Educational information, not medical advice — ask your doctor or midwife.
Qing Pi is the dried peel of the unripe tangerine (Citrus reticulata). The fruit is picked while it is still green.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is used to move "stuck liver qi". Practitioners describe that pattern as tight ribs or chest. It also covers a short temper, sore breasts before a period, and bloating after meals.
Qing Pi is nearly always cooked into a decoction (a water brew). It is simmered with other herbs, not taken on its own.
Chen Pi is the ripe peel of the same fruit. Qing Pi is seen as stronger and more "driving".
No human trials have tested Qing Pi on its own. So its name rests on long traditional use, not on clinical proof.
Long use and proven effect are two different things. That point applies to everything on this page.
No one has shown how Qing Pi works in people.
In TCM theory it is said to "break up" stuck qi in the liver and stomach channels. It is also said to disperse hard lumps. That is a traditional model, not a picture of body chemistry.
Lab work on citrus peel offers a few leads. Some flavonoids (plant pigments) in the peel relax gut muscle in tissue baths. They also lower markers of inflammation (swelling) in cells.
We do not know if any of that happens at the dose you drink in a brew.
You will most often meet Qing Pi in one of these forms.
Dried sliced peel, simmered into a brew with other herbs. This is the standard form.
Vinegar-fried peel (cu qing pi). Practitioners use this when the aim is liver-linked tension or pain.
Granules or a powdered extract, stirred into hot water. Modern dispensaries often use these.
Ready-made pills and tablets that hold it as one part. Single-herb capsules exist, but they are not common.
Qing Pi joined Chinese herbal practice around the Song dynasty. That is roughly the 11th to 13th century. It came later than Chen Pi, the ripe peel.
Classic texts group it with herbs that "regulate qi". They pair it with Chai Hu for rib-side pain. They also pair it with Shan Zha for food that sits heavily.
It has stayed in steady use in Chinese herbal practice ever since. It is listed in the modern Chinese Pharmacopoeia.
Qing Pi belongs to one tradition only. It has no such standing in Ayurveda or in European herbal medicine.
See a doctor if your heart races or pounds, if you feel faint, or if you get chest pain or breathlessness while taking it. Stop the herb first.
Get medical advice, rather than reaching for a herb, if you have belly pain that is severe or getting worse, blood in your stool or vomit, unexplained weight loss, a new breast lump or skin change, or bloating that has lasted more than a few weeks.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist you are taking Qing Pi if you are on any prescription medicine, especially for blood pressure, heart rhythm, blood clotting or depression.
Evidence grades and traditional-use labels are explained in our methodology. Nothing here is medical advice.
What it is typically used for, usual dose, cautions, and the study behind it where real trial data exists.
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