Ba Wang Qi

Ba Wang Qi, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the tuber of the plant Wild Impatiens (Impatiens textori Miq.) of the Balsaminaceae family. It is distributed from Northeast China to Jiangxi, Sichuan, and other regions. It has the efficacy of promoting blood circulation and detoxifying. It is primarily used to treat contusions and bruises, bruising and swelling accompanied by pain, abdominal pain, boils, abscesses, and toxic sores, as well as venomous snake bites.

Chinese Name : 霸王七

Aliases : Wan Nian Ba

Nature, Flavor & Meridian Tropism : Taste: pungent and bitter; nature: slightly cold; enters the Liver meridian

Benefits & Efficacy

Benefits

Promotes blood circulation and detoxifies.

Indications

Traumatic injuries, bruising and swelling with pain, abdominal pain, boils, abscesses, and toxic sores; venomous snake bites.

Usage and Dosage

Internal use: Decoct 9–15 g; or take 3 g of the powdered form twice daily; or soak in wine. External use: Pound fresh plant and apply as a poultice.

Precautions

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.

Relevant Discussions

*Chronicle of Sichuan Chinese Medicinal Herbs* (1960 edition): “Removes blood stasis, reduces swelling, and detoxifies. Used to treat traumatic injuries and abscesses and sores.”

Applications

Related Prescriptions

1. For bruises, contusions, blood stasis, and pain: 10 g of Wannianba and 30 g of Achyranthes root; steep in 250 g of white liquor. Take 10 g of the medicated liquor twice daily.

2. For abdominal pain: 3g each of Wannianba and Qingmuxiang. Grind into powder and swallow. (Recipes 1–2 are from *Compendium of Chinese Ethnic Medicines*)

3. For boils and swellings: Pound Ba Wang Qi together with Sanxue Cao, Ci Sanjia, and Shehuangcao into a fine paste, then apply to the affected area.

4. For foot abscesses: Pound Ba Wang Qi into a paste and apply to the affected area. (Formulas 3–4 are from *Compendium of Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine*, 1960)

5. For venomous snake bites and wounds with redness, swelling, and pain: Take an appropriate amount of fresh Ba Wang Qi, pound it into a paste, and apply to the affected area. (*Compendium of Chinese Ethnic Medicine*)

Notes

1. *Medicinal Herbs of Northwest Guizhou*. 2. *Seven Medicinal Herbs of China, Volume 2*. 3. *Comprehensive Dictionary of Chinese Materia Medica, Volume 2*. 4. *New Compilation of Chinese Veterinary Medicine*. 5. *Chinese Materia Medica*.

Processing & Preparation

Harvesting & Processing

Harvest in summer or fall; wash thoroughly and use fresh or dry in the sun.

Crude Drug Identification

Properties of Crude Drugs

This product is subglobose, spindle-shaped, or irregular in form, 1–4 cm long and 0.5–2 cm in diameter. The surface is grayish-yellow to grayish-brown and wrinkled, often with residual fine roots and root scars. Both ends are slightly pointed and fibrous.Soft in texture and easily broken; the fracture surface is brown to grayish-brown, granular, with yellowish-white margins; when cut into thin slices, it appears translucent. It has a faint odor and a slightly sweet taste; when chewed, it sticks to the teeth and causes a pungent, numbing sensation on the tongue.

Botanical Information

Botanical Classification

Wild impatiens, a plant of the family Impatiens.

Morphological Characteristics

An annual herb, 40–90 cm tall. The stem is erect, highly branched, usually pale red; the upper branches and inflorescence stalks are covered with reddish-purple glandular hairs.Leaves are alternate or nearly whorled at the stem apex; leaf blades are rhombo-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, rarely broadly lanceolate, 3–13 cm long and 3–7 cm wide, with an acuminate apex, a cuneate base (rarely obtuse and rounded), and sharply serrate margins with small points at the tooth tips; there are 7–8 pairs of lateral veins; the upper surface is green, the lower surface pale green, and both surfaces are covered with multicellular hairs along the veins;Petiole 4–4.5 cm long; upper leaves gradually smaller, nearly sessile, with a slightly obtuse base. Inflorescence stalk arising from the axils of upper leaves, ascending obliquely, 4–10 cm long, bearing 4–10 flowers; flower stalks slender, 1–2 cm long, with bracts at the base; bracts ovate-lanceolate to triangular-ovate, 3–5 mm long.Flowers are large, pale purple or purplish red, with purple spots, 3–4 cm long; lateral sepals are 2, broadly ovate, dark purplish red, 7–10 mm long, 5–6 mm wide, with acute tips;the standard is ovate-quadrangular, about 12 mm in diameter, with a small tip at the apex; the midrib on the back has a keel-like projection; the wings are stalked, about 2 cm long, 2-lobed, with the basal lobe ovate-oblong and the upper lobe oblong-axial, both bearing distinct small auricles on the back;The labellum is bell-shaped and funnel-like, up to 2.5–3 cm long, with the mouth slanting upward, 15–18 mm wide, the apex gradually tapering to a point, and the base gradually narrowing into a 1.5-cm-long, inwardly curled spur; the inner surface bears dark purplish spots.The filaments are linear, 3–4 mm long; the anthers are ovate with blunt tips. The ovary is spindle-shaped and erect; the capsule is spindle-shaped, 1–1.8 cm long, with a pointed beak. Seeds are few, elliptical, 4 mm long, brown, and bear small tuberculate projections. Flowering occurs from August to September.

Distribution Area

Distributed from Northeast China to Jiangxi, Sichuan, and other regions.

Ba Wang Qi, a name in traditional Chinese medicine. It is the tuber of the plant Wild Impatiens (Impatiens textori Miq.) of the Balsaminaceae family. It is distributed from Northeast China to Jiangxi, Sichuan, and other regions. It has the efficacy of promoting blood circulation and detoxifying. It is primarily used to treat contusions and bruises, bruising and swelling accompanied by pain, abdominal pain, boils, abscesses, and toxic sores, as well as venomous snake bites.