Di Yu (Burnet Bloodwort Root)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Di Yu?

  Roughly 6–15 g in decoction (owner’s notes record 2–5 qian/chien). A charred preparation (Di Yu Tan) is traditionally associated with the stronger bleeding-arresting use, and the herb is also prepared as a powder or paste for topical application to burns and sores. Reference ranges only, not dosing guidance.

  Source: owner’s Five Branches notes (qian-to-gram conversion noted for the reader). Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Di Yu?

  Di Yu is traditionally contraindicated in cold from deficiency — Spleen/Stomach deficiency-cold, or bleeding of a cold or deficient nature — where a bitter, cold, blood-cooling herb is considered inappropriate.

  Note: Materia medica commonly note a caution against large-area topical application to extensive burns because Di Yu is tannin-rich. The owner’s draft marks this caution as flagged for practitioner confirmation (wording to be confirmed before publishing); it is retained here as a traditional caution, not an established clinical finding.

  Source: owner’s Five Branches notes; large-burn-surface/tannin caution flagged for confirmation.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low. Di Yu is not classified among the toxic herbs in the source data, and no significant toxicity is reported at customary medicinal amounts. As a high-tannin root, very large or prolonged internal doses are traditionally discouraged, and caution over wide burn-surface application is noted above.

  Source: owner’s Five Branches notes; no toxicity signal in the reviewed sources. No dose-specific safety claim is made.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Di Yu in the sources consulted. Its high tannin content can, in principle, reduce absorption of some co-administered substances (a general property of tannin-rich herbs); this is a theoretical, not a documented clinical, interaction. (Flagged for practitioner confirmation before publishing.)

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 Di Yu (Sanguisorba officinalis)?

  Study is active but overwhelmingly preclinical (in vitro / animal); human clinical evidence is limited. A species review identifies the principal active constituents as the triterpenoid saponins ziyuglycoside I and II and the tannin sanguiin H-6, with reported activities including hemostatic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial (antiviral/antifungal), wound-healing, and anticancer (apoptosis / cell-cycle-arrest) effects — the authors characterize the underlying work as in vitro and animal studies rather than human trials, and note that comprehensive reviews remain scarce. A genus-level review situates Sanguisorba in a long ethnomedicinal record and surveys phytochemical and biological-activity advances, again largely on a preclinical basis.

  Sources: PMID 29433389 / DOI 10.1142/S0192415X18500155 (Am J Chin Med 2018, Sanguisorba officinalis phytotherapeutic review); PMID 28249548 (Am J Chin Med 2017, genus Sanguisorba review). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• How is Di Yu different from Ce Bai Ye and Huai Hua Mi?

  Di Yu is the more astringent, toxicity-resolving blood-cooler of the group, favored for lower-burner bleeding and for sores and burns. It shares the cool-the-blood, stop-bleeding action with its neighbors but is set apart by its stronger astringency and its topical use.

  Its differentiation from neighboring herbs:

  • vs Ce Bai Ye — both stop bleeding and cool the blood, but Di Yu has the stronger astringent action and also relieves toxicity, so it is favored for ulcers, sores, and burns, and for lower-burner bleeding.
  • vs Huai Hua Mi — both cool the blood and stop bleeding and are the traditional pair for bloody stool / hemorrhoidal bleeding; each is singled out for lower-burner bleeding, with Huai Hua also cooling the Liver.

  Common combinations: with Huai Hua (Mi) — the classic pairing for bloody stool and bleeding hemorrhoids (both cool the blood and stop bleeding in the lower burner); added to base formulas to address blood in the stool as a modification. Per the notes’ general class pattern: for bleeding with yin deficiency combine with yin-nourishing herbs; with qi deficiency, with qi tonics; with blood stasis, with blood-invigorating/hemostatic herbs.

  Source: owner’s Five Branches notes (differentiation set & combinations). Finer distinctions flagged for practitioner confirmation.