Roots and rhizomesTonifyingAngelicae Sinensis Radix (caulis)

Dang Gui Wei (Tail portion of Chinese Angelica Root)

Q: What are the composition and efficacy of Dang Gui Wei?

Dang Gui Wei is sweet, pungent, and warm, enters the liver, heart, and spleen meridians, and functions to break blood and expel stasis, regulate menstruation and relieve pain, and moisten the intestines to relieve constipation. It is used for irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, postpartum stasis, cold-type abdominal pain, wind-damp bi pain, traumatic injuries, sores, and intestinal dryness constipation.

Q: How to choose between raw and processed? Can Dang Gui Shen replace it?

It can be used sliced raw or wine-processed. Dang Gui Shen is better for nourishing blood without strong blood-breaking action and cannot replace it equally. Commercial products are usually standardized, so do not adjust yourself.

Q: What is the dosage of Dang Gui Wei? Can it be drunk daily as a blood-activating tea?

The decoction dose is 6–12 g, but modern use requires physician-determined dosage. It is not a year-round Dang Gui Wei tea, and heat-type bleeding can worsen with more activation. Stasis use should be short-course and guided by a physician; it cannot replace evaluation.

Q: Can Dang Gui Wei break blood, expel stasis, regulate menstruation and relieve pain?

It can assist with irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, traumatic injuries, and sores. It breaks blood and expels stasis, regulates menstruation, and relieves pain, but it is not a specific remedy for all stasis or all dysmenorrhea.

Q: Can Dang Gui Wei be drunk daily as a blood-activating or blood-breaking tea?

Blood stasis can be used short-term in formulas, but heat-type bleeding worsens with continued use. The claim that Dang Gui Wei must break blood cannot replace evaluation, and blood-breaking, regulating menstruation, and pain relief should be determined by a physician for form and dosage.

A practical guide to Dang Gui Wei: 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	Angelicae Sinensis Radix (caulis)
Chinese Name & Pinyin	當歸尾 · Dang Gui Wei
Medicinal Part	Roots and rhizomes
The item	Dang Gui Wei is the dried lateral root of Angelica sinensis, used raw or wine-fried. Chuan Xiong is not this herb.
Nature and channels	Sweet, acrid, bitter, warm. Enters the Liver, Heart, and Spleen. It harmonizes blood, moves stagnation, unblocks the menses, and eases pain.
Pharmacopoeia line	Harmonizes blood and moves stagnation. Unblocks the menses and eases pain. Used for sluggish menses, lower-abdominal stasis pain, and heavy limbs from poor circulation.
Pattern cues	Heavy calves after sitting. Dark clots with period pain. Local swelling-pain after minor injury.
In this article	Dang Gui Wei versus Chuan Xiong. Blood-harmonizing versus qi-moving. Why pure deficiency or pure heat should skip it. Why pregnancy is a caution. Why acute bleeding needs a clinic.

What Is Dang Gui Wei?

Dang Gui Wei (当归尾; Dāng Guī Wěi; Latin: Angelicae Sinensis Radix; English: angelica tail root) in the current pharmacopoeia is the dried lateral and fibrous roots of Angelica sinensis, an umbelliferous herb, collected in autumn around frost and dried as slices; a wine-fried preparation moves blood a little more strongly. It is sweet, acrid, bitter, and warm, enters the Liver, Heart, and Spleen channels, and its core actions are to harmonize blood and move stagnation, and to unblock the menses and ease pain. It usually goes into short decoctions or light teas. The usual amount is 6–12 g. It needs no special first-or-late addition and is simmered with the other herbs.

It is not Chuan Xiong. That lovage is warm and purely acrid, stronger at moving qi throughout the body; it suits heavy qi-blood stasis with obvious pain. Dang Gui Wei is gentler: it harmonizes blood rather than forcing it, and fits mild stagnation with a touch of blood deficiency. Pure deficiency without stasis, and pure heat with mouth sores and dry stools, are a poor match. Acute heavy bleeding that will not stop needs a clinic first. Pregnancy should follow a doctor strictly, and heavy menstrual bleeding should not self-use it. People on blood-thinning medicine should ask a doctor before using it.

It is used most often for three patterns:

Local qi-blood block: heavy, swollen limbs after long sitting
Sluggish menses with dark clots and lower-abdominal distension-pain
Mild postpartum stasis pain and light swelling-pain after minor injury

Sweet, acrid, bitter, and warm, it is not a daily circulation tea to keep brewing. Moving blood when there is no stagnation, in someone already bleeding or hot, aggravates bleeding and heat.

When static blood blocks the vessels and the menses, heavy limbs, dark clots, and lower-abdominal pain are common; when mild injury leaves local stasis, swelling-pain follows. Dang Gui Wei is sweet, acrid, bitter, and warm. It moves stagnation without consuming blood, which is why it appears in Tao Hong Si Wu Tang (Peach Pit and Safflower Four-Substance Decoction)–type formulas, and, paired with Chuan Xiong and Chi Shao, in Dang Gui Huo Xue Tang (Angelica Blood-Moving Decoction)–type formulas. It moves more than it builds. Pure deficiency or pure heat, with no stasis at all, gets worse if more is added.

Dang Gui Wei is not a catch-all circulation or period tea. In deficiency, heat, or active bleeding, using it alone is a poor match. Raw or wine-fried, and whether it belongs in a formula, should be decided by a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner after pattern diagnosis.

Dang Gui Wei: Materia Medica Profile

Identification & Quality Standard

Angelicae Sinensis Radix (caulis)

Botanical Origin

The dried root branchlets (tail) of Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels (Apiaceae).

Production Regions

Primarily produced in the Chinese provinces of Gansu (Min county area), Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Shaanxi.

Quality Requirements

Superior material is long, oily and fragrant.

Macroscopic Features

The tail portion consists of slender root branchlets, 0.3~1 cm diameter, externally yellowish-brown, with longitudinal wrinkles and sparse rootlet scars; texture relatively tough; fractured surface pale yellowish-white, oily; aromatic odor; sweet, pungent and slightly bitter taste.

Main Regions and Quality Identification

Traditional materia medica and industry experience value the Gansu Min County and Wudu regions — holding that the growing environment there fits the herb quality better — but actual quality also depends on variety, harvest time, processing, and storage. In appearance, good-quality Dang Gui Wei is mostly thin strips or irregular slices, yellowish-brown to brownish-dark on the surface with longitudinal wrinkles and transverse lenticels, relatively brittle, with a yellowish-white or pale yellowish-brown cross-section, a fresh fragrance, and a slightly sweet, slightly bitter-pungent taste. Common look-alikes are the roots of Du Huo and Ou Dang Gui: Du Huo has a stronger odor and mostly gray-white cross-sections; Ou Dang Gui has a fainter odor and a slightly bitter-pungent taste.

Traditional Properties & Historical Lineage

Nature, Flavour & Channel Tropism

Sweet, Acrid; WarmLiverHeartSpleen

1. Records in Classic Materia Medica

Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing: lists Dang Gui as "middle grade," mentioning that Dang Gui "treats women's discharge and no children, and various evil sores and metal wounds" — without clearly distinguishing the parts.
Ming Yi Bie Lu: adds that Dang Gui "warms the middle and stops pain, removes retained guest blood ... nourishes the five organs and generates flesh" — likewise without subdividing the root parts.
Ben Cao Gang Mu: first clearly states that "Dang Gui Wei breaks blood, Dang Gui Tou stops bleeding, Dang Gui Shen harmonizes blood, and the whole Dang Gui tonifies blood," noting that Dang Gui Wei "treats women's irregular meridians, blood closure, deficiency-cold, and lumbar-back pain."
De Pei Ben Cao: further records that Dang Gui Wei "breaks evil blood, removes stasis pain, treats fall-beating injury, and constipation" — emphasizing its stagnation-freeing action.

2. How Views of Its Nature Changed

Different physicians saw it somewhat differently. Some stressed its freeing action — the Qing-dynasty physician Zhang Lu, in the Ben Jing Feng Yuan, held that Dang Gui Wei "specializes in breaking blood, with no tonifying merit," fitting the excess patterns with obvious stasis. Others emphasized its harmonizing rather than fierce blood-breaking — the Ming-dynasty physician Li Zhong Zi held that Dang Gui Wei "harmonizes blood without consuming it, and breaks stasis without injuring the new," fitting light stasis of mixed deficiency-excess. Still others noted the limit of its scope — the Qing-dynasty physician Wu Yi Luo pointed out in the Ben Cao Cong Xin that Dang Gui Wei should not be used "if all the diseases arise from spleen-stomach weakness, food stagnation, yin-deficiency fever, fire-pain, or syndromes of blood-heat reckless movement" — clarifying that it is not for pure deficiency or pure heat conditions.

Core Efficacies & Traditional Applications

Traditional Functions

The tail portion is traditionally used to invigorate blood and expel stasis; activates blood and unblocks collaterals.

1. First Direction: Harmonizing Blood and Moving Stagnation

Traditional action: harmonize blood and move stagnation — helping free the blocked qi and blood within the body.
Typical signs: the limb soreness-swelling of local qi-blood blockage, sluggish menstrual flow, a heavy, distended lower abdomen, and local swelling-pain after mild injury.
Usual combinations: generally paired with other herbs to work together — such as Chuan Xiong to strengthen the stagnation-moving force, or Bai Shao to attend to harmonizing blood without injuring the upright.
Who should not self-use: pure deficiency (pale face and fatigue without stasis), pure heat (obvious mouth sores and dry, bound stool), and the acute stage of bleeding diseases (such as massive uncontrolled bleeding).

2. Second Direction: Freeing the Meridians and Stopping Pain

Traditional action: free the meridians and stop pain — for the pain of qi-blood blockage.
Typical signs: period lower-abdominal pain, dark menses with blood clots, postpartum lower-abdominal stasis pain, and local pain after mild injury.
Usual combinations: generally paired with menstruation-regulating or pain-stopping herbs — such as Yi Mu Cao to strengthen the meridian-freeing action, or Yan Hu Suo to strengthen the pain-stopping effect.
Who should not self-use: pregnancy (strictly follow the doctor's orders), those with heavy menses (especially caused by blood heat), and those with pure deficiency without obvious pain.

3. Classic Pairing: Dang Gui Wei With Chuan Xiong

The common herb pair is Dang Gui Wei with Chuan Xiong. Dang Gui Wei focuses on harmonizing blood and moving stagnation; Chuan Xiong focuses on invigorating blood and moving qi. Together they coordinate — strengthening the qi-blood-freeing action while attending to moving qi to help move blood. It fits the light stasis patterns of qi-blood blockage, such as limb soreness-swelling, sluggish periods, and mild injury swelling-pain. Note that this pair requires a practitioner's pattern diagnosis; do not self-combine casually — especially those with a deficiency- or heat-leaning constitution need adjusted doses or other herbs.

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 constituents include volatile oils (such as ligustilide and butylidenephthalide), organic acids (such as ferulic acid and succinic acid), polysaccharides, and flavonoids. In in vitro experiments, some volatile-oil constituents showed a certain regulating action on isolated uterine smooth muscle; in animal experiments, constituents such as ferulic acid were observed to have some influence on the hemorheology indicators of mice. At present, there is no human clinical research on Dang Gui Wei reaching a clear conclusion on efficacy.

2. Current Research Directions

Current pharmacological research on Dang Gui Wei mainly focuses on several directions:

Effects on the blood system — experiments observed that some constituents may have a certain regulating action on blood viscosity, but the specific clinical-application value is not yet clear.
Potential regulation of inflammation — some in vitro experiments show that its extract may have a certain inhibitory tendency on the release of inflammatory factors — but more human research is still needed to verify the actual effect.
Effects on local tissue circulation — animal experiments observed that it may improve local microcirculation, but this has not yet been confirmed in humans.

3. Limitations of Current Research

Lab results are not clinical efficacy — in vitro and animal results cannot be directly equated with the action produced by taking Dang Gui Wei in humans.
Extracts and monomers are not the same as traditional decoction pieces — the constituent concentrations in research differ greatly from the daily slice dose; they cannot be directly converted.
Doses and preparation methods vary between studies — the experimental results differ and a unified conclusion cannot form.
A single component does not define the whole herb — the action of Dang Gui Wei is the joint result of many constituents; a single constituent's experiment cannot represent the whole herb's full value.

Comparing Similar Herbs

1. What They Share

Dang Gui Wei and the similar herb Chuan Xiong share these points:

Both have the blood-harmonizing or blood-invigorating action.
Both can be used for the light discomfort of qi-blood blockage, such as sluggish periods and limb soreness-swelling.
Both may appear in daily qi-blood-regulating formulas or light food therapy.
Both need the use adjusted to constitution and dose — neither should be taken casually long-term.

2. The Key Differences: Dang Gui Wei vs. Chuan Xiong

Nature and flavors: Dang Gui Wei is warm with sweet-pungent-bitter flavors; Chuan Xiong is warm with a pungent flavor. Both are warm, but Dang Gui Wei also carries the bitter flavor — leaning toward harmonizing blood without fierceness; Chuan Xiong has no bitter flavor — leaning toward moving qi and more focused on freeing the qi movement.
Focus: Dang Gui Wei's core is harmonizing blood and moving stagnation — more toward freeing the locally blocked qi and blood, fitting light stasis with a blood-deficiency tendency; Chuan Xiong's core is invigorating blood and moving qi — more toward freeing the whole-body qi movement, fitting the conditions where qi stagnation and blood stasis are equally weighted and pain is more obvious.
Qi tendency: Dang Gui Wei mainly harmonizes blood with a weaker qi-moving force — not over-consuming the qi and blood — its action leans "guarding" while freeing; Chuan Xiong mainly moves qi with a stronger blood-invigorating force — it drives the qi movement — its action leans "moving" while freeing.
Best fit: Dang Gui Wei fits period lower-abdominal heavy distension, dark menses with few clots, and limb heavy-swell with light pain; Chuan Xiong fits period lower-abdominal obvious pain, dark menses with many clots, and limb distension-pain with qi not moving.
Not suitable: Dang Gui Wei is not for pure qi stagnation without stasis or heavy bleeding; Chuan Xiong is not for pure blood deficiency without qi stagnation or blood stasis.
Use scenes: Dang Gui Wei often appears in harmonizing-blood light regulating formulas or food therapy — fitting long-term light use for daily mild discomfort; Chuan Xiong often appears in blood-invigorating, qi-moving pain formulas — fitting short-term clinical use for more obvious pain.

3. One-Sentence Summary

Simply put, Dang Gui Wei leans toward harmonizing blood and moving stagnation with a gentle touch, whereas Chuan Xiong leans toward invigorating blood and moving qi with a focus on freeing. Both can be used for the light discomfort of qi-blood blockage, but they are not interchangeable.

Classical Formulas Containing Dang Gui Wei

Tao Hong Si Wu Tang

桃紅四物湯

Formula CategoryBlood-Invigorating FormulasPrimary PatternBlood StasisPrimary FunctionNourish and invigorate Blood, dispel stasisRelated ConditionsDysmenorrhea·Irregular Menstruation·Abdominal Pain

View Formula Profile Read Complete Guide

Formulas vs. Single Herbs

A formula is a whole in which many herbs act together — each herb's combination has a clear synergistic or checking role. A single herb cannot simply replicate a full formula's effect — its scope and force cannot compare with the formula. The doses and combinations in a formula are holistic: adjusting the dose or kind of any herb may change the whole formula's action. Do not build your own formulas from online articles — the formulas online often lack targeting and are not combined with a specific constitution and pattern. The common misunderstanding: a herb that works inside a formula does not mean taking it alone produces the same effect — a formula's action is achieved by many herbs together, and a single herb cannot reach the same synergy.

Diet & Daily Home Use

1. Home Tea and Porridge

Tea — Dang Gui Wei Hong Zao Cha: Dang Gui Wei 3 g, Hong Zao 2 pieces, Sheng Jiang 1 slice. Wash the Dang Gui Wei and wrap it in gauze, remove the date pits, slice the ginger; put everything in a pot, add some clean water, simmer on low heat 20 minutes, remove the gauze bag, and drink. Suited to the daily limb heavy-swell and mild period lower-abdominal distension of light qi-blood blockage — fitting office workers who sit long and women around their period. Not for pregnant women, those with heavy menses, or those with a heat-leaning constitution prone to fire. Suggested: 1–2 times a week; not for long-term continuous drinking.

2. Decoction and Processing Differences

The raw Dang Gui Wei leans toward harmonizing blood and moving stagnation — fitting daily light regulation; the Jiu Dang Gui Wei (wine-stir-fried) leans toward invigorating blood and freeing the meridians — fitting conditions with more obvious stasis. At home, Dang Gui Wei needs no pre-boiling, late addition, or bag-boiling — decoct it directly with the other ingredients or herbs. Different forms cannot be converted directly — the Dang Gui Wei dose of Chinese-medicine granules differs greatly from the slice dose; they cannot be substituted directly.

3. Dosage and Course

The common dose range in traditional prescriptions is 6–12 g; the daily food-therapy dose should be reduced, generally 3–5 g. The difference between food and medicinal doses: food therapy serves daily regulation with a smaller dose; medicinal use serves treatment with a larger dose. Long-term continuous use is not advised — generally pause after drinking or taking 1–2 weeks; special groups should consult a doctor or pharmacist before use.

Contraindications & Safety Warnings

1. Who Should Avoid It

Specific constitutions or traditional patterns — pure deficiency (pale face and fatigue without stasis), pure heat (obvious mouth sores and dry, bound stool), and the acute stage of bleeding diseases (massive uncontrolled bleeding).
Pregnancy and breastfeeding — use with caution; during pregnancy follow the doctor's orders; during breastfeeding consult a physician.
Children and the elderly — use under a doctor's guidance; do not self-administer.
Liver or kidney impairment — avoid use, to avoid adding burden to the body.
Allergy to Apiaceae (parsley-family) plants — such as celery and carrot — may be allergic to Dang Gui Wei; use with caution.
Those in special treatment — such as anticoagulation therapy or chemotherapy — consult a doctor before use, to avoid drug interactions.

2. Interactions and Diet Notes

Dang Gui Wei may affect anticoagulants such as warfarin — its blood-invigorating action may synergize with anticoagulants and increase bleeding risk; it may affect blood-pressure medications — its warm nature may interact with them and affect blood-pressure control; it may affect blood-sugar medications — blood sugar should be monitored; it may affect sedatives — the dose may need adjustment. There is no sufficient evidence of a general "food clash" between ordinary foods, but certain herbs can interact with specific drugs — anyone on medication should consult a doctor or pharmacist first.

3. Adverse Reactions and Overdose Risk

Overdose of Dang Gui Wei may bring gastrointestinal reactions such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; some people may have dry mouth and "fire" manifestations. If marked discomfort, allergy signs, persistent vomiting, breathing difficulty, altered consciousness, or rapidly worsening symptoms appear, stop at once and seek medical care.

Frequently Asked Questions About Dang Gui Wei

What is Dang Gui Wei? Is it the same as Dang Gui Shen or Dang Gui Tou?

Dang Gui Wei is the dried lateral roots (tails) of Angelica sinensis, Latin name Angelicae Sinensis Radix, a common Chinese herb with breaking blood and expelling stasis, regulating menstruation and relieving pain as its core.Dang Gui Shen nourishes blood, prefers the middle.Dang Gui Tou stops bleeding and ascends. The three cannot be interchanged equally. Prescribe Dang Gui Wei. Caution with heat-type bleeding.

What are the composition and efficacy of Dang Gui Wei?

Pharmacopoeial name Danggui (lateral roots), Latin Angelica sinensis (Oliv.) Diels. Sweet, pungent, warm in nature, enters liver, heart, spleen meridians. Functions to break blood and expel stasis, regulate menstruation and relieve pain, moisten intestines and relieve constipation. Used for irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, postpartum stasis, cold-type abdominal pain, wind-damp bi pain, traumatic injuries, sores, intestinal dryness constipation. Breaks blood and descends.

How to choose between raw and processed? Can Dang Gui Shen replace it?

Slice raw or wine-processed. Dang Gui Shen prefers nourishing blood without strong blood-breaking, cannot replace equally. Commercial products are usually standardized; do not adjust yourself.

What is the dosage of Dang Gui Wei? Can it be drunk daily as a blood-activating tea?

Decoction, 6-12g. Modern use requires physician-determined dosage. Not a year-round “Dang Gui Wei tea.” Heat-type bleeding worsens with more activation. Stasis requires physician-guided short-course dosing; cannot replace evaluation.

What are the contraindications of Dang Gui Wei? Can pregnant women use it?

Heat-type bleeding is unsuitable. Pregnant women require physician evaluation. Caution with damp fullness and loose stools. Stop if diarrhea or abdominal pain occurs. Seek immediate care for heavy bleeding or high fever.

Can Dang Gui Wei break blood, expel stasis, regulate menstruation and relieve pain?

It can assist irregular menstruation, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, traumatic injuries, sores. It breaks blood and expels stasis, regulates menstruation and relieves pain; it is not a specific remedy for all stasis or all dysmenorrhea.

Can Dang Gui Wei be drunk daily as a blood-activating or blood-breaking tea?

Blood stasis can be used short-term in formulas; heat-type bleeding worsens with continued use. The claim “Dang Gui Wei must break blood” cannot replace evaluation. Blood-breaking, regulating menstruation and pain relief should be determined by a physician for form and dosage.

How to choose between Dang Gui Wei, Dang Gui Shen, Dang Gui Tou, Chuan Xiong and Hong Hua?

Dang Gui Wei breaks blood and expels stasis while regulating menstruation and relieving pain, prefers blood stasis descending. Dang Gui Shen nourishes blood, prefers the middle. Dang Gui Tou stops bleeding and ascends. Chuan Xiong moves qi and activates blood, prefers headaches. Hong Hua activates blood and unblocks meridians, prefers stasis. Choose Dang Gui Wei for breaking blood; Dang Gui Shen for nourishing; Dang Gui Tou for stopping bleeding; Chuan Xiong for moving qi; Hong Hua for unblocking. May reference by syndrome, but heat-type bleeding contraindicates large doses of Dang Gui Wei.

How is Dang Gui Wei commonly modified? What are representative uses?

Original formula depends on the syndrome. For amenorrhea add Tao Ren and Hong Hua; for trauma add Ru Xiang and Mo Yao. Must specify Dang Gui Wei; do not substitute equal amounts of Dang Gui Shen for blood-breaking.

How to select and store Dang Gui Wei?

Choose regulated Chinese medicinal materials with intact lateral roots and aromatic odor. Discard if moldy, damp or abnormal odor. Store in a cool, dry place. Purchase labeled “Dang Gui Wei”; do not use equal amounts of Dang Gui Shen or Dang Gui Tou to replace breaking blood and expelling stasis, regulating menstruation and relieving pain.

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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.