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Abstract
Medicinal syrups, known as gao zi in modern Chinese, are a traditional - although lesser-known - method of herb administration in Chinese medicine. Gao zi are highly concentrated decoctions, usually made with supplementing herbs and thickened with sugar, gelatin, or fat, which are then used for internal administration. Although they are labour-intensive to prepare, they store well for long periods of time and are easy to take, and are thus an effective way of taking herbal formulas. Since they taste better than normal decoctions, they can improve patient compliance with treatment over a long period of time. This article is an introduction to gao zi in Chinese medicine and gives an overview of their history, characteristics, preparation methods and administration. Exemplar formulas and case studies are also provided to illustrate how gao zi are used in the clinic.
Keywords:
Gao zi, gao, medicinal syrup, syrup, Chinese herbal medicine, Qin Bo Wei.
Introduction
The word gao ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)) in Chinese means a fatty, oily, or sticky substance. The Shuo Wen Jie Zi ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)), the most important pre-modern dictionary of Chinese language that analyses the definition and etymology of Chinese characters, defines gao as zhi ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.)), or fat1. In Chinese medical practice, gao can refer to a number of herbal preparations including liniments, ointments or plasters. These external preparations are commonly used and commercially available, and are familiar to most Chinese medicine practitioners in the West. Gao can also refer to medicinal syrups for internal use, although this specific preparation of herbal formulas is lesser known in the West, the one exception being the widespread use of herbal cough syrups. In early medical texts syrups were referred to simply as gao or, alternatively, as jian ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.); a word referring to something that is cooked for a long time).2 By the Ming (1368 - 1644) and Qing (1644) dynasties, syrups for internal administration became known as gao zi ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) nourishing syrups) or jian gao ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) simmered syrups), while topical plasters or pastes were called gao yao ((ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.), literally, plaster medicine) or...