Xiao Ji (Small Thistle)

Chinese Herb Actions

Chinese Herb Dosage

• What is the typical dosage of Xiao Ji?

  Roughly 9–15 g in decoction (dried herb), with up to ~30 g used short-term for more severe acute bleeding. The fresh herb is used at a higher dose — commonly cited around 30–60 g — and fresh-crushed juice or a poultice may be applied topically to sores and abscesses.

  Preparation note: a charred (carbonized) preparation, sometimes called Xiao Ji Tan, is traditionally used when a stronger hemostatic effect is the priority, while the raw (unprocessed) herb better preserves its heat-clearing and toxicity-resolving action.

  Source: published TCM materia medica references (converging 9–15 g standard range, up to ~30 g dried / ~60 g fresh in multiple sources). Reference only — not a prescription.

Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions

• Are there cautions for Xiao Ji?

  Xiao Ji’s cool, Blood-cooling nature makes it unsuitable for cold-type bleeding or for people with Spleen-Stomach deficiency-cold (loose stools, poor appetite, cold limbs) — this caution is consistent across published materia medica references. It is also not the right match for bleeding caused by blood stasis without heat signs, where blood-invigorating rather than blood-cooling herbs are traditionally indicated.

  • Spleen-Stomach deficiency-cold — avoid or use with caution; the herb’s cool nature can aggravate loose stools and digestive weakness.
  • Bleeding without heat signs — a cooling hemostatic is not the traditional match for cold-type or stasis-type bleeding.

  As with any bleeding presentation, use under a qualified TCM practitioner is advised, since persistent, heavy, or unexplained bleeding warrants proper diagnosis.

  Source: published TCM materia medica references, cross-checked across multiple sites. Traditional-use framing; not medical advice.

Chinese Herb Toxicity & Overdose

• Low. Xiao Ji (Cirsium setosum) has a long history of use as both a medicinal herb and, in its young form, a foraged wild vegetable in parts of China, and no significant toxicity is reported at typical medicinal doses in the materia medica literature. Formal modern toxicology studies specific to Xiao Ji are limited; safety data are primarily traditional-use based.

  Source: materia medica consensus; traditional food-use history. Reference note, not a safety guarantee.

Herb-Drug Interactions

• No well-established clinical herb–drug interactions are documented for Xiao Ji. Given its traditional hemostatic use and preclinical findings of shortened coagulation time and vasoconstrictive activity (below), practitioner awareness is reasonable for patients on anticoagulant or antiplatelet therapy — this is precautionary, based on preclinical mechanism data, not a demonstrated clinical interaction. (Flagged for practitioner confirmation.)

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 Xiao Ji (Cirsium setosum)?

  Yes — mechanistic and preclinical pharmacology research supports a hemostatic and anti-inflammatory role, though clinical trial evidence in humans is still lacking. Most published work is laboratory (in vitro), animal, or computational rather than clinical.

  • Hemostatic and anti-inflammatory activity (in vitro and animal) — a 2024 study of combined Cirsium japonicum–Cirsium setosum extracts identified 51 constituents by UHPLC-MS, including the flavonoids linarin, acacetin, quercetin, pectolinarin, and pectolinarigenin. The extracts shortened coagulation time in vitro and reduced bleeding time in a rabbit hemorrhage model, and reduced ear swelling plus serum TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-1β in inflammation models. Preclinical evidence, not a clinical trial.
  • Hemostatic mechanism — a 2017 mechanism study identified tyramine and N-methyltyramine as active hemostatic compounds in Cirsium setosum, showing that tyramine induces vasoconstriction via regulation of α1-adrenergic receptors and enzyme-mediated norepinephrine synthesis. A laboratory mechanism study, not clinical evidence.
  • Bladder-cancer network pharmacology (computational) — a 2025 network-pharmacology and molecular-docking study proposed four Xiao Ji compounds (acacetin, sitosterol, stigmasterol, quercetin) as candidates against bladder-cancer-related gene targets (including IL-6, EGFR, MYC, HIF1A), with the strongest predicted binding for quercetin. This is a purely computational/database analysis; the authors themselves note experimental validation is still needed. Exploratory only, not evidence of an anticancer effect in practice.

  Overall, human clinical evidence for Xiao Ji specifically remains lacking; current support is preclinical, mechanistic, or computational.

  Note: the current Sacred Lotus records the Latin as “Cephalanoplos,” while the modern research literature more often uses “Cirsium setosum (Willd.) MB” (with “Cephalanoplos segetum (Bunge) Kitam.” as an older taxonomic synonym). We believe these refer to the same plant; the identity field is left unchanged pending owner confirmation.

  Sources: PMID 38731410, PMC 11085329, DOI 10.3390/molecules29091918 (hemostatic/anti-inflammatory extract study); PMID 28088737 (hemostatic mechanism, tyramine/α1-adrenergic receptors); PMID 40575382, PMC 12189187 (network pharmacology, bladder cancer, computational). Research context, not a therapeutic claim.

Chinese Herb Notes

• How is Xiao Ji different from Da Ji, and what are its key combinations?

  Xiao Ji and Da Ji are both sweet, cool, blood-cooling hemostatics from related thistle species, but Da Ji has broader and stronger hemostatic and swelling-reducing power, while Xiao Ji is comparatively milder and more specifically indicated for lower-burner bleeding — above all, hematuria.

  • Da Ji (Herba Cirsii Japonici, Cirsium japonicum) — broader bleeding indications (epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematuria, uterine bleeding, blood in the stool), a stronger swelling/abscess-reducing effect, and additional traditional use for damp-heat jaundice and hypertension.
  • Xiao Ji (Herba Cirsii, Cirsium setosum/segetum; Sacred Lotus Latin “Cephalanoplos”) — milder overall, but the herb of choice specifically for hematuria, with a more pronounced Damp-Heat-clearing/diuretic quality that supports its use in urinary bleeding and painful urination.
  • The two are frequently combined (Da Ji + Xiao Ji together) to reinforce blood-cooling hemostasis when bleeding is more severe or of mixed origin.

  Xiao Ji Yin Zi (Cephalanoplos Decoction, from Ji Sheng Fang): Xiao Ji is conventionally the lead herb of this formula, combined with Ou Jie, Pu Huang (dry-fried), Sheng Di Huang, Hua Shi, Chuan Mu Tong, Dan Zhu Ye, Zhi Zi, Dang Gui, and Gan Cao to cool the Blood, stop bleeding, clear Damp-Heat, and promote urination — the classical formula built around Xiao Ji for hematuria with painful urination. (Traditional formula context, not treatment advice; see the Xiao Ji Yin Zi formula entry.)

  Note: the current Sacred Lotus records Xiao Ji’s channels as Liver and Spleen, while several published materia medica references instead list Heart and Liver (some add Spleen as a third channel). We believe this reflects genuine source variation in classical channel-entry attribution rather than an error; the Sacred Lotus sources & references is left unchanged pending owner review.

  Source: published TCM materia medica references (Da Ji/Xiao Ji differentiation, cross-checked across multiple sites); Sacred Lotus formula link (Xiao Ji Yin Zi ingredient list).