page_title: Chinese herbology
section_title: Rhubarb
hierarchical_section_title: Chinese herbology / Herbs in use / Rhubarb
caption_attribution_description: One of the earliest natural history books about China. Jesuit Missionary author. (obviously includes some non-Chinese {and non-floral} species)
context_page_description: Chinese herbology is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine. A Nature editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that the most obvious reason why it has not delivered many cures is that the majority of its treatments have no logical mechanism of action.
  The term herbology is misleading in the sense that, while plant elements are by far the most commonly used substances, animal, human, and mineral products are also utilized, among which some are poisonous. In the Huangdi Neijing they are referred to as 毒藥 [duyao] which means toxin, poison, or medicine. Unschuld points out that this is similar etymology to the Greek pharmakon and so he uses the term "pharmaceutic". Thus, the term "medicinal" is usually preferred as a translation for 药.
  Research into the effectiveness of traditional Chinese herbal therapy is of poor quality and often tainted by bias, with little or no rigorous evidence of efficacy. There are concerns over a number of potentially toxic Chinese herbs.
context_section_description: Rhubarb (大黄), used medicinally for its root, was one of the first herbs to be exported from China.
  TCM Information:
  Species: Rheum palmatum, Rheum ranguticum, or Rheum officinale.
  Pinyin: Da Huang.
  Common Name: Rhubarb Root and Rhizome.
  Quality: Bitter, Cold.
  Meridians: Heart, Large Intestine, Liver, Stomach.
caption: Chinese rhubarb depicted by Michał Boym (1655)
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