1 oz. Dong Quai Root Powder (Angelica sinensis) The Chinese phrase "dong quai" literally means "state of return." There is a Chinese folk tale too old to be ascribed to any one author that states that an angel appeared to a monk in a dream and told him to use dong quai to cure the plague that was ravaging the country at the time by making it into a tea. For over two thousand years, since the writing of the Divine Husbandman's Classic of the Materia Medica, Chinese herbal medicine has used dong quai to help women return to their natural hormonal and emotional states after the accumulation of toxins and emotional injuries in the energy organ known as the "liver." It is thought to strengthen the immune system by increasing the production of white blood cells, assisting the liver in riding the body of toxins. Dong quai is a plant in the same family as celery, parsley, and carrots. Its long, large, most, oily and fragrant root has a yellow-brown bark and a yellow-white cross section. Greenish roots should not be used.