A practical guide to Gong Lao Ye: 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 | Mahoniae Folium |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name & Pinyin | 功勞葉 · Gong Lao Ye |
| Medicinal Part | Leaves |
| The item | Gong Lao Ye is the dried leaf of Chinese holly. Di Gu Pi (wolfberry root bark) and other holly leaves are not this drug. |
| Nature and channels | Cold, bitter. Enters the Liver and Kidney. Cold bitter clears deficiency heat and tonifies the liver and kidney. |
| Pharmacopoeia line | Clears deficiency heat; tonifies the liver and kidney. Used for deficiency-labor fever, bone-steaming tidal heat, weak lower back and knees, and dizzy vision. |
| Pattern cues | Afternoon or night fever. Warm palms. Restless mind. Weak lower back and knees. Dizzy vision. Dry eyes. |
| In this article | Gong Lao Ye versus Di Gu Pi. Clearing and tonifying versus plain clearing. Why a cold weak spleen-stomach should skip it. Home tea and porridge. |
Gong Lao Ye (功劳叶; Gōng Láo Yè; Latin: Ilicis Cornutae Folium; English: Chinese holly leaf) is the dried leaf of the Chinese holly shrub — the thick, spiny-edged evergreen of southern courtyards, called the "leaf of merit" for its recorded value in Chinese medicine. It is cold and bitter, enters the Liver and Kidney channels, and its core actions are to clear deficiency heat, and to tonify the liver and kidney. It is the autumn herb for low-grade heat in a tired body. The usual amount is 6–10 g in a decoction. It does not need first, last, or wrapped decoction handling, and it can go into tea or porridge.
It is not Di Gu Pi. Wolfberry root bark is cold, sweet, and bland, and it clears lung heat and deficiency heat — but it has almost no tonifying side. It is not the ordinary garden holly of folklore either; the medicinal leaf is the specific Chinese holly, dried and checked. In a cold weak spleen-stomach — frequent loose stools, a cold-loving stomach — or in pregnancy, using it on your own is a poor match. Night fevers that keep climbing, or pain that will not settle, needs a clinic first. Do not take it yourself for a long time.
It is used most often for three patterns:
Cold and bitter, it is not a daily "heat-clearing tea" to keep increasing. Clearing and tonifying when there is no deficiency heat, or in a cold weak spleen-stomach, chills the middle instead of helping.
When liver-kidney yin runs low — from late nights, overwork, or age — deficiency heat rises from within: afternoon fevers, warm palms, a restless mind at night — and the lower back and knees tire easily. Gong Lao Ye is cold and bitter. It clears the heat and builds the yin, which is why it appears in Zi Shen Qing Gu Tang (Nourish the Kidney and Clear Bone-Heat Decoction)–type formulas. It clears more than it drains. In a cold weak spleen-stomach, more makes it worse.
Gong Lao Ye is not a catch-all heat or tonic herb. In a cold weak spleen-stomach, in pregnancy, or with no deficiency heat, 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
Mahoniae Folium
Botanical Origin
The dried leaf of Mahonia bealei (Fort.) Carr. (Berberidaceae).
Production Regions
Primarily produced in Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Hubei and Sichuan.
Quality Requirements
Superior is large, thick, green, bitter.
Oblong-lanceolate, 15~30cm long, 4~8cm wide. Leaf leathery, upper surface dark green, lower surface yellowish-green, with 2~5 spiny teeth on each side. Faint odor, bitter taste.
Classic texts and trade experience favor leaves from the middle and lower Yangtze areas, but quality still depends on species, harvest time, processing, and storage. Good Gong Lao Ye has whole leaves, deep green, thick and hard, with a slightly bitter taste. The raw and lightly stir-fried forms differ slightly — the fried leaf is a little darker with less bitterness, gentler for a weak spleen-stomach. The common look-alike is the broad-leaf mahonia — wider leaves with shallower teeth — easy to tell apart.
Bitter; CoolLiverStomachLarge Intestine
All the records circle the clear-and-tonify liver-kidney work and the deficiency-heat clearing.
Some doctors leaned on the deficiency-heat clearing side — for deficiency-labor fever; others stressed the liver-kidney tonifying side — for weak lower back and knees; still others drew the line — a cold weak spleen-stomach should not use it alone, lest the cold worsen the discomfort.
Traditional Functions
Clears deficient heat, dries dampness, resolves toxin.
(1) Traditional action: clearing the deficiency heat that rises from the liver-kidney — deficiency-labor fever and bone-steaming tidal heat. (2) Typical patterns: afternoon or night fever, warm palms and soles, a restless mind with little sleep, a dry mouth and throat, a red tongue with a scanty coat. (3) Usual pairings: Di Gu Pi (wolfberry root bark) and Zhi Mu (anemarrhena) to strengthen the clearing. (4) Not for self-use: a cold weak spleen-stomach — the cold can harm the spleen-stomach yang.
(1) Traditional action: nourishing the liver-kidney for insufficiency patterns. (2) Typical patterns: weak lower back and knees, heavy legs, dizzy vision, ringing ears, dry eyes. (3) Usual pairings: Gou Qi Zi (goji berry) and Du Zhong (eucommia bark) to strengthen the tonifying. (4) Not for self-use: heavy damp-heat — the tonifying can hold the damp in.
Gong Lao Ye pairs classically with Gou Qi Zi: the goji nourishes the liver-kidney yin, and the holly leaf clears the liver-kidney deficiency heat. Together they both rebuild the yin and clear the heat — for liver-kidney yin deficiency with deficiency heat. This pair belongs to a practitioner's pattern diagnosis.
Modern research offers useful context, but Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribes on whole-pattern diagnosis rather than isolated compounds.
Detected in the leaf are alkaloids — berberine and palmatine among them — plus flavonoids and saponins. In vitro, some alkaloid components inhibit certain pathogens; in animal experiments, extracts may help temperature regulation in deficiency-heat model animals. No sufficient human clinical study has yet confirmed its effects in people.
Current work centers on screening the activity of the alkaloid components and their effect on immune-regulation indicators; in vitro, some extracts modulate inflammatory factors to some degree. Human verification of any clinical effect is still needed.
Nature and flavor: Gong Lao Ye is bitter and cold, entering the Liver and Kidney — clear-and-tonify, with a real tonifying side; Di Gu Pi is sweet, bland, and cold, entering the Lung, Liver, and Kidney — mostly clearing and draining, with little tonifying force. Focus: Gong Lao Ye clears and tonifies the liver-kidney — it both nourishes the liver-kidney yin and clears its deficiency heat; Di Gu Pi clears lung heat and deficiency heat — mainly for lung-heat cough and yin-deficiency fever, with little liver-kidney tonifying. Tendency: Gong Lao Ye works both ways — tonifying and clearing without over-draining the upright qi; Di Gu Pi leans to clearing and draining — clearing pathogenic heat with no visible tonifying. Best fit: Gong Lao Ye for weak lower back and knees, dizzy vision, and rising deficiency heat; Di Gu Pi for lung-heat cough, tidal heat with night sweats, dry mouth. Who should avoid: Gong Lao Ye is wrong for a cold weak spleen-stomach and heavy damp-heat; Di Gu Pi is wrong for a cold weak spleen-stomach with loose stools. Where you meet them: Gong Lao Ye as a paired herb in clear-and-tonify formulas for liver-kidney yin deficiency with heat; Di Gu Pi as a paired herb in clearing formulas for lung heat or yin-deficiency fever, sometimes alone for a lung-heat cough.
In short, Gong Lao Ye clears deficiency heat while tonifying the liver-kidney; Di Gu Pi clears lung heat and deficiency heat without a tonifying side. Both can appear in deficiency-heat care — but they are not stand-ins for each other.
Role of this herb: in Zi Shen Qing Gu Tang (Nourish the Kidney and Clear Bone-Heat Decoction), Gong Lao Ye is a supporting herb — clearing liver-kidney deficiency heat beside Di Gu Pi and Zhi Mu — with Gou Qi Zi and Nu Zhen Zi (glossy privet fruit) tonifying the liver-kidney. The formula handles liver-kidney yin deficiency with rising heat. Gong Lao Ye's clear-and-tonify character balances the clearing and the tonifying in the formula; alone, it cannot cover the team's work. Traditional focus: liver-kidney yin deficiency with rising deficiency heat — deficiency-labor fever, weak lower back and knees, dizzy vision. Modern note: professional diagnosis first — never self-apply by name.
Role of this herb: in Gou Gu Ye Bu Gan Yin (Holly Leaf Liver-Tonifying Drink), Gong Lao Ye is the monarch — tonifying the liver-kidney and strengthening the sinews and bones — with Du Zhong and Niu Xi (achyranthes) to fortify the lower back. The target is liver-kidney insufficiency with weak lower back and knees and heavy legs. Alone, the leaf's tonifying force is limited and cannot match the team. Traditional focus: liver-kidney insufficiency — weak lower back and knees, heavy legs, dizzy vision, ringing ears. Modern note: professional diagnosis first — never self-apply by name.
A formula is a coordinated team; a single herb cannot copy a full formula's effect. The doses and pairings are designed as a whole — a herb that works in a formula does not automatically work the same way alone. Do not self-formulate from web articles.
Example 1 — Gong Lao Ye goji tea: dried Gong Lao Ye 5 g, Gou Qi Zi 3 g, Ju Hua (chrysanthemum) 2 g — steep in boiling water 5 minutes. Fit: autumn-winter deficiency heat after late nights — dry eyes, weak lower back and knees. Not for: a cold weak spleen-stomach with frequent loose stools. Frequency: 1–2 times a week, not long-term. Example 2 — Gong Lao Ye porridge: dried Gong Lao Ye 10 g (decocted, strained), rice 50 g, a little rock sugar — cooked into porridge. Fit: a restless mind and dry mouth and throat from deficiency heat. Not for: a cold weak spleen-stomach. Frequency: every 2–3 days, no more than 2 weeks straight.
The raw leaf leans to clearing deficiency heat; the stir-fried leaf leans a little more to the liver-kidney tonifying. At home, no special handling is needed — decoction or steeping both work; no first, last, or wrapped steps. Different forms cannot be converted directly — leaf pieces are not extracts or capsules.
The classic range is 6–10 g; food-use amounts are 3–5 g. Food doses are for gentle daily care, not medicinal work. Not for long continuous use — no more than 2 weeks straight. Special groups ask a practitioner or pharmacist first.
A cold weak spleen-stomach with frequent loose stools — the cold can worsen the chill; pregnancy and nursing — cautious, to avoid the cold effect; children and the elderly — guidance only; liver or kidney impairment — consult a doctor first; allergy to holly-family plants — avoid.
Gong Lao Ye may interact with anticoagulants, blood-pressure, and sedative medicines — anyone on them should consult a doctor or pharmacist first. No blanket "food clash" with ordinary foods is established, but herbs can interact with specific medicines — anyone on medication should check first.
Overuse can bring spleen-stomach discomfort — loose stools or diarrhea. Stop and seek care at once for marked discomfort, an allergic reaction, persistent vomiting, trouble breathing, confusion, or a rapid worsening of symptoms.
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.
