OthersBlood-activatingDraconis Sanguis (resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis)

Long Xue Jie (Dragon's Blood (resin))

A practical guide to Long Xue Jie: what it is, how Traditional Chinese Medicine uses it, the classical formulas it appears in, and who should be careful with it.

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Last reviewed Oct 29, 2026

Quick Facts

Latin Name	Draconis Sanguis (resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis)
Chinese Name & Pinyin	龍血竭 · Long Xue Jie
Medicinal Part	Others
The item	Long Xue Jie is the resin of the sword-leaf dragon tree. Mo Yao (myrrh) and the look-alike other-resin products are not this drug.
Nature and channels	Flat, sweet, salty. Enters the Heart and Liver. Flat sweet salty disperses stasis, eases pain, stops bleeding, and promotes tissue healing.
Pharmacopoeia line	Disperses stasis and eases pain; stops bleeding and promotes healing. Used for bruise-swelling from falls, fixed stabbing pain, bleeding wounds, and sores that will not heal.
Pattern cues	Bruise-swelling after a fall. Fixed local stabbing pain. Bleeding that will not stop. A broken sore that will not heal. Light digestive bleeding.
In this article	Long Xue Jie versus Mo Yao. Stopping bleeding and healing tissue versus moving qi and blood. Why pregnancy and stasis-free bleeding should skip it. Home external oil and tea.

What Is Long Xue Jie?

Long Xue Jie (龙血竭; Lóng Xuè Jié; Latin: Draconis Resina; English: dragon's blood resin) is the resin drawn from the trunk of the sword-leaf dragon tree, an evergreen tree of the agave family — the dark-red, glassy-shining resin kept in small jars in community pharmacy cabinets, often written in prescriptions for a bruised knee that will not settle. It is flat, sweet and salty, enters the Heart and Liver channels, and its core actions are to disperse stasis and ease pain, and to stop bleeding and promote tissue healing. It is the quiet repair herb for local bruises and broken skin. The usual internal amount is 1–2 g each time, 1–2 times a day, with a suitable amount for external use. No first, last, or wrapped step — take the fine powder directly with the strained decoction of the other herbs, or apply the powder to a wound. It is a medicinal piece, not a food.

It is not Mo Yao. Myrrh is flat, bitter, and acrid — its acrid scattering is stronger and it leans to moving qi and blood stasis; this dragon's blood resin is flat, sweet, and salty — it leans to dispersing local stasis, stopping bleeding, and promoting healing, more for a wound that bleeds or will not heal. It is not a catch-all stasis or pain resin; it acts within clear patterns. In pregnancy, or in deficiency-type pain without clear blood stasis, using it on your own is a poor match. Heavy bleeding, or a wound that will not heal, needs a clinic first. Do not take it yourself for a long time.

It is used most often for three patterns:

Bruise and stasis pain — local purple swelling after a fall, fixed stabbing chest or flank pain from blood stasis
Bleeding and broken tissue — bleeding from a wound that will not stop, a broken sore that will not heal, light digestive bleeding — seek care
Pregnancy, deficiency-type pain without clear stasis, or bleeding without stasis — seek care / skip it

Flat, sweet, salty, and stasis-dispersing, it is not a daily "bruise resin" to keep increasing. Dispersing when there is no stasis, or in pregnancy, harms the body instead of helping.

When a fall or a blockage leaves blood stasis in a local spot — the place swells, hurts, turns purple, or a broken wound bleeds and will not close — the body needs a firm but precise disperse-and-heal rather than a strong purge. Long Xue Jie is flat, sweet, and salty. It disperses the stasis, eases the pain, stops the bleeding, and promotes healing, which is why it appears in Qi Li San (Seven-Li Powder)–type formulas. It heals more than it pushes. In pregnancy, or without stasis, more makes it worse.

Long Xue Jie is not a catch-all bruise or pain resin. In pregnancy, in deficiency-type pain without stasis, or in bleeding without stasis, using it alone is a poor match. Whether it belongs in a formula, and at what dose, should be decided by a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner after pattern diagnosis.

Long Xue Jie: Materia Medica Profile

Identification & Quality Standard

Draconis Sanguis (resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis)

Botanical Origin

The resin extracted from the oil-containing wood of Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S. C. Chen (Asparagaceae).

Production Regions

Primarily produced in Yunnan and Guangxi.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material is dark red, hard, glass-like, with powder.

Macroscopic Features

Irregular lumps or pieces, varying in size. Externally dark red or dark brown, often covered with red powder. Hard and brittle; fractured surface is deep red, glass-like luster. White powder when ground. Special aromatic odor, taste slightly astringent, sticky to teeth.

Main Regions and Quality Identification

Classic texts and trade experience favor resin from the southwestern growing region — the main distribution of the sword-leaf dragon tree, with a high resin content — plus small amounts grown in a few southern provinces. Good raw Long Xue Jie shows an irregular block, dark red or black-brown, glossy, hard and brittle, with a glass-like shiny break, a faint resin fragrance, a slightly salty taste, and no sandy grit when chewed; the processed form is an even dark-red fine powder. The common look-alikes are resins made from other materials — harder or softer, without the glass-like break, with a faint or off smell — so check carefully.

Traditional Properties & Historical Lineage

Nature, Flavour & Channel Tropism

Sweet, Salty; NeutralHeartLiver

1. Records in Classic Materia Medica

Lei Gong Pao Zhi Lun: "is used for all stubborn malignant sores, scabies, and ringworm that long fail to close."
Tang Ben Cao: "governs evil qi of the five viscera, discharge, pain; breaks accumulated blood; and grows flesh on metal wounds."
Ben Cao Gang Mu: "disperses stasis blood and various pains, women's blood states, and children's convulsions."
De Pei Ben Cao: stresses — "harmonizes the blood, guides the blood, eases pain, and grows flesh."

These records center on dispersing stasis, stopping bleeding, and growing flesh — no modern disease conclusions.

2. How Views of Its Nature Changed

Some doctors leaned on dispersing stasis and easing pain — for injuries from falls and stasis-blocked pain; others stressed stopping bleeding and growing flesh — for wound bleeding and sores that long fail to close; still others drew the line — forbidden in pregnancy, and for stasis with a weak body, pair it with supplementing herbs rather than use it alone so it does not exhaust the upright qi. The range shows its many sides — and that it is not a catch-all, needing pattern-based use.

Core Efficacies & Traditional Applications

Traditional Functions

Invigorates blood and stops pain, resolves stasis and stops bleeding, promotes tissue healing and generates flesh.

1. Main Use 1: Dispersing Stasis and Easing Pain

(1) Traditional action: clearing blood-stasis blockage in the body and easing the pain that stasis brings. (2) Typical patterns: local purple swelling and pain after a fall; stasis-blocked pain — fixed pain of the chest or flanks; menstrual-type abdominal pain from stasis. (3) Usual pairings: Dang Gui to strengthen the stasis-dispersing and pain-easing; Xiang Fu to sort the qi and help the stasis move. (4) Not for self-use: pregnancy, or deficiency-type pain without clear blood stasis — dispersing may exhaust the upright qi or disturb the pregnancy.

2. Main Use 2: Stopping Bleeding and Promoting Healing

(1) Traditional action: holding the blood and promoting the healing of skin or mucosa damage. (2) Typical patterns: bleeding from a wound that will not stop; a broken sore that will not close; light digestive bleeding. (3) Usual pairings: Bai Ji to strengthen the bleeding-stop; Ru Xiang to promote tissue healing. (4) Not for self-use: bleeding with blood stasis — stopping the blood without moving the stasis may leave the stasis in place.

3. A Classic Pairing

Long Xue Jie pairs classically with Ru Xiang: the resin disperses stasis, eases pain, stops bleeding, and promotes healing; the frankincense moves blood, sorts qi, disperses swelling, and promotes healing — together they strengthen both the stasis-dispersing and pain-easing and the healing-promoting, for bruise-swelling from falls and broken sores that long fail to close. This pair belongs to a practitioner's pattern diagnosis — no casual self-pairing.

Modern Research

Modern research offers useful context, but Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribes on whole-pattern diagnosis rather than isolated compounds.

1. Main Chemical Constituents

Detected in the resin are flavonoids, triterpenes, resin acids, and phenolic compounds, with small amounts of volatile oil and polysaccharides. In vitro, some constituents show some anti-inflammatory activity; in animals, some constituents may help improve local blood circulation. No sufficient human clinical study yet reaches a clear efficacy conclusion.

2. Current Research Directions

Current work centers on screening the anti-inflammatory and tissue-repair-related constituents, and on animal experiments on local blood circulation. Some in-vitro experiments show regulation of inflammatory-factor release, but the clinical value and safety in people still need more human research.

3. Limitations of Current Research

Lab results are not clinical efficacy — component effects may differ from the piece's effect in people.
Extracts are not decoction pieces — the preparation, active ratio, and dose form differ completely from the traditional piece.
Doses and preparations vary between studies — results are hard to compare.
One component does not define the whole herb — the resin acts as a team of constituents, judged together with traditional experience.

Comparing Similar Herbs

1. What They Share

Both disperse stasis and ease pain and promote healing.
Both are used for bruise-swelling after falls.
Both appear in sore-related care.
Both need constitution and dose care — no overuse.

2. Key Differences

Nature and flavor: Long Xue Jie is flat, sweet, and salty — calm, without a marked cold-hot lean; Mo Yao is flat, bitter, and acrid — with a stronger acrid-scattering side and a more marked qi-moving, stasis-moving tendency. Focus: Long Xue Jie leans to stopping bleeding and promoting healing — more definite for wound bleeding and sores that will not close; Mo Yao leans to moving blood, sorting qi, and dispersing stasis — more common for chest-abdominal pain and menstrual blockage from stasis. Tendency: Long Xue Jie disperses mainly the local stasis, with less effect on the whole-body qi — leaning to hold the blood and guard the damaged spot; Mo Yao moves the whole-body blood and qi — leaning to sort the qi and help the stasis dissolve. Best fit: Long Xue Jie for a local wound with bleeding and stasis — swelling and pain with light bleeding after a fall; Mo Yao for pain-dominant stasis without a wound — fixed chest or flank pain, menstrual blockage pain. Who should avoid: Long Xue Jie — forbidden in pregnancy; also not for bleeding without stasis; Mo Yao — besides pregnancy, the spleen-stomach weak and those who vomit easily need caution, as its bitter taste may irritate the gut. Where you meet them: Long Xue Jie often applied externally to a wound, or taken internally for local stasis damage; Mo Yao more often taken internally for whole-body stasis blockage, less used directly externally.

3. One-Line Takeaway

In short, Long Xue Jie disperses stasis, stops bleeding, and promotes local healing; Mo Yao moves blood and sorts qi for whole-body stasis blockage. Both can serve fall-related stasis — but they are not stand-ins for each other.

Classical Formulas Containing Long Xue Jie

Classic Formula 1: Qi Li San

Role of this herb: in Qi Li San (Seven-Li Powder), Long Xue Jie is the monarch — the core stasis-dispersing, pain-easing, bleeding-stopping, and healing-promoting resin — with Ru Xiang and Mo Yao strengthening the stasis-dispersing, Hong Hua and Tao Ren moving blood and freeing the channels, and Bing Pian opening and easing pain. Alone, the resin cannot cover the blood-moving, channel-freeing, and pain-opening of the whole pattern. Traditional focus: injuries from falls with stasis swelling, wound bleeding, and surgical-type sores with local red swelling and pain. Modern note: professional diagnosis first — never self-apply by the name.

Classic Formula 2: Long Xue Jie San

Role of this herb: in Long Xue Jie San (Dragon's Blood Powder), Long Xue Jie is the sole main herb — with small amounts of Ru Xiang and Mo Yao strengthening the stasis-dispersing — for stasis-blocked stomach pain and menstrual pain. The pairings help the resin disperse stasis and sort qi; alone, it cannot reach the same adjustment. Traditional focus: stasis-blocked stomach pain, menstrual pain, and bruise-swelling after falls. Modern note: professional diagnosis first — never self-apply to pain of unknown cause, which may delay care.

Formula vs. Single Herb

A formula is a coordinated whole — a single herb cannot reproduce the full effect, and the dose and pairing of a formula have their own unity, with herbs reinforcing or checking one another. The common misunderstanding is that a herb that works in a formula will work the same way alone — the formula effect is the interaction of the team, not one herb's own work. Do not self-formulate from web articles.

Diet & Daily Home Use

1. Home External Oil and Tea

Example 1 — Long Xue Jie external care oil: Long Xue Jie powder 5 g, sesame oil 50 ml — heat the powder in the oil over low heat to a light boil, turn off, cool, strain to collect the oil, and store in a clean jar. Fit: light bruise-swelling and unbroken bruising after a fall; also light lower-leg skin sting from mild vein sluggishness. Not for: broken skin, or allergy to sesame oil or the resin. Frequency: 1–2 times a day, applied away from broken skin. Example 2 — Long Xue Jie red-date tea: Long Xue Jie powder 1 g, Da Zao 3 (pitted) — cook the dates in water 10 minutes, add the powder, stir, and drink warm. Fit: scanty periods with menstrual pain from stasis plus a weak body, and light stomach pain from stasis. Not for: pregnancy, heavy periods, or deficiency bodies without stasis. Frequency: 2–3 times a week; no long continuous use.

2. Decoction and Processing Differences

The raw and processed pieces differ little — the raw piece is blocky, the processed piece is a fine powder that dissolves and absorbs more easily. At home, for internal use, take the powder directly without decocting; for external use, dust the powder on a wound or make an oil or paste. No first, last, or wrapped step — the usual way is to decoct the paired herbs normally and take the powder with the strained liquid. Different forms cannot be converted directly — 1 g of powder does not equal 1 g of block; the fine powder is the easier form.

3. Dosage and How Long to Use

The classic internal dose is 1–2 g each time, 1–2 times a day; external use is a suitable amount by wound size. Food-remedy doses are halved — the tea uses 1 g. No long continuous use — generally a 3–7 day period; if symptoms do not ease, consult a practitioner. Special groups — pregnancy, children, liver or kidney impairment — follow a practitioner strictly; never adjust the dose or period on your own.

Contraindications & Safety Warnings

1. Who Should Avoid It

Deficiency-type pain without clear blood stasis — such as simple qi-deficiency abdominal pain — avoid; bleeding without stasis — such as simple low-platelet bleeding — avoid. Pregnancy and nursing — be cautious, and consult a doctor first. Children and the elderly — adjust the dose by age and condition, no self-use. Liver or kidney impairment — the resin is processed through the liver and kidney, consult a doctor. Allergy to the resin or the agave family — forbidden. People on anticoagulant or chemotherapy — consult a doctor or pharmacist first.

2. Interactions and Diet Notes

Long Xue Jie may interact with anticoagulants (such as warfarin), blood-pressure, and blood-sugar medicines, affecting their effect or metabolism. No blanket "food clash" between ordinary foods is established, but certain herbs may interact with specific medicines — consult a professional first. While using it, avoid overly spicy or greasy foods so absorption is not disturbed; if taking other medicines, space the doses 1–2 hours.

3. Side Effects and Overuse

Some people may have stomach-gut discomfort — nausea, vomiting, light diarrhea — and a few may show rash or itching as an allergic reaction. Stop and seek care at once for marked discomfort, an allergic reaction, persistent vomiting, trouble breathing, confusion, or a rapid worsening of symptoms. Control the dose strictly — never raise it on your own; overuse may increase the stomach-gut irritation or bring other discomfort.

Frequently Asked Questions About Long Xue Jie

What is Longxuejie? Is it the same as Xuejie or Moyao?

Longxuejie is the resin extracted from the resin-containing wood of Dracaena cochinchinensis, Latin name Draconis Sanguis. It is a common Chinese medicine centered on activating blood and settling pain, transforming stasis and stopping bleeding, and generating flesh and astringing sores. Xuejie is related. Moyao disperses stasis and settles pain while reducing swelling. They cannot be used interchangeably in equal amounts. Prescribe as Longxuejie. Use with caution in pregnancy.

What are the composition and effects of Longxuejie?

Pharmacopoeial name Longxuejie, Latin Dracaena cochinchinensis (Lour.) S. C. Chen. Sweet and salty in taste, neutral in nature, enters the Heart and Liver meridians. Functions to activate blood and settle pain, transform stasis and stop bleeding, and generate flesh and astringe sores. Used for traumatic injuries, blood stasis with pain, traumatic bleeding, and sores that fail to close. Activates blood and generates flesh.

How to choose between raw and processed? Can Moyao replace it?

Resin is used raw. Moyao emphasizes reducing swelling rather than strongly generating flesh, and cannot replace it in equal amounts. Commercial products are standardized; do not adjust arbitrarily.

What is the dosage of Longxuejie? Can it be used daily as a blood-activating tea?

Internal use, 1-2g, ground into powder. Modern use requires physician-determined dosage. It is not a year-round "Longxuejie tea." Pregnancy will be further injured by prolonged use. Stasis pain requires short-term, physician-determined dosage and cannot replace evaluation.

What are the contraindications of Longxuejie? Can pregnant women use it?

Use with caution in pregnancy. Not suitable without stasis and stagnation. Stop if bleeding or abdominal pain occur. Seek immediate medical care for severe stasis pain or high fever.

Can Longxuejie activate blood, settle pain, and generate flesh?

It can assist traumatic injuries, blood stasis with pain, traumatic bleeding, and sores that fail to close. It activates blood and settles pain, transforms stasis and stops bleeding, and generates flesh and astringes sores, but is not a specific remedy for all trauma or all bleeding.

Can Longxuejie be taken daily as a blood-activating or flesh-generating tea?

Blood stasis with pain can be used short-term in formulas; pregnancy will be further injured. The idea that "Longxuejie must activate blood" cannot replace evaluation. Activating blood and settling pain requires physician-determined formulation and dosage.

How to choose between Longxuejie, Xuejie, Moyao, Ruxiang, and Sanqi?

Longxuejie activates blood and generates flesh, suited to trauma. Xuejie is related. Moyao disperses stasis and settles pain while reducing swelling. Ruxiang activates blood and moves qi while relieving pain. Sanqi disperses stasis and stops bleeding while reducing swelling. Choose Longxuejie for activating blood; Moyao for reducing swelling; Ruxiang for moving qi; Sanqi for stopping bleeding. Pattern differentiation applies, but use with caution in large doses during pregnancy.

How is Longxuejie commonly modified? What is a representative usage?

Modifications depend on the pattern. Add Moyao for trauma; add Sanqi for bleeding. Specify Longxuejie; do not substitute Moyao in equal amounts for generating flesh.

How to select and store Longxuejie?

Choose regular Chinese medicinal materials with intact resin. Discard if moldy, damp, or abnormal in odor. Store in a dry place. Purchase "Longxuejie"; do not substitute Moyao or Ruxiang in equal amounts for activating blood, settling pain, and generating flesh.

Related Products

Nong's Long Xue Jie Concentrated Granules

Nong's Long Xue Jie (Dragon's Blood Resin) Single Herb 1:1 Concentrated Granules $96.10

Hoi Tin Xue Jie (Dragon's Blood) Single Herb 5:1 Concentrated Granules, 50 g TCM Herbal Supplement

Hoi Tin Xue Jie (Dragon's Blood) Single Herb 5:1 Concentrated Granules $38.26

Medical Disclaimer — This article is provided for educational purposes only and describes traditional Chinese medicine concepts. It is not medical advice, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified practitioner before using any herb, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a diagnosed condition.