Maybe you've heard that Chinese medicine has herbal formulas for each body type, and you'd like to see what they actually say. Here they are: the herbal section of a Chinese care guideline written for each of the nine body types, translated into English so you can read it for yourself. It's not advice, it's not a prescription, and it's not tied to anyone's assessment result.
Taking an herb is a different step from reading about it. Whether to use Chinese herbs at all, and which one, is for a licensed practitioner to decide after seeing you in person.
Before you read any of it
The guideline was written in China, for use there. Here are 7 things worth knowing before you read it here in the US. The first is a change we made; the rest are ways the text lands differently in this country. None of this is legal advice, and none of it is a judgment on whether the herbs work. It's what you'd otherwise have to go and dig up yourself.
The guideline lists xi xin (asarum); this page doesn't. The US Food and Drug Administration's Import Alert 54-10 names asarum as a source of aristolochic acid and authorizes detention without physical examination: imported products containing it can be held without being inspected first. That's the only change we made to the text.
The formula named for allergic asthma under the inherited-special type is built on ma huang (ephedra). Under 21 CFR 119.1, a dietary supplement containing ephedrine alkaloids is adulterated. The FDA said plainly, in the 2004 rule itself, that the rule "does not affect the use of Ephedra preparations in traditional Asian medicine." So this isn't a ban on the formula. It's a line drawn around products sold as supplements. Imported goods labeled as supplements that contain ephedra are subject to Import Alert 54-13.
It's listed under qi deficiency, among the "substances of flesh and blood." China's own Pharmacopoeia, its official book of drug standards, stopped listing it in the 2020 edition. In the United States, the FDA doesn't consider human placenta extract a lawful dietary ingredient.
Rhubarb root appears under phlegm-dampness, for constipation. In 21 CFR 310.545, the FDA placed Chinese rhubarb among the stimulant laxatives for which the evidence of safety and effectiveness isn't established, for over-the-counter drug use.
In the 1990s it was sold with guan mu tong, a plant that contains aristolochic acid, and it was linked to kidney injury. China withdrew the drug standard for guan mu tong in 2003, and the current formula uses mu tong from the Akebia family instead. Two things still hold. The FDA's own list of genera to watch for aristolochic-acid substitution includes Akebia. And products sold under this name still vary by manufacturer. So don't take "current standard" to mean "whatever's on the shelf."
Zuo Gui Wan contains turtle-shell gelatin. CITES is the international agreement on trade in endangered species. The turtle it comes from is listed on CITES Appendix III, so bringing it into the United States requires a wildlife declaration. Deer antler velvet and donkey-hide gelatin are animal products whose import is handled by USDA APHIS, the Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Deer antler velvet also contains IGF-1, which is on the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list.
It's listed under yang deficiency. We found no FDA rule naming it, so please don't read this as "banned in the United States." That wouldn't be true. Still, aconitine is a genuine heart poison when the material isn't properly processed or the dose is wrong. That's one concrete reason the guideline's own text says to use acrid, hot and toxic substances with caution.
Here's a careful way to go about it. Whether you use herbs at all, and which one, is decided by a licensed practitioner who sees you in person.
Start with a licensed practitioner. Check with your state's licensing board: whether the person holds a license, and what it covers. One more thing you can check: whether they're certified by NCBAHM (formerly NCCAOM), the National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine, in Chinese herbology or in acupuncture and herbal medicine. Certification in acupuncture alone isn't enough for herbs. If your state doesn't license this kind of practice, go by the certification. A good practitioner sees you in person before suggesting anything, and may decide herbs aren't right for you at all.
Bring a list of everything you take. Prescription medicines, over-the-counter ones, vitamins, supplements, other herbs. Write it down before the visit so nothing gets left out. Herbs can interact with other medicines, and this list is how the practitioner can check.
Tell your regular doctor. Let them know you're thinking about Chinese herbs, before you start.
Ask where it comes from. If a formula is suggested, ask who made it, where it was made, and exactly what's in it. As the Long Dan Xie Gan Tang note above shows, products sold under one name can differ from one maker to the next.
Keep a short note each evening. Start two or three days before you begin, so you know what an ordinary day looks like for you. Then each evening, score three things from 1 to 5:
It takes half a minute. The point is to catch anything new early. If you score a 1 or 2 on the first line, contact the practitioner that same day; don't wait for your next visit. Bring the notes to your follow-up visits, so the practitioner can see what's changed.
Know when to stop. Stop right away and get medical care if you have an allergic reaction, feel clearly unwell, or your symptoms get worse. If you have trouble breathing, or your face, lips or throat swell, call 911. Then tell the practitioner and your doctor.
Here is the guideline's herbal section for each type, translated from the Chinese. It's the full text except for the one herb we took out, described above. The pinyin in parentheses is ours, added so you can look the herbs up.
A balanced constitution does not generally call for herbal regulation.
Herbs commonly used include codonopsis (dang shen), astragalus (huang qi), Chinese yam (shan yao), white atractylodes (bai zhu), poria (fu ling), liquorice (gan cao) and jujube (da zao). Dodder seed (tu si zi), schisandra (wu wei zi) and goji berry (gou qi zi) may be added as appropriate to benefit the kidney and replenish essence. Substances of flesh and blood — placenta (zi he che), donkey-hide gelatin (e jiao), deer antler velvet (lu rong) — may then be brought in to nourish the body's substance, supplementing flavour and qi together. Recommended formulas: Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang (class II recommendation, grade C evidence) and Yu Ping Feng San (class II recommendation, grade C evidence). Key points: ① keep the dose in hand and do not supplement drastically; ② support qi tonification with qi regulation; ③ when tonifying qi, guard against repletion hidden within depletion.
Herbs commonly used include cinnamon twig (gui zhi), cinnamon bark (rou gui), aconite (fu zi), dodder seed (tu si zi), morinda root (ba ji tian), eucommia bark (du zhong) and dried ginger (gan jiang). Recommended formula: Gui Fu Di Huang Wan (class I recommendation, grade A evidence). Key points: ① warm the yang with yin-nourishing support; ② warm the yang while looking after the spleen and stomach; ③ use acrid, hot and toxic substances with caution.
Herbs commonly used include prepared rehmannia (shu di huang), cornelian cherry (shan zhu yu), lily bulb (bai he), mulberry fruit (sang shen zi) and glossy privet fruit (nü zhen zi). Recommended formulas: Liu Wei Di Huang Wan and Zuo Gui Wan. Key points: ① nourish yin and clear heat together; ② tonifying and nourishing the blood itself generates fluids, so combine with formulas that replenish essence and nourish blood; ③ nourish yin while regulating qi and strengthening the spleen.
Herbs commonly used include tangerine peel (chen pi), raw astragalus (sheng huang qi), cinnamon bark (rou gui), prepared atractylodes (zhi cang zhu), winter melon peel (dong gua pi), dried lotus leaf (gan he ye), poria (fu ling), raw hawthorn (sheng shan zha), kelp (kun bu), sargassum (hai zao), turmeric (jiang huang) and raw cattail pollen (sheng pu huang). Where qi deficiency is also present, use raw astragalus generously and add stir-fried white atractylodes (chao bai zhu). For abdominal distension, add stir-fried radish seed (chao lai fu zi), chicken gizzard lining (ji nei jin) and cardamom (sha ren). For constipation, add rhubarb (da huang), stir-fried radish seed, stir-fried white mustard seed (chao bai jie zi) and perilla seed (su zi) as appropriate. Recommended formula: Shen Ling Bai Zhu San (class II recommendation, grade C evidence). Key points: ① combine with warming transformation to open the yang; ② look closely for phlegm and stasis occurring together; ③ use sweet, moistening substances sparingly.
Herbs commonly used include scutellaria (huang qin), coptis (huang lian), phellodendron bark (huang bai), coix seed (yi yi ren), white cardamom (bai kou ren), gardenia (zhi zi), sophora root (ku shen) and capillaris (yin chen hao). Recommended formulas: Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San and Long Dan Xie Gan Tang. Key points: ① disperse and transform damp so as to scatter heat; ② free and drain damp so as to discharge heat; ③ use acrid, warm, fire-aiding substances with caution.
Herbs commonly used include peach kernel (tao ren), safflower (hong hua), salvia (dan shen), red peony (chi shao), Chinese angelica (dang gui), chuanxiong rhizome (chuan xiong), raw hawthorn (sheng shan zha), rose bud (mei gui hua), madder root (qian cao) and cattail pollen (pu huang). Recommended formula: Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang. Key points: ① nourish yin in order to move the blood; ② regulate qi in order to transform stasis; ③ in women, guard against stirring the blood — use with caution or avoid altogether during menstruation, with heavy periods, and in pregnancy; ④ warm the yang to transform stasis.
Herbs commonly used include bupleurum (chai hu), tangerine peel (chen pi), chuanxiong rhizome (chuan xiong), cyperus (xiang fu), bitter orange (zhi qiao), white peony (bai shao), liquorice (gan cao), Chinese angelica (dang gui) and mint (bo he). Qi stagnation often comes together with stagnation of blood, phlegm, fire, damp or food, but qi stagnation leads; in practice qi-moving herbs such as cyperus, bupleurum and bitter orange remain the mainstay. For blood stagnation add chuanxiong, salvia and peach kernel; for phlegm stagnation add atractylodes (cang zhu), pinellia (ban xia) and bamboo shavings (zhu ru); for fire stagnation add gardenia and forsythia (lian qiao); for damp stagnation add atractylodes and magnolia bark (hou po); for food stagnation add medicated leaven (shen qu) and hawthorn. Recommended formulas: Xiao Yao San (class I recommendation, grade A evidence) and Yue Ju Wan (class I recommendation, grade A evidence). Key points: ① keep the prescribing measured: regulating qi should not be too drying, lest it injure yin; nourishing yin should not be too cloying, lest it clog; the herbs should not be drastic, lest they injure the upright qi. ② Make use of one emotion to overcome another.
Herbs commonly used include mume fruit (wu mei), cicada moulting (chan tui), astragalus (huang qi), lily bulb (bai he) and scutellaria (huang qin). People with an allergic constitution present differently from one another, so in practice the adjustment follows the particular condition. Where there is a clear runny nose, itchy eyes and a blocked nose, the focus is on clearing the lung and dispersing wind, adding magnolia flower (xin yi), xanthium fruit (cang er zi) and centipeda (e bu shi cao) as appropriate. For hives or eczema, add madder root (qian cao), gromwell (zi cao), raw liquorice (sheng gan cao), lycium bark (di gu pi), winter melon peel (dong gua pi) and dictamnus bark (bai xian pi). For allergic asthma, combine with a modified Ma Xing Shi Gan Tang. Recommended formula: Yu Ping Feng San (class II recommendation, grade C evidence). Key points: ① attend to daily upkeep: follow the turn of the seasons and adapt to cold and warmth. ② Strengthen care: as far as possible avoid contact with sensitising substances such as dust mites, pollen, paint and animal fur. Watch the diet and avoid fishy, ‘wind-stirring’ foods.
You may well see yourself in two or three types; that's normal. The assessment asks 26 questions, takes about three minutes, scores all nine types, and tells you which one stands out, or that none does. It uses the questions and scoring lines of China's national standard, translated into English. It's a self-check to help you get to know your body. It isn't a diagnosis, and it can't replace a practitioner who sees you in person.
Take the 26-question assessment
Knowing your type still can't tell you whether any of the text above fits you. Only a licensed practitioner who examines you can judge that.
The nine body types come from Wang Qi, a professor at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine. He and his colleagues first sorted people into seven types in the late 1970s, kept refining the idea for more than twenty years, and published the nine-type system in 2005.
It didn't stay an idea on paper. China brought body-type checks into its basic public health service, which offers residents aged 65 and over a check once a year, along with everyday advice for their type. In community clinics the check has been used more than 570 million times, and it's offered in the preventive care departments of over 1,700 Chinese medicine hospitals.
As it spread, clinics weren't all doing it the same way, and the quality varied. So China made it a national standard, giving every clinic one agreed method to follow. It was drawn up by a team of 37 from 20 hospitals, universities and other institutions, with Wang Qi first among them, and came into force in April 2026. The assessment on this site uses that standard's questions and scoring lines, translated into English. The everyday advice for each type comes from a care guideline for adults built on the same nine types.
It's a way of understanding your body's everyday tendencies, not a medical test, and it sits alongside your doctor, not instead of one.
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