Basic Introduction to Xincheng Honeysuckle
Xincheng Honeysuckle is a specialty of Xincheng County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The honeysuckle produced in this county has high levels of medicinal components and nectar content, with a pollution-free growth environment. Chlorogenic acid content reaches 4.2%, far exceeding the pharmacopoeia's stipulated level. After the turn of the 21st century, the county changed from sulfur drying to modern dehydration processing. This makes the product a safe green beverage, ideal for pharmaceuticals and flower Tea. When consumed as a tea, it has a sweet taste and a rich fragrance.
Historical Folklore
According to the Xincheng County Annals, in 1368 (the first year of the Ming Hongwu era), a merchant surnamed He from Chaozhou, Guangdong traveled by boat from the Pearl River into the Hongshui River and upriver to the Lanjia wharf in Xincheng County, where he stayed for several days. He noticed that Lanjia was located on the southern bank of the Hongshui River, with large mountains on both sides. The ancient trees on the mountains made him realize this was a valuable location. The following year, he brought over blue bricks and lime from Guangdong and built a two-story shop at the foot of the large limestone mountain in Lanjia, where he purchased local specialties such as soybeans, black beans, mung beans, and Chinese herbs. Every year, he transported salt and light industrial products from Guangdong by boat to the Lanjia shop to exchange them for agricultural products with the local farmers. These goods were then shipped back to Guangdong for sale, making Lanjia the trading center for agricultural products and Chinese herbs from the stone mountain areas of Liudie, Liuna, Jiahai, Jialong, Qionggu, Suiyi, and Jinchai. On one day in mid-April of 1373, while touring the mountain, the merchant saw the blooming honeysuckle flowers and noted their fragrant scent. He asked the locals why they did not collect and process the flowers as Traditional Chinese medicine. The locals explained that the South had already entered the plum rain season, with many rainy days and few sunny ones, which made it difficult to dry the collected flowers into medicinal herbs. The next year, the merchant brought sulfur from Guangdong and instructed the locals to fumigate the collected honeysuckle flowers with sulfur. They could dry them in the sun when it was available and leave them indoors to air-dry on rainy days. Using sulfur also helped preserve the color of the flowers. From then on, people continued to use this sulfur fumigation technique for processing.
Tasting and Usage
1. Honeysuckle is sweet and cold in nature, and enters the Lung, Heart, and Stomach meridians. It clears heat and detoxifies, cools blood. Used for carbuncles, boils, sore throat, erysipelas, febrile diseases with blood stasis, wind-heat colds, and fevers in warm disease. Common dosage is 5-15 grams.
2. The leaves of honeysuckle are also used in medicine and are called Silver flower leaves. They have similar properties and functions to honeysuckle but are much less effective.
3. The dried stems and branches of honeysuckle are known as Japanese honeysuckle twigs. Sweet and cold in nature, they enter the Lung and Stomach meridians. They clear heat and detoxify, eliminate swelling, and improve circulation. Common dosage is 15-30 grams.