Meridian Routes

The meridian routes refer to the meridians that a herb can enter and travel through, which explains why two herbs with identical energy and flavor can still have different actions. In clinical application, herbs are selected that travel through the meridians in the diseased regions. For example, a hot herb can be used to treat a cold disease, and a cold herb can be used to treat a hot disease, which are standard procedures in Chinese herbal therapy. However, two hot herbs may have different actions, with one herb being effective for the cold lungs syndrome while the other is good for the cold liver syndrome. Likewise, one cold herb may be good for the hot spleen syndrome, while another cold herb may be good for the hot lungs syndrome.