🌿 Folk Prescriptions

The custom of hanging mugwort during the Dragon Boat Festival is widespread in Chinese households. People shape mugwort into human figures called "Mugwort People" and hang them in the air, cutting them into tiger shapes, which women eagerly wear to ward off evil spirits and pestilence. Thus, ancient people also referred to the Dragon Boat Festival as China's ancient hygiene festival. As recorded in "Customs of Jingchu": "On the fifth day of May, gather mugwort to make human figures, hang them at doors and windows to ward off harmful vapors."
During the Dragon Boat Festival, the weather gradually becomes hot, and mosquitoes and flies breed rapidly, so ancient people called May the "Month of Evil" or "Hundred Toxins Month." By this time, sunlight is most intense, and all toxins emerge simultaneously. Ancient people believed mugwort symbolized attracting blessings and considered it a medicinal herb capable of treating all diseases. Placing it at the door served to eliminate various poisons and promote health. From many legends associated with the festival, we can see that people used mugwort to prevent, treat, and reduce inflammation.
Experts have confirmed that mugwort has been used medicinally for over 2,000 years. The earliest medical text in China, the "Fifty-Two Diseases Formula" from the Warring States period, already records the therapeutic effects and uses of mugwort. Subsequent herbal texts throughout history also document its use. In Hubei Qizhou, a region renowned for producing high-quality mugwort, the saying goes: "A household with three-year-old mugwort needs no doctor." Many places cultivate and store mugwort. As Mencius said: "For a seven-year illness, seek three-year-old mugwort," highlighting mugwort’s medicinal value.
Mugwort was first used for moxibustion and was equally famous as acupuncture. Records in medical texts such as "Ling Shu Jing" and "Fifty-Two Diseases Formula" describe moxa stick or smoke moxibustion. There is even the saying: "Doctors use moxibustion for all diseases." As an internal medicine, mugwort regulates blood and qi, dispels cold and dampness, warms meridians, stops bleeding, and stabilizes pregnancy. The "Jin Kui Yao Lue" mentions "Jiao Ai Tang" for postpartum bleeding after pregnancy, and "Ai Fu Wan" for pain in the heart and abdomen, showing remarkable efficacy. In "Imperial Medical Cases," the "Taitai Jin Dan" recipe, used to treat critical conditions before and after childbirth, relies solely on Qi-Ai (Qizhou mugwort) rather than Qi-Ai (Qi-Ai), and "Nü Xing Yu Chi" features "Ejiao Qi-Ai," named after two authentic medicinal herbs. These outstanding achievements demonstrate the profound depth of traditional Chinese medicine, far surpassing other simple applications of mugwort.
Li Yanwen (father of Li Shizhen), a Ming dynasty physician, praised mugwort: "Grown in southern mountains, gathered on the Dragon Boat Festival, it treats illness and moxibustion, offering great benefit." Li Shizhen stated: "The best mugwort comes from Qizhou; it is highly valued nationwide and known as Qi-Ai." A legend says: "Elsewhere, mugwort moxibustion cannot penetrate wine jars, but Qi-Ai moxibustion easily burns through completely," thus earning Qi-Ai national fame.
Thus, mugwort has long been used in moxibustion. Besides its pungent, aromatic scent and therapeutic effects, mugwort burns well and completely, making it ideal for ignition. Furthermore, research indicates that smoke produced by burning mugwort may have certain therapeutic effects on human diseases.
Mugwort’s ancient applications were not limited to oral intake or acupuncture therapy; numerous records describe using mugwort smoke for treatment and prevention. For example, early medical texts like the "Fifty-Two Diseases Formula" from the Spring and Autumn-Warring States period and Ge Hong’s "Handy Emergency Remedies" from the Eastern Jin Dynasty contain records of mugwort smoke therapy. Literary and historical works also mention similar practices, such as "Zhuangzi," which records: "The Yue people fumigate with mugwort," indicating that using mugwort smoke for treatment and prevention was already common among the populace and continues to this day. Ancient folk beliefs held that smoke from burning mugwort could prevent disease and ward off evil (epidemics). Modern studies confirm that mugwort smoke inhibits various pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and viruses responsible for infectious and epidemic diseases. During the outbreak of atypical pneumonia, medical experts proposed using smoke from burning mugwort sticks for air disinfection as a preventive measure—this is scientifically sound.
Mugwort is widely used in folk remedies. For instance, when adults suffer from wind-cold cough, they boil a bunch of mugwort leaves and wash their feet. Cut the mugwort into nine pieces, add three to five green onions, boil into a decoction, warm and drink to induce sweating—this often leads to recovery. Another example: dry mugwort into wool and mix with cotton to make medicinal pillows to prevent wind-cold headaches during pregnancy and postpartum. For elderly people with weak vital energy in the lower abdomen, children suffering from cold-induced abdominal pain and diarrhea, and women with dysmenorrhea or irregular menstruation with lower abdominal heaviness, wrapping a warm mugwort pouch around the navel area yields significant results. Additionally, the Dragon Boat Festival customs include "hanging mugwort people, wearing mugwort tigers, drinking mugwort wine, eating mugwort cakes, and fumigating with mugwort."
With societal progress, research and application of mugwort have become more comprehensive and in-depth. Reports indicate that mugwort smoke has antibacterial, antiviral, and antimicrobial properties, effectively suppressing bacterial and viral spread in the air, thus preventing respiratory infections. Chemically, mugwort contains not only essential oils but also tannins, flavonoids, trace elements, and other organic compounds. Mugwort oil exhibits multiple pharmacological activities, including bronchodilation, expectoration, cough suppression, antibacterial, anti-allergic, and sedative effects. Pharmacological experiments confirm mugwort’s antibacterial, antiviral, hemostatic, anticoagulant, immune-enhancing, and antipyretic-sedative actions, providing theoretical support for expanded applications. Clinically, mugwort is widely used to treat gynecological and respiratory diseases.
Historically, the Dragon Boat Festival customs included hanging mugwort people, wearing mugwort tigers, drinking mugwort wine, eating mugwort cakes, and fumigating with mugwort. Modern technology now opens broader prospects for mugwort’s extensive applications. In recent years, comprehensive development and utilization of mugwort resources have accelerated, yielding products such as mugwort toothpaste, mugwort bath agents, mugwort essential oil fragrance, mugwort pillows, health waistbands, and Qi-Ai mosquito coils. Research is underway on developing tobacco substitutes made primarily from mugwort, containing no nicotine. Mugwort contributes significantly to human health in various forms.