Ai Ye (Mugwort Leaf, Artemisia)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Ai Ye, and how is it different for moxibustion?

  Roughly 3–9 g in decoction for internal, oral use — the leaf is the part used. This internal, therapeutic-dose use is entirely separate from moxibustion, where processed, aged mugwort leaf is compressed into cones or sticks (moxa) and burned near or on the skin for its warming effect through heat rather than through ingestion; moxa amounts are not expressed as an oral gram dose. Charred/carbonized Ai Ye (Ai Ye Tan) is a separate processed form used specifically to strengthen the herb’s hemostatic (bleeding-stopping) effect.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references; cross-referenced against multiple online sources and standard materia medica ranges/processing. Reference only — not a prescription, and not moxibustion guidance.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Ai Ye?

  Ai Ye is contraindicated in yin deficiency or heat in the blood, since its warm, drying nature can aggravate heat-type bleeding or dryness rather than help it — it is suited to cold-type bleeding and cramping, not heat-type. A further modern caution concerns internal use specifically: Ai Ye’s essential oil contains thujone, a ketone compound with recognized neurotoxic potential in large amounts, so prolonged or high-dose internal (oral) use is cautioned — this caution applies to concentrated oral intake, not to topical moxibustion, where the leaf is burned rather than ingested.

  • Yin deficiency / heat in the blood — avoid; Ai Ye’s warm nature is unsuited to heat patterns.
  • Thujone content — avoid prolonged or high-dose internal use; use standard decoction ranges and professional guidance rather than concentrated extracts or essential oil taken by mouth.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references; cross-referenced against multiple online sources and materia medica consensus; thujone toxicology (below). Traditional-use framing; not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low at standard oral decoction doses; caution rises with concentrated/high-dose or prolonged internal use because of thujone. Analytical studies of Artemisia argyi essential oil have identified thujone (in some cultivars, together with beta-thujone, a large share of the oxygenated monoterpene fraction) as a characteristic and potentially neurotoxic component, and one review of that essential oil reports no mortality or organ damage in animals given up to 3,000 mg/kg orally (LD50 above 5,000 mg/kg), with mild, reversible liver changes only at the highest chronic dose (500 mg/kg over 90 days) — i.e., the whole essential oil showed a wide safety margin in animal testing, but isolated thujone itself is the specific component flagged for neurotoxicity in large amounts. A separate study of charred Ai Ye (Ai Ye Tan) found embryonic/cardiac toxicity in zebrafish only above 62.5 µg/mL, alongside an enhanced hemostatic effect at working concentrations — supporting the traditional use of the charred form for bleeding while showing a toxicity threshold above typical use levels.

  Source: cross-referenced against multiple online sources; PMC 12721075 (thujone content, essential oil composition study); PMC 12820526 (Frontiers in Pharmacology review, 2026 — acute/subacute/chronic oral toxicity of Artemisia argyi essential oil); PMID 35693441 (Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 2022 — charred Ai Ye zebrafish toxicity/hemostasis). Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Western / Biomedical Research

Chinese Herb Clinical Studies & Research

Provided as research context — a summary of published biomedical study, not a therapeutic or medical claim.

• Is there modern research on Ai Ye (Artemisia argyi)?

  Yes — a growing body of chemical and pharmacological research supports Ai Ye’s hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant reputation, alongside dedicated toxicology work driven by its widespread moxibustion use. Artemisia argyi leaf contains over 100 identified compounds, including terpenoids, flavonoids, and the essential-oil ketones camphor and thujone.

  • Hemostatic flavonoids — a 2021 study of flavonoids from Folium Artemisiae Argyi documented antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, and hemostatic activity, consistent with centuries of traditional use for bleeding and gynecological conditions.
  • Charred-leaf (Ai Ye Tan) processing study — comparing charred versus raw leaf in a zebrafish model, the charred form showed an enhanced hemostatic effect (reducing intestinal bleeding rates substantially at working concentrations) versus the raw leaf, supporting the traditional practice of charring Ai Ye specifically to boost its bleeding-stopping power. Toxicity appeared only well above these working concentrations (see Toxicity).
  • Essential-oil pharmacology review — a comprehensive 2026 review of Artemisia argyi essential oil (AAEO) describes antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anticancer activity in laboratory studies, alongside the acute/subacute/chronic oral toxicity data summarized above, and explicitly notes AAEO’s status as “a well-known moxibustion material.”
  • Longevity/antioxidant-stress research — a related C. elegans study of the flavonoid extract found reduced reactive-oxygen-species accumulation and improved stress-resistance markers, framed as supportive of the plant’s traditional reputation, though this is invertebrate laboratory research, not human evidence.

  We could not verify controlled human clinical trials isolating oral Ai Ye (as distinct from moxibustion, which has its own separate clinical literature) for its traditional bleeding/fetal-calming uses; the modern evidence base for the raw herb itself remains chemical and preclinical.

  Sources: PMID 34242729 (Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2021 — flavonoid antioxidant/hemostatic study); PMID 35693441 (Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal, 2022 — charred-leaf toxicity/hemostasis, zebrafish); PMC 12721075 (essential-oil composition and thujone content); PMC 12820526 (Frontiers in Pharmacology, 2026 — essential-oil pharmacology and toxicology review); PMID 38775853 (Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology, 2024 — botany/phytochemistry/pharmacology review). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• Is Ai Ye the same thing as moxa used in moxibustion?

  Yes — moxa is made from Ai Ye. The dried mugwort leaf is processed (aged, dried, and pounded/sieved to remove stem and vein material) into a soft, fibrous “wool” or floss, which is then shaped into cones or rolled into sticks and burned on or near acupuncture points as moxibustion — a warming technique distinct from taking Ai Ye internally as a decocted herb. This is the connection most people searching for “mugwort” or “Ai Ye” are actually looking for.

  • Jiao Ai Tang — a classic formula combining charred Ai Ye with E Jiao and blood-nourishing herbs to stop uterine bleeding and calm the fetus.
  • Si Sheng Wan — a formula for bleeding from heat in the blood, using Ai Ye alongside cooling hemostatic herbs.
  • Bai Ye Tang — a formula pairing Ai Ye with Bai (Ce) Ye and ginger for bleeding with cold signs.

  Source: Sacred Lotus sources & references (formula links); cross-referenced against multiple online sources and materia medica consensus on moxa processing. Traditional formula/technique context, not treatment advice.