San Qi

What Is San Qi (Notoginseng Root)?

San Qi, listed as Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma, is the root and rhizome of notoginseng, a member of the same botanical genus as ginseng and native mainly to the cooler highlands of southwest China, where it is cultivated for several years before harvest. The dried roots are firm, grayish-brown, and waxy when cut, with a sweet and faintly bitter taste. In English it is called notoginseng, pseudo-ginseng, or sometimes tienchi ginseng. A regional folk name captures its reputation as a bleeding-stopping ginseng, but its botanical identity is notoginseng rather than ordinary ginseng.

TCM Properties and Actions

San Qi is warm in nature, sweet and slightly bitter in flavor, and enters the Liver and Stomach meridians. Its recorded action is unusual and distinctive: it stops bleeding and dissolves stasis at the same time. Most hemostatic substances in traditional pharmacology are feared for trapping static blood, and most blood-invigorating substances are feared for provoking bleeding; San Qi is traditionally credited with doing both without contradiction. The record describes its use for external and internal bleeding accompanied by bruises, including traumatic bleeding and swelling where blood has escaped and pooled. It is therefore one of the principal injury herbs in the Chinese tradition, valued both for stopping loss and for helping the bruise resolve.

Traditional Use and Common Combinations

The classic setting for San Qi is trauma: cuts, falls, blows, contusions, and swelling with bruising, whether the bleeding is external or internal. It has also been used traditionally for various internal bleeding presentations and for fixed stabbing pain understood as blood stasis after injury. Practitioners prescribe it within injury formulas and sometimes pair it with other hemostatic or blood-invigorating herbs, but the record restricts it to situations in which a bleeding cause exists. It is essential to distinguish this traditional use from emergency reality: serious bleeding, head injury, coughing or vomiting blood, black stools, or heavy internal bleeding requires immediate conventional medical care, not self-dosing with powder.

Safety, Contraindications, and Interactions

The recorded contraindications are explicit. San Qi is contraindicated in pregnancy and should not be used by pregnant women at all without a medical setting. Do not use it without a bleeding cause; it is not a general tonic for daily prevention, and routine use by people with no injury or bleeding indication is not supported. Because of its action on blood, it is prudent and consistent with the record's intent that people taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet medication, those with bleeding disorders, and those facing surgery avoid it unless directly supervised by a clinician, as combining it can raise bleeding risk. Stop if unusual bruising, bleeding, or allergic symptoms appear.

How TCM Practitioners Use It Today

The recorded dose and form are 1-3 grams, ground into powder and taken suspended in water or with the strained decoction, rather than cooked as slices. Powdering preserves the concentrated material and allows a small, exact dose; the powder has also been applied externally in traditional injury use. Quality and identity matter greatly because ginseng-family roots are costly and sometimes adulterated, so obtain it from a reputable pharmacy and use it only as directed by a qualified practitioner. This guide is for education only and does not replace professional medical treatment.

Frequently asked questions

Is San Qi safe during pregnancy?

No. The record states it is contraindicated in pregnancy. Because it strongly affects blood and stasis, pregnant women should not take it in any amount outside a medical facility, and breastfeeding women should consult a qualified practitioner before use.

Can San Qi replace prescription medication?

No. It is a traditional hemostatic and stasis-resolving herb for bleeding with bruising, not a substitute for prescribed medication. Serious bleeding or trauma is an emergency, and anyone taking blood-thinning medicine must not add San Qi without clinician supervision because of bleeding risk.

What is the difference between San Qi and ginseng?

They are botanical relatives in the same genus but have different jobs. Ginseng (Ren Shen) is a qi-supplementing tonic for deficiency and fatigue, while San Qi (notoginseng) is warm, enters the Liver and Stomach, and is traditionally used to stop bleeding and dissolve bruises and stasis. One is a restorative; the other is an injury and bleeding herb.