The legend of Astragalus

Legend 1

A long time ago, during the Qing Dynasty, there was an elderly man who was very kind. His surname was Dai. He was thin and had a yellowish complexion, so people called him "Huangqi". He was very proficient in acupuncture. This person is humble, polite, kind and likes to help others. But on one occasion, the old man unfortunately died while rescuing a child who fell off a cliff. Later, in order to commemorate the old man, people named a kind of herb that grew next to his grave. It had a slightly sweet taste and could replenish qi, stop sweating and reduce swelling. It was called Astragalus. This herb saved many patients among the people and has since become popular.

Legend II

There is a story recorded in the New Book of Tang that says that when Xu Yinzong had just taken up the post of military officer, Queen Mother Wang happened to be ill. She had slurred speech, could not speak, and her pulse was so deep that it could not be felt. Xu Yinzong was quite well versed in medicine and learned that the Empress Dowager suffered from weak qi, poor blood circulation, and sometimes even could not take medicine. So they boiled a lot of hot soup with Fangfeng and Huangqi and placed it under the empress dowager's bed to fumigate her skin, mouth and nose. The imperial physician followed his example and did the same thing, and the scent of the medicine filled the air for the entire day. Later, the empress dowager gradually regained consciousness and was able to speak, and her illness was cured. This shows that Astragalus is indeed very effective in replenishing qi and blood energy.