Compendium of Materia Medica, Volume 15

Seeds Flavor and Nature Bitter, pungent, warm, and non-toxic. Primary Indications Brightens the eyes and treats all forms of "ghost qi" Ancient term for malignant environmental pathogens or sudden, unexplained illnesses. Zhen Zhen Quan, a Tang-era physician notes: It strengthens the yang energy, assists the "water treasury" The Kidneys, benefits the waist and knees, and warms the uterus. It is as effective as the Great Mallow.

Tao Hongjing Famous alchemist and physician, 456–536 CE states:

Take equal parts Mugwort seeds and dried ginger. Grind them into a fine powder and mix with honey to form pills the size of a parasol tree seed. On an empty stomach, take thirty to ninety pills per dose. Swallow with three to five spoonfuls of rice to help the medicine down. Take twice daily. This treats a hundred types of "evil qi" Pathogenic factors; it causes those spiritual disturbances to flee immediately.

Appendix Summer Platform Xiatai

The Supplementary Records Mingyi Bielu lists this as a name with no known use, stating: "The flavor is sweet. It treats a hundred diseases and clears 'exhausted qi'." Hongjing says: "For a medicine to be described as this miraculous, yet no longer be recognized or used, is truly a pity." Shizhen states: "The name 'Mugwort Person' Airem is very similar to this.

Water Platform Shuitai

This is another name for Summer Platform Mugwort. It is also said that it 'can bring back exhausted qi from a hundred diseases.' Since it is primarily for 'stagnant and exhausted qi,' I suspect these are the same substance listed twice. Therefore, I have appended it here after Mugwort."

Thousand-Year Mugwort Category Collected Explanations

Shizhen states: Thousand-Year Mugwort comes from the Small Wudang Mountains Taihe Mountains. Its stem is short, reaching only about a foot in height. Its root is like that of fleabane. Its leaves are over an inch long, lacking a sharp point; the face of the leaf is blue-green and the back is white. In autumn, it blooms with small yellow flowers resembling wild chrysanthemums. Its fruit is like blue pearls or cinnabar beads. Harvest the leaves during the "Three Volt" days The hottest days of mid-summer and dry them in the sun. The leaves do not look like common mugwort, but they possess its fragrance. When rubbed, they crumble immediately; they do not form the lint-like wool moxa that common mugwort leaves do. Taoist practitioners often present this as a local tribute.

Leaves Flavor and Nature Bitter, slightly warm, and non-toxic. Primary Indications Treats various ailments involving "deficiency-cold" in men and "blood and qi" disorders in women. To be taken as a water decoction. —Shizhen.

Capillary Wormwood Artemisia capillaris; Yinchenhao Top Grade of the Classic Explanations of Names

Su Gong Tang dynasty official and physician states: Although this belongs to the wormwood family, it does not die during the winter. Because it grows "due to" Yin the "old" Chen stalks of the previous year, it is named Yinchen. The word for "wormwood" (Hao) was added later.

Collected Explanations
The Supplementary Records say: Capillary Wormwood grows on Mount Tai and on the high banks of hills and mounds. Harvest in the fifth month and at the beginning of autumn, then dry in the shade.
Hongjing says: Today it is found everywhere. It resembles common fleabane, but the leaves are tight and fine. After autumn, the stems wither, but it survives the winter and sprouts again in spring. It is valued for its fine sprouts, which distinguish it from other wormwoods.
Shizhen states: According to Zhang Yi’s Guangya and Wu Pu’s Materia Medica, it is written as "Dust-Due" Yinchen using the character for 'dust', though the meaning of that is unknown.
Tao Hongjing states: The leaves look like Blue Wormwood Qinghao but are white on the back.
Tianming states: Capillary Wormwood comes from the southern ridges of Hezhou. One name for it is "Stone Capillary Wormwood."
Su Song 1020–1101 CE states: It grows everywhere nearby, but none is as good as that from Mount Tai. In early spring, the sprouts grow three to five inches high, looking like fleabane with tight, fine leaves. It has no flowers or fruit. Harvest the stems and leaves in the fifth or seventh month and dry in the shade. Today it is called "Mountain Capillary Wormwood."
In Jiangning Prefecture, there is a type with large leaves and thick, yellowish-white roots; it flowers and fruits in summer. In Jiezhou, there is a type called "Wormwood" which looks exactly like Blue Wormwood but has a white back. The Materia Medica classics all consider these to be the medicinal Yinchen.
Modern doctors in the South use several kinds of "Mountain Capillary Wormwood." Master Jiao explains: The variety used in the capital Kaifeng and the North has leaves like Mugwort, fine, with white backs. Its scent is like Mugwort and the flavor is bitter; when dried, it turns black. The variety used south of the Yangtze has stems and leaves looking like domestic Yinchen but grows much taller (three to four feet). Its scent is extremely fragrant, and its flavor is sweet and pungent; locals call it "Dragon-Brain Mint." The variety used in Yan is actually "Stone Fragrant Elsholtzia" Shixiangru; its leaves are very fine, yellow in color, and the flavor is pungent and highly aromatic. It is warm in nature. If mistakenly used as a spleen-clearing medicine, it causes great agitation in the patient.
According to the Materia Medica, there is only "Capillary Wormwood" (Yinchenhao), not "Mountain Capillary Wormwood." The notes say it "resembles fleabane but is tight and fine," which describes the variety currently used in the capital and the North. Generally, worldly formulas use Mountain Capillary Wormwood as a sweat-inducing medicine for the muscles, but it is rarely effective. However, the Southern variety is excellent for treating heat and brain-pain in "Cold Damage" febrile diseases. Many doctors argue that domestic Yinchen can also release the muscles and clear "stagnation in the chest," but it is rarely used in formulas. It can be ground into a drink. The medicinal properties are detailed in popular formulas and its efficacy is well-attested.

Su Song states: When using it, one must use the leaves. Master Jiao says those with eight corners are best. Dry in the shade, remove the roots, and chop finely. Do not let it come into contact with fire.
Shizhen states: In the past, people often wrote poems about Yinchen as a vegetable. It is called "Mountain Capillary Wormwood" to distinguish it from the domestic variety. Hong Shunyu’s "Rhapsody on the Old Garden" mentions "threads of green Yinchen soaked in vinegar," referring to this. Even today, people in the Huai and Yang regions harvest wild Yinchen sprouts on the second day of the second month, mixing them with flour to make "Yinchen Pancakes" for food. Later authors relied on local varieties, leading to confusion. Now, the Mountain variety sprouts in the second month; its leaves are like Mugwort or light-colored Blue Wormwood, white on the back, finely divided and flat. In the ninth month, it blooms with tiny yellow flowers and bears seeds the size of Mugwort seeds. Both flowers and fruit resemble those of Anlü Artemisia keiskeana. Some varieties lack flowers and fruit entirely.

Stems and Leaves Flavor and Nature Bitter, slightly cold, and non-toxic. Primary Indications Wind-dampness, cold and heat, "evil qi" knots, and jaundice. Long-term use [promotes health].

Wu Pu states: Shennong, Qibo, and Lei Gong say it is non-toxic. The Yellow Emperor says it is balanced and non-toxic.
Zhen Quan states: Bitter and pungent; slightly toxic.
Tianming states: Stone Yinchen is bitter, cooling, and non-toxic. It can "subdue" sal ammoniac.
Zhang Yuansu c. 1118–1231 CE states: It is bitter and sweet, a "slight yang within yin" medicine. It enters the Foot Taiyang Bladder Meridian.