Roots and rhizomesInterior-warmingAconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (white/black slice)

Fu Pian (Prepared Daughter Root of Common Monkshood (Fu Pian))

A practical guide to Fu Pian: 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	Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (white/black slice)
Chinese Name & Pinyin	附片 · Fu Pian
Medicinal Part	Roots and rhizomes
The item	Fu Pian is the processed slice of the aconite daughter root. Gan Jiang (dried ginger) and other warming herbs are not this drug. The raw aconite root is markedly more toxic and is never used at home.
Nature and channels	Greatly hot, acrid, sweet. Enters the Heart, Kidney, and Spleen. Greatly hot acrid sweet warms the yang, scatters cold, and assists the fire.
Pharmacopoeia line	Warms the yang and scatters cold; supplements fire and assists the yang. Used for yang deficiency with cold and yang-deficiency cold pain.
Pattern cues	Cold hands and feet. Liking warmth. Cold abdominal pain. Loose stools. Clear copious urine. Low spirits. Cold painful lower back. Edema of the legs. Palpitations.
In this article	Fu Pian versus Gan Jiang. Warming the deep yang versus warming the middle. Why the first-boiling rule matters. Why yin-deficiency and pregnancy bodies should skip it. Home soup.

What Is Fu Pian?

Fu Pian (附片; Fù Piàn; Latin: Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata; English: processed aconite daughter-root slices) is the processed piece of the daughter root of the aconite plant — the dark, firm slices in the herbal cabinet that practitioners reach for when the body's inner "small stove" burns low and the limbs stay cold. It is greatly hot, acrid and sweet, enters the Heart, Kidney, and Spleen channels, and its core actions are to warm the yang and scatter cold, and to supplement fire and assist the yang. The usual amount is 3–15 g in a decoction, with far smaller amounts in food remedies. It is a toxic medicinal material: the raw aconite root is never used at home, and the processed piece is always boiled first for 30–60 minutes before the other herbs go in — a rule that is never skipped.

It is not Gan Jiang. Dried ginger is also warm and scatters cold — it is acrid and hot, leaning to warming the middle and scattering cold in the stomach-spleen; this aconite piece is greatly hot, leaning to supplementing the fire and assisting the yang of the heart and kidney. It is not a general warming or cold herb; it acts within clear patterns. In yin-deficiency with internal heat — hot palms and soles, dry mouth, restlessness, a red tongue with little coat — using it on your own is a poor match. Collapse with cold limbs, or a markedly unwell child, needs a clinic first. Do not take it yourself for a long time.

It is used most often for three patterns:

Yang deficiency with cold — cold hands and feet, liking warmth, cold abdominal pain, loose stools, clear copious urine, low spirits, a pale tongue with a white coat
Kidney-heart yang deficiency — cold painful lower back, edema of the legs, palpitations, a tight chest, poor digestion with cold abdominal pain
Yin-deficiency with internal heat, pregnancy, nursing, or children — seek care / skip it

Greatly hot, acrid, and strongly warming, it is not a daily "yang-warming tonic" to keep increasing. Warming when there is no yang deficiency, or in a yin-deficient body, burns the fluids instead of helping.

When yang qi is insufficient and cold gathers inside — cold limbs, a tired spirit, a deep faint pulse — the body needs a warm-and-assist rather than a surface warm. Fu Pian is greatly hot, acrid, and sweet. It warms the kidney yang, assists the heart yang, and scatters the deep cold, which is why it appears in Si Ni Tang (Four Reversal Decoction)–type formulas. It goes in deep and fast. In yin-deficiency with internal heat, or without yang deficiency, more makes it worse.

Fu Pian is not a catch-all warming or pain herb. In yin-deficiency with internal heat, in pregnancy, or without yang deficiency, using it alone is a poor match. The dose, the processed form, and whether it belongs in a formula should be decided by a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner after pattern diagnosis.

Fu Pian: Materia Medica Profile

Identification & Quality Standard

Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata (white/black slice)

Botanical Origin

The processed daughter root of Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. (Ranunculaceae).

Production Regions

Primarily produced in Sichuan (Jiangyou area), Hubei, Hunan, Shaanxi, Yunnan.

Quality Requirements

Superior medicinal material has large slices of even thickness, translucent color and no hollow center.

Macroscopic Features

White slice (白附片) is irregular slices, 1.7~5cm long, 0.9~3cm wide, 0.2~0.5cm thick, externally yellowish-white, translucent. Black slice (黑顺片) is 1.5~5cm long, externally dark brown, with cork remnant on outer edge. Hard and brittle; cut surface is translucent, horny. Faint odor, taste salty, numb.

Main Regions and Quality Identification

Classic texts and trade experience favor the processed pieces from a celebrated growing region in the southwest, but quality still depends on the variety, harvest time, processing, and storage. Hei Shun Pian is mostly lengthwise slices, dark brown on the surface with an oily sheen, hard, with a horny cross-section; Bai Fu Pian is paler, translucent, and also hard. The raw aconite root differs clearly — conical in shape with nodular branch roots; the common counterfeit is the processed root of other buttercup-family plants such as Cao Wu, which is more toxic and different in form — check carefully.

Traditional Properties & Historical Lineage

Nature, Flavour & Channel Tropism

Acrid, Sweet; Very hot; ToxicHeartKidneySpleen

1. Records in Classic Materia Medica

Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing: lists Wu Tou in the lower class — "for wind-cold cough with rebellious qi, warming the middle, metal wounds, breaking hard accumulations, blood masses, cold-damp weakness, cramps and knee pain with inability to walk."
Ming Yi Bie Lu: adds — "clears cold phlegm above the chest, poor eating, cold diseases of the heart and belly, pain around the navel, shoulder-blade pain with inability to bend, eye pain with inability to look long — and ends pregnancy."
Ben Cao Gang Mu: clarifies the yang-supplementing — used for yang-deficiency cold patterns, middle-cold and wind-stroke, phlegm reversal, childhood slow convulsions, wind-damp numbness, edema with leg qi, sudden diarrhea with yang collapse, long dysentery with spleen diarrhea, and cold sores.
De Pei Ben Cao: records the pairing cautions — "fears Lu Dou, boy's urine, Xi Jiao, and Hei Dou; dislikes Wu Gong; avoid fermented soybean water."

2. How Views of Its Nature Changed

Some doctors lean on the supplementing side — warming the heart-kidney yang and easing the cold, fatigue of yang deficiency; others stress the cold-scattering and pain-easing side for cold-damp bi pain and cold abdominal pain; still others stress the scope and cautions — yin-deficiency with internal heat should not use it, and pregnancy needs care — because the warm nature can harm if mismatched. The range keeps its scope clear — yang deficiency with cold — and avoids misuse.

Core Efficacies & Traditional Applications

Traditional Functions

Rescues yang and reverses desertion, supplements fire and assists yang, disperses cold and stops pain.

1. Main Use 1: Warming the Yang and Scattering Cold

(1) Traditional action: warming the body's yang and driving out the cold — easing the cold state of yang deficiency. (2) Typical patterns: yang deficiency with cold gathering — cold hands and feet, liking warmth, cold abdominal pain, loose stools, clear copious urine, low spirits, a pale tongue with a white coat; often worse in autumn-winter or after fatigue. (3) Usual pairings: Gan Jiang and Zhi Gan Cao to strengthen the warming and moderate the harshness; Ren Shen to supplement the yang and boost the qi together — easing the fatigue and shortness of breath. (4) Not for self-use: yin-deficiency with internal heat — hot palms and soles, dry mouth, restlessness and poor sleep, a red tongue with little coat — and pregnancy, nursing, and children, all need a practitioner.

2. Main Use 2: Supplementing Fire and Assisting the Yang

(1) Traditional action: supplementing the root of the body's yang and improving the yang deficiency of each organ. (2) Typical patterns: kidney-yang deficiency — cold painful lower back, edema of the legs, reduced vitality, more urine at night, fear of cold; heart-yang deficiency — palpitations, a tight chest; spleen-yang deficiency — poor digestion, cold abdominal pain. (3) Usual pairings: Shu Di and Shan Zhu Yu to supplement the yang with the yin, following the "yin-yang root each other" idea; Fu Ling and Bai Zhu to warm the yang and drain water — easing kidney-yang edema. (4) Not for self-use: unstable high blood pressure or diabetes, and anyone already on other medicines — consult a practitioner first.

3. A Classic Pairing

Fu Pian pairs classically with Gan Jiang: the aconite piece warms the kidney and assists the yang; the dried ginger warms the middle and scatters cold — the pair strengthens each other for yang deficiency with heavy cold, and the ginger moderates the harshness and lowers the toxicity. The pairing fits cold abdominal pain, cold hands and feet, and loose stools — under a practitioner's pattern diagnosis, never self-pair.

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 plant are aconite-type alkaloids — aconitine, hypaconitine, and mesaconitine — the signature constituents of Fu Pian. In vitro, these alkaloids show some anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity; in animals, certain doses improve yang-deficiency-type states and raise cold tolerance. No sufficient human clinical study yet defines the specific effects and effective doses in the human body.

2. Current Research Directions

Current work centers on the alkaloid effects on the cardiovascular and nervous systems and the anti-inflammatory, analgesic potential, plus how different processing methods change the alkaloid content and toxicity — processed pieces show lower alkaloid content and weaker toxicity, and different processes change the composition and action. Most of the work is on the toxicity-lowering mechanism of processing and the alkaloid effects in animal models; human verification of the effects and safety is still needed.

3. Limitations of Current Research

Lab results are not clinical efficacy — the human environment differs greatly from animals and cell cultures.
Extracts are not decoction pieces — the alkaloid monomers and extracts differ from the clinical piece in dose, composition ratio, and mode of action.
Doses and preparations vary between studies — different processing, extraction, and dose make the results hard to compare directly.
One component does not define the whole herb — the piece acts as a team of constituents; one alkaloid cannot represent the whole.

Comparing Similar Herbs

1. What They Share

Both warm the yang and scatter cold, driving out internal cold.
Both are used for yang deficiency with cold — fear of cold, cold abdominal pain.
Both need constitution and dose care — yin-deficiency with internal heat should be cautious with both.

2. Key Differences

Nature and flavor: Fu Pian is acrid and sweet, greatly hot, entering the Heart, Kidney, and Spleen — a pure-yang product with a strong warming nature, warming the kidney and assisting the yang as its core; Gan Jiang is acrid and hot, entering the Spleen, Stomach, Kidney, Heart, and Lung — slightly less hot, warming the middle and scattering cold as its core. Focus: Fu Pian supplements fire and assists the yang — improving kidney-heart yang deficiency; Gan Jiang warms the middle and scatters cold — mainly on the spleen-stomach, easing cold-type poor digestion and cold abdominal pain. Tendency: Fu Pian supplements the yang first — strengthening the body's yang with a cold-scattering note, supplement-and-scatter; Gan Jiang scatters cold first — a warm-scatter without a marked supplementing action, sorting the spleen-stomach qi and driving out its cold. Best fit: Fu Pian for kidney-yang deficiency — cold painful lower back, more urine at night, palpitations and a tight chest; Gan Jiang for spleen-stomach cold deficiency — cold abdominal pain, vomiting clear water, loose stools. Who should avoid: Fu Pian — a wider range: pregnancy, nursing, children, and liver-kidney impairment; Gan Jiang — fewer: yin-deficiency with internal heat and stomach-intestine excess heat, with caution in pregnancy. Where you meet them: Fu Pian as the main herb in formulas for whole-body yang deficiency — such as Zhen Wu Tang; Gan Jiang as a supporting herb for warming the spleen-stomach — such as Li Zhong Tang.

3. One-Line Takeaway

In short, Fu Pian leans to supplementing fire and assisting the yang for whole-body yang deficiency; Gan Jiang leans to warming the middle and scattering cold for the spleen-stomach. Both warm the yang and scatter cold — but they are not stand-ins for each other.

Classical Formulas Containing Fu Pian

Si Ni Tang

四逆湯

Formula CategoryYang-Tonifying FormulasPrimary PatternYang DeficiencyPrimary FunctionRestore Yang, rescue from collapseRelated ConditionsCold Limbs·Abdominal Pain·Stomach Discomfort·Fatigue & Low Energy

View Formula Profile Read Complete Guide

Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang

附子理中湯

Formula CategoryYang-Tonifying FormulasPrimary PatternYang DeficiencyPrimary FunctionWarm Middle Yang, restore collapsed Yang, strengthen SpleenRelated ConditionsAbdominal Pain·Diarrhea·Stomach Discomfort·Cold Limbs

View Formula Profile Read Complete Guide

Formula vs. Single Herb

A formula is a coordinated whole — the dose and pairings of Si Ni Tang or Fu Zi Li Zhong Wan are long clinically tested, and the synergy revives the yang; taking the single herb cannot reach the same effect and cannot cover the qi-boosting, damp-drying, or harmonizing sides. Do not self-formulate from web articles — a herb that works in a formula does not work the same way alone.

Diet & Daily Home Use

1. Home Soup

Example — Fu Pian, ginger, and lamb soup: Zhi Fu Pian 3 g, Sheng Jiang 10 g, Yang Rou 100 g, Hong Zao 3 pieces — cut the lamb into pieces, blanch to remove the scum, slice the ginger, put everything in a clay pot with water, bring to a boil, then simmer 1.5 hours, season lightly. Fit: autumn-winter cold hands and feet, cold belly, spleen-stomach cold. Not for: yin-deficiency with internal heat, pregnancy, nursing, and liver-kidney impairment. Frequency: once a week.

2. Decoction and Processing Differences

The raw aconite root is strongly toxic; clinical use is the processed piece — Hei Shun Pian, Bai Fu Pian — and home use is always the processed piece. Fu Pian is always boiled first — 30–60 minutes before the other ingredients go in — which lowers the toxicity and helps the active constituents come out. At home, use a clay or ceramic pot, never an iron pot — the iron may react with the constituents. Different forms cannot be converted directly — the piece dose and the ready-made-pill dose differ greatly, never swap them.

3. Dosage and How Long to Use

The classic range is 3–15 g; food-remedy doses are much smaller — about 3 g of the processed piece. Food care aims at gentle adjustment; medicinal use targets the pattern and the dose adjusts by the case. No long continuous use — generally after 1–2 servings, if the symptoms ease, pause; if continuation is needed, consult a practitioner or pharmacist. Special groups consult a professional first.

Contraindications & Safety Warnings

1. Who Should Avoid It

Yin-deficiency with internal heat — hot palms and soles, dry mouth, restlessness and poor sleep, a red tongue with little coat — the warm nature may worsen the internal heat, avoid; pregnancy and nursing — the warm nature may affect the fetus or infant; children and the elderly — weaker tolerance, use with care; liver or kidney impairment — weaker metabolism, higher risk of side effects; allergy to aconite-type plants — may react; people on special therapy, such as anticoagulation or radiotherapy — consult a doctor first.

2. Interactions and Diet Notes

Fu Pian may affect anticoagulant, blood-pressure, blood-sugar, and sedative medicines — with a blood-pressure medicine the pressure-lowering may strengthen or weaken and cause swings; with a blood-sugar medicine it may shift blood-sugar control. No blanket "food clash" between ordinary foods is established, but certain herbs may interact with specific medicines — those on medication should consult a doctor or pharmacist first.

3. Side Effects and Overuse

Misuse may bring numbness of the lips and tongue, dizziness, palpitations, nausea, or vomiting; in severe cases, breathing difficulty or confusion — these are early warnings of toxicity. If marked discomfort, an allergic reaction, persistent vomiting, breathing difficulty, confusion, or a rapid worsening of symptoms occurs, stop at once and seek emergency care — never delay.

Frequently Asked Questions About Fu Pian

What is Fupian? Is it the same as Fuzi or Pao Fupian?

Fupian is the processed daughter root of Aconitum carmichaelii, Latin name Aconiti Lateralis Radix Praeparata. It is a common Chinese medicine centered on restoring yang and rescuing from counterflow desertion, tonifying fire and assisting yang, and dispersing cold and relieving pain. Fuzi is related. Pao Fupian is further processed and emphasizes warming tonification. They cannot be used interchangeably in equal amounts. Prescribe as Fupian. Use with caution in pregnancy.

What are the composition and effects of Fupian?

Pharmacopoeial name Fupian, Latin Aconitum carmichaelii Debx. Pungent and sweet in taste, greatly hot in nature, toxic, enters the Heart, Kidney and Spleen meridians. Functions to restore yang and rescue from counterflow desertion, tonify fire and assist yang, and disperse cold and relieve pain. Used for yang collapse and desertion, cold limbs and faint pulse, impotence, cold uterus, cold pain in the heart and abdomen, deficiency-cold vomiting and diarrhea, yin-cold edema, yang deficiency with exterior contraction, and cold-damp bi pain. Restores yang and rescues from counterflow desertion.

How to choose between raw and processed? Can Pao Fupian replace it?

Daughter root is processed. Pao Fupian emphasizes warming tonification rather than strongly rescuing from counterflow desertion, and cannot replace it in equal amounts. Commercial products are standardized; do not adjust arbitrarily.

What is the dosage of Fupian? Can it be used daily as a yang-assisting tea?

Decoction, 3-15g. Modern use requires physician-determined dosage. It is not a year-round "Fupian tea." Toxic. Pregnancy will be further injured by prolonged use. Yang collapse requires short-term, physician-determined dosage and cannot replace evaluation.

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

Toxic. Use with caution in pregnancy. Not suitable for yin deficiency with yang hyperactivity. Stop if dry mouth or irritability with heat occur. Seek immediate medical care for severe yang collapse or high fever.

Can Fupian restore yang, assist yang, and disperse cold?

It can assist yang collapse and desertion, cold limbs and faint pulse, impotence, cold uterus, cold pain in the heart and abdomen, deficiency-cold vomiting and diarrhea, yin-cold edema, yang deficiency with exterior contraction, and cold-damp bi pain. It restores yang and rescues from counterflow desertion, tonifies fire and assists yang, and disperses cold and relieves pain, but is not a specific remedy for all yang collapse or all bi pain.

Can Fupian be taken daily as a yang-assisting or cold-dispersing tea?

Yang collapse and desertion can be used short-term in formulas; pregnancy will be further injured. The idea that "Fupian must assist yang" cannot replace evaluation. Restoring yang and assisting yang requires physician-determined formulation and dosage.

How to choose between Fupian, Fuzi, Pao Fupian, Ganjiang, and Rougui?

Fupian restores yang and assists yang, suited to yang collapse. Fuzi is related. Pao Fupian is further processed and emphasizes warming tonification. Ganjiang warms the middle and disperses cold while stopping vomiting. Rougui tonifies fire and assists yang while guiding fire. Choose Fupian for restoring yang; Pao Fupian for warming tonification; Ganjiang for dispersing cold; Rougui for guiding fire. Pattern differentiation applies, but use with caution in large doses during pregnancy.

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

Modifications depend on the pattern. Add Ganjiang for yang collapse; add Rougui for bi pain. Specify Fupian; do not substitute Pao Fupian in equal amounts for rescuing from counterflow desertion.

How to select and store Fupian?

Choose regular Chinese medicinal materials with intact processed products. Discard if moldy, damp, or abnormal in odor. Store in a dry place. Purchase "Fupian"; do not substitute Pao Fupian or Ganjiang in equal amounts for restoring yang, assisting yang, and dispersing cold.

Related Products

Nong's Fu Pian (Prepared Aconite Root) Single Herb 5:1 Concentrated Granules $55.34

Hoi Tin Si Ni Tang (Frigid Extremities Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $24.93

Nong's Si Ni Tang (Frigid Extremities Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $54.46

Han's Si Ni Tang (Four Rebellious Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $57.19

Hoi Tin Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang Extract Granules

Hoi Tin Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang (Aconite Decoction to Regulate the Middle) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $30.50

Nong's Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang Extract Granules

Nong's Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang (Aconite Decoction to Regulate the Middle) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $80.14

Han's Fu Zi Li Zhong Tang (Warming the Middle & Supplementing the Qi Decoction) 5:1 Concentrated Granules $84.16

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.