton ball 3–4 times daily.Bleeding generally stops within 4–14 days, and the ulcerated area of the nasal septum heals within 21–33 days, with no adverse reactions.
4. Treatment of infectious hepatitis: Take 1 liang of dried Small Thistle root or 2 liang of fresh root, decoct in water for 0.5–1 hour, filter, add sugar, and take the entire dose at once before bedtime.Children aged 1–3, 4–7, and 8–12 years should take 1/4, 1/3, and 1/2 of the adult dose, respectively; this remedy is not suitable for infants. A treatment course lasts 20–30 days; for some cases with a shorter disease course, a 7–10-day course may suffice.
Related Compatibility
1. Small Thistle Combined with White Reed Root: Small thistle cools the blood and stops bleeding, making it a commonly used herb for these purposes; white reed root has a sweet taste and cold nature, serving as an excellent remedy for clearing heat and cooling the blood. It is used for various types of bleeding caused by uncontrolled blood heat and also possesses the benefits of clearing heat, cooling the blood, and promoting diuresis. When combined, these two herbs are suitable for conditions such as hematuria and bloody urination.
2. Small Thistle Combined with Madder: Small thistle cools the blood and clears heat;Rubia is effective at promoting blood circulation and resolving blood stasis. When combined, these two herbs are suitable for bleeding syndromes caused by blood heat complicated by blood stasis, offering the unique benefit of cooling the blood and arresting bleeding without the drawback of retaining blood stasis.
3. Small Thistle Combined with Plantain: Small Thistle excels at cooling the blood and arresting bleeding, while also promoting diuresis; Plantain excels at promoting diuresis, relieving dysuria, clearing heat, and detoxifying.When combined, this pairing clears heat and detoxifies, promotes urination and relieves dysuria, and cools the blood to stop bleeding. It is suitable for heat-type dysuria caused by damp-heat descending to the bladder, as well as dysuria and hematuria.
4. Small Thistle Combined with Uncaria: Uncaria has a sweet taste and is slightly cold in nature; it clears liver heat, calms liver wind, lowers blood pressure, and relieves dizziness; Small Thistle has a slightly pungent taste and primarily enters the Heart and Liver meridians.When used together, this combination is indicated for heat in the Liver meridian, head distension and headache, as well as Liver Yang hyperactivity causing dizziness and vertigo, and wind-heat-induced head distension and dizziness.
5. Small Thistle Combined with Raw Rehmannia: Both Small Thistle and Raw Rehmannia can clear heat, cool the blood, and stop bleeding; Raw Rehmannia also nourishes Yin and enriches the blood. This combination is indicated for conditions involving blood heat and bleeding, such as hematuria and menorrhagia.
Medicinal Identification
1. Fresh Small Thistle, Raw Small Thistle, and Charred Small Thistle: Fresh Small Thistle is more potent at dispersing blood stasis and resolving abscesses, and can be used to treat boils, swellings, and toxic sores. Raw Small Thistle is more effective at cooling the blood and reducing swelling, and is commonly used for heat-induced dysuria, boils, swellings, and toxic sores, as well as bleeding syndromes characterized by a predominance of pathogenic heat.When charred, its cooling nature is reduced while its astringent and hemostatic effects are enhanced; it is widely used for various hemorrhagic conditions such as hematemesis, vomiting of blood, hemoptysis, and coughing up blood.
2.Small Thistle and White茅Root: Both herbs are blood-cooling and hemostatic agents, primarily used to treat various hemorrhagic conditions caused by blood heat forcing the blood to flow uncontrollably. However, Small Thistle has a sweet and bitter taste, a cool nature, and enters the Heart and Liver meridians; it cools the blood and stops bleeding, while also dispersing blood stasis and resolving abscesses. It is mainly used for hemoptysis and epistaxis due to blood heat, hematuria, metrorrhagia and menorrhagia, and abscesses and toxic swellings.White Reed Root has a sweet and cold nature and enters the Lung, Stomach, and Bladder meridians. It cools the blood and stops bleeding, while also clearing heat and promoting urination. It is primarily used for various bleeding disorders caused by blood heat leading to uncontrolled blood flow, but is most commonly used for painful, scanty, and difficult urination. It can also be used for edema, difficulty urinating, thirst associated with warm-heat syndromes, vomiting due to stomach heat, cough due to lung heat, and damp-heat jaundice.
Related Medicines
Hemostatic Treasure Capsules, Nephritis Relief Capsules, Lotus Leaf Pills, and Wound-Healing Plaster.
Related Prescriptions
Xiao Ji Decoction (from *Jisheng Fang*), Shi Hui Powder (from *Shiyao Shenshu*), and Formula for Clearing Heat and Stopping Bleeding (from *Jisheng Fang*).
Medicinal Diet Therapy
Small Thistle and Red Glutinous Rice Porridge:
1. Effects: Detoxifies, resolves abscesses, cools the blood, and stops bleeding; effective for thrombocytopenic purpura.
2. Ingredients: 15 g of small thistle, 50 g of red glutinous rice.
3. Preparation: Place the small thistle in a pot, add an appropriate amount of water, and simmer to make a decoction. Strain out the residue to collect the liquid. Use this liquid to cook the red glutinous rice into a porridge. Once the porridge is thoroughly cooked and soft, add an appropriate amount of brown sugar to taste.
4. Usage: Consume in one sitting.
Notes
Patients requiring treatment with Chinese herbal medicine should first consult a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hospital, where a TCM practitioner will conduct a professional pattern differentiation and prescribe an herbal formula.
Processing & Preparation
Harvesting & Processing
Harvest the whole plant during the peak blooming period in May–June, then sun-dry it or use it fresh. It can be harvested continuously for 3–4 years.
Processing Methods
1. Small Thistle: Take the raw herb, remove impurities, rinse thoroughly with running water, moisten slightly, cut into sections, dry, and sift out ash and debris.
2. Charred Small Thistle: Place the small thistle segments in a pan and stir-fry over medium heat until charred brown. Sprinkle with a small amount of water to extinguish any embers, then continue stir-frying until all moisture has evaporated. Remove and allow to cool completely.
3. Roasted Small Thistle: Place the small thistle segments in a pan and roast over low heat until the surface turns golden brown and a fragrant aroma is released. Remove and allow to cool.
Storage Methods
Store in a dry container in a well-ventilated, dry place; place the charred Small Thistle segments on top to dissipate heat and prevent reignition.
Crude Drug Identification
Identification
1. Macroscopic examination of the leaf surface: Upper epidermal cells are polygonal with straight vertical walls and distinct cuticular striations; lower epidermal vertical walls are wavy and curved. Both upper and lower epidermis contain stomata and non-glandular trichomes. Stomata are irregular or unequal in shape; non-glandular trichomes consist of 3–10 or more cells, with the apical cell being slender, whip-like, and shriveled and twisted.The mesophyll cells contain calcium oxalate crystals, mostly in the form of needle-like clusters.
2. Thin-layer chromatography: Take 0.5 g of the powdered sample, add 5 mL of methanol, sonicate for 30 minutes, filter, evaporate the filtrate to dryness, and dissolve the residue in 2 mL of methanol to prepare the test solution.Separately, take 0.5 g of the reference herbal material (Small Thistle) and prepare a reference herbal material solution using the same method. Next, take the reference standard of monghloside, dissolve it in methanol to prepare a solution containing 0.5 mg per mL, and use this as the reference standard solution.Perform the test according to the thin-layer chromatography method (General Chapter 0502). Pipette 1 μL of each of the three solutions mentioned above and spot them separately onto the same polyamide membrane. Develop with a mobile phase of acetone-butanone-ethanol-water (1:3:3:13), remove the membrane, allow it to air-dry,spray with aluminum trichloride solution, allow to air-dry, and examine under ultraviolet light (365 nm). In the chromatogram of the test sample, fluorescent spots of the same color appear at positions corresponding to those in the chromatograms of the reference herbal material and the reference standard.
Properties of Crude Drugs
Stems are cylindrical, 30–45 cm long, 2–4 mm in diameter, with a green or slightly purplish-brown surface bearing longitudinal ridges and soft hairs; they are brittle, break easily, and have a fibrous, hollow cross-section. Leaves are mostly shriveled or fragmented; when flattened, intact leaves are oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 3–12 cm long and 0.5–3 cm wide;entire or slightly wavy, with fine spines; the upper surface is greenish-brown, the lower surface is grayish-green, and both surfaces bear white, spider-web-like hairs. The flower heads are terminal; the involucre is bell-shaped; the bracts are yellowish-green, arranged in 5–6 layers, linear or lanceolate; the corollas are mostly shed, and the pappus is feathery and often exposed. It has a faint odor and a slightly bitter taste.
Properties of Processed Slices
1. Small Thistle: See “Characteristics of the Medicinal Material.”
2. Roasted Small Thistle: Resembles Small Thistle, but has a scorched yellow surface and a fragrant aroma.
3. Charred Small Thistle: Resembles Small Thistle, but is scorched brown.
Botanical Information
Botanical Classification
Cirsium sp., a plant of the genus Cirsium in the Asteraceae family.
Morphological Characteristics
A perennial herb. The rhizome is long. The stem is erect, 30–80 cm tall, and glabrous or covered with spider-web-like hairs.Basal leaves wither during flowering; lower and middle leaves are elliptic or elliptic-lanceolate, 7–15 cm long and 1.5–10 cm wide, with a blunt or rounded apex and a wedge-shaped base; they are usually sessile. Upper stem leaves gradually decrease in size; the leaf margins bear dense, fine spines or spiny teeth. All stem leaves are the same color on both surfaces and glabrous.The capitula are solitary at the stem apex; the plant is dioecious; the involucre of the male inflorescence is about 18 mm long, while that of the female inflorescence is about 25 mm long;The involucral bracts are arranged in 6 layers; the outer layer is very short, oblong-lanceolate, while the inner layer is lanceolate, with a long acute apex and spines; the corolla of male flowers is 17–20 mm long, with lobes 9–10 mm long and purplish-red anthers approximately 6 mm long; the corolla of female flowers is purplish-red, approximately 26 mm long, with lobes approximately 5 mm long and vestigial anthers approximately 2 mm long.Achenes are elliptic or oblong-ovate, slightly flattened; pappus is pinnate. Flowering period: May–June; fruiting period: May–July.
Distribution Area
Distributed throughout China except for Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, and Tibet.
Growth Habits
It prefers a warm and humid climate and is cold- and drought-tolerant. It is highly adaptable and not particular about soil type.
Propagation Methods
Propagated by seed.
Cultivation Techniques
Collect seeds in June–July when the flower buds wither, sun-dry them, and set them aside for later use. Sow in early spring (February–March). For hole sowing, dig holes with a row and plant spacing of 20 cm × 20 cm. Mix the seeds thoroughly with wood ash before sowing them into the holes, cover with soil just enough to bury the seeds, and water.Keep the soil consistently moist until seedlings emerge. Thin and replant seedlings when they reach 6–10 cm in height, leaving 3–4 plants per hole. Combine this with tilling and weeding; during the second weeding in mid-May, incorporate human and animal manure.