A practical guide to Jiang Hou Po: what it is, how Traditional Chinese Medicine uses it, the classical formulas it appears in, and who should be careful with it.
Last reviewed Oct 28, 2026| Latin Name | Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name & Pinyin | 薑厚朴 · Jiang Hou Po |
| Medicinal Part | Tree barks and root barks |
| The item | Jiang Hou Po is the ginger-processed bark of Magnolia officinalis. Raw Hou Po is the unprocessed version; Chen Pi and other citrus peels are not this drug. |
| Nature and channels | Warm, acrid, bitter. Enters the Spleen, Stomach, Lung, and Large Intestine. Warm acrid bitter regulates qi, dries dampness, sends qi down, and relieves fullness. |
| Pharmacopoeia line | Regulates qi, dries dampness, and relieves fullness. Used for qi stagnation with dampness in the middle burner, bloating, poor appetite, and phlegm-wheezing. |
| Pattern cues | Full bloated belly. Poor appetite. Greasy tongue coat. Belching and sour reflux. Wheezy cough. |
| In this article | Jiang Hou Po versus Chen Pi and raw Hou Po. Regulating qi versus drying dampness. Why the dose matters. Who should skip it. Home tea. |
Jiang Hou Po (姜厚朴; Jiāng Hòu Pò; Latin: Cortex Magnoliae Officinalis; English: ginger-processed magnolia bark) is the bark of Magnolia officinalis, a tall deciduous tree, soaked and stir-fried with ginger juice so it sits more gently on the stomach. It is warm, acrid, and bitter, enters the Spleen, Stomach, Lung, and Large Intestine channels, and its core actions are to regulate qi and dry dampness, and to send qi downward and relieve fullness. It is a draining qi-moving herb, more drying than moistening. The usual amount is 3–10 g in a decoction. It does not need first, last, or wrapped decoction handling, and it is not a food herb.
It is not Chen Pi. Tangerine peel is also warm and acrid-bitter, but it is gentle and leans to harmonizing the spleen while transforming phlegm; Jiang Hou Po is more drying and pushes qi down harder. It is not a plain "stomach tonic" either. In qi deficiency with dry fluids, or yin deficiency with fire, using it on your own is a poor match — the warm-dry push costs qi and fluids. Pregnancy and nursing need care. Coughing with wheezing, or severe unremitting belly fullness, need a clinic first. Do not take it yourself for a long time.
It is used most often for three patterns:
Warm, acrid, and bitter, it is not a daily "digestion booster" to keep increasing. Drying and pushing when there is no dampness or stagnation drains qi and fluids.
When dampness traps the middle burner and qi stops moving, the chest and belly feel full, appetite drops, and the tongue coat turns greasy. Jiang Hou Po is warm, acrid, and bitter. It dries, moves, and pushes downward, which is why it appears in Hou Po Wen Zhong Tang (厚朴温中汤; Warm-the-Center Decoction)–type formulas. It pushes more than it holds. In yin deficiency with dry heat, with no damp stagnation, more makes it worse.
Jiang Hou Po is not a catch-all digestion herb. In qi-yin deficiency, in pregnancy, or with no damp stagnation to move, 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.
Identification & Quality Standard
Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex
Botanical Origin
The dried bark of Magnolia officinalis Rehd. et Wils. (Magnoliaceae), processed with ginger juice.
Production Regions
Primarily produced in Hubei, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Anhui.
Quality Requirements
Superior is thick, oily, fragrant, spicy.
Shreds. Surface dark brown. Cut surface granular, with many small bright specks. Aromatic odor, pungent and slightly bitter taste.
Classic texts and trade experience favor the bark of several provinces in the southwest, but quality still depends on variety, harvest time, processing, and storage. Jiang Hou Po appears as curved strips or rolled tubes, brownish with visible grain, brittle, with a granular, oily fracture, a faint ginger-and-magnolia aroma, and a slightly bitter, acrid taste. Raw Hou Po is paler, more aromatic, and more pungent. The common look-alike is the bark of other magnolia species — harder, without the oily fracture, and with a fainter smell; appearance and odor tell them apart.
Bitter, Acrid; WarmSpleenStomachLungLarge Intestine
Physicians stressed different sides: some leaned on its warming-center, dampness-drying side, for cold-damp patterns with a cold weak spleen-stomach; others leaned on its qi-descending, accumulation-dispersing side, for food stagnation and bloating; a third group stressed its wheeze-calming side, for lung qi that would not descend. None of these cancels the others — Hou Po is a targeted herb, not a one-size qi-and-dampness fix, and the pattern decides the use.
Traditional Functions
Dries dampness and resolves phlegm, downbears qi and removes fullness.
(1) Traditional action: moving stuck qi in the spleen-stomach and transforming dampness through its acrid-scattering, bitter-drying character. (2) Typical patterns: qi stagnation with dampness blocking the middle burner — full chest and belly, poor appetite, nausea, sticky sluggish stools, and a thick greasy tongue coat. (3) Usual pairings: Chen Pi (tangerine peel) to regulate qi and harmonize the stomach, Cang Zhu (atractylodes) to dry dampness and fortify the spleen, and Ban Xia (pinellia) to drain dampness. (4) Not for self-use: qi deficiency with depleted fluids — shortness of breath, weakness, dry mouth — because the acrid-bitter push drains the already-scarce qi and fluids.
(1) Traditional action: using its descending, draining character to ease fullness and pressure in the gut. (2) Typical patterns: gut qi stagnation with food stagnation — belly distension and pain, belching, sour regurgitation, constipation. (3) Usual pairings: Zhi Shi (immature bitter orange) to strengthen the qi-moving, distension-relieving effect, and Da Huang (rhubarb) to unblock the bowels and clear fullness. (4) Not for self-use: yin deficiency with fire — the warm-dry character adds to the heat, bringing dry mouth and irritability.
Jiang Hou Po pairs classically with Chen Pi. Jiang Hou Po scatters and dries — moving qi, drying dampness, and pushing fullness down; Chen Pi regulates qi, fortifies the spleen, and dries dampness while transforming phlegm. Together they strengthen the qi-moving, fullness-relieving work while Chen Pi tempers Jiang Hou Po's warm-dry edge so it wastes less qi — used for full chest and belly, poor appetite, and nausea from qi stagnation with dampness in the middle burner. Pairing belongs to a practitioner's pattern diagnosis, not self-pairing.
Modern research offers useful context, but Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribes on whole-pattern diagnosis rather than isolated compounds.
Detected in Magnolia bark are lignans — magnolol and honokiol — along with volatile oils, alkaloids, and flavonoids. In vitro, magnolol and honokiol showed some anti-inflammatory activity; in animal experiments, these constituents eased gastrointestinal smooth-muscle spasm and modulated gut movement. Human studies are few, and no clear effect in people has been established.
Most of this is in vitro or animal work; human verification is still needed.
Nature and flavor: Jiang Hou Po is warm, acrid, and bitter, with a strong warm-dry edge — warm dispels cold, bitter dries, acrid scatters — and it works hardest on cold dampness; Chen Pi is also warm, acrid, and bitter, but gentler and less drying — it leans to regulating qi and fortifying the spleen while also transforming phlegm. Focus: Jiang Hou Po leads with regulating qi, drying dampness, and pushing fullness down — for gut qi stagnation and middle-burner dampness; Chen Pi leads with regulating qi, fortifying the spleen, drying dampness, and transforming phlegm — for spleen qi, dampness, and phlegmy cough. Tendency: Jiang Hou Po drains and descends — it pushes rebellious qi down ("down"); Chen Pi harmonizes — it restores normal movement without pushing hard either way ("harmonize"). Best fit: Jiang Hou Po for more marked fullness, a thick greasy coat, and sticky stools; Chen Pi for mild bloating, a thin greasy coat, and phlegmy cough. Who should avoid: Jiang Hou Po is wrong for qi-fluid deficiency and yin-fire; Chen Pi is gentler but still calls for care in qi deficiency and yin-dry cough. Where you meet them: Jiang Hou Po in gut-regulating formulas such as Hou Po Wen Zhong Tang; Chen Pi in base formulas such as Er Chen Tang and in everyday teas.
In short, Jiang Hou Po leans to warm-drying qi regulation with a strong downward push; Chen Pi leans to gentle qi regulation, fortifying the spleen, and transforming phlegm. Both can appear in spleen-stomach qi-stagnation care — but they are not stand-ins for each other.
A formula is a coordinated team, balanced by the sovereign–minister–assistant–courier structure so each job is covered. A single herb cannot copy that whole effect, and a herb that works in a formula does not automatically work the same way alone — the dose and the pairing in the formula are the point. Do not self-formulate from web articles.
Jiang Hou Po 3 g, Chen Pi 5 g, and 1 slice of fresh ginger, rinsed and steeped in boiling water for 10 minutes. Fit: mild full-chest-and-belly days with poor appetite and a thin greasy coat from qi stagnation with dampness — 2–3 cups a week; not long-term. Not for: qi-fluid deficiency or yin-fire people, and not for pregnancy or nursing without advice. Jiang Hou Po is a medicinal piece — follow the dose, do not use it as a food.
Raw Hou Po leans to moving qi and calming wheeze; Jiang Hou Po leans to regulating qi, drying dampness, and relieving fullness — the everyday home form. No first, last, or wrapped decoction handling is needed; it goes into the pot with the other ingredients. Different forms cannot be converted directly — decoction pieces and ready-made medicines are not interchangeable by gram.
The classic range is 3–10 g; food-use amounts drop to about 2–5 g so the warm-dry character does not drain fluids. Food doses are gentler and medical doses are stronger — do not substitute one for the other. Not for long continuous use — keep each course to about 1 week, and consult a practitioner if nothing improves. Special groups should consult a professional first.
Qi deficiency with depleted fluids (shortness of breath, fatigue, dry mouth, dry stools) and yin deficiency with fire (irritability, insomnia, dry throat, hot hands and feet) — the warm-dry character makes both worse; pregnancy and nursing — avoid warm-dry herbs; children and the elderly — weaker reserves, guidance only; liver or kidney impairment — consult first; allergy to magnolia-family plants — avoid; people on anticoagulants, blood-pressure, or other regular medicines — consult before use.
Jiang Hou Po may interact with anticoagulants, blood-pressure, blood-sugar, and sedative medicines by affecting absorption or metabolism — anyone on them should consult first. No blanket "food clash" with ordinary foods is established, but herbs can interact with specific medicines. While using it, keep to light, plain meals and avoid greasy and cold-raw foods to spare the spleen-stomach.
Overuse can bring dry mouth, irritability, and dry stools — the warm-dry push draining fluids — and some people develop a rash or itching. Stop and seek care at once for marked discomfort, an allergic reaction, persistent vomiting, trouble breathing, confusion, or a rapid worsening of symptoms.
Nong's Jiang Hou Pu (Ginger-Processed Magnolia Bark) Single Herb 5:1 Concentrated Granules
$64.62
Han's Hou Po Wen Zhong Tang (Magnolia Bark & Warming the Middle Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules
$64.55
Hoi Tin Ping Wei San (Calm the Stomach Powder) 5:1 Concentrated Granules
$22.15
Nong's Ping Wei San (Calm the Stomach Powder) 5:1 Concentrated Granules
$60.88
Han's Ping Wei San (Calm the Stomach Formula) 5:1 Concentrated Granules
$63.93
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.
