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Rootworth

Classical Chinese herbal medicine · Care from anywhere

Read the living pattern. Not the dead lab.

A written tradition two thousand years deep, practiced as a precise modern instrument. We read how your whole system moves, then compose one custom herbal formula for that pattern.

Begin an intake Explore the Five Phases
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I · Today, in the classics

The season in the classics

The Huangdi Neijing reads a year as five movements, not four. Here is where today falls, read from your own calendar. Nothing about you leaves this page.

The solar year, Jan at the top. Each tick is one of the 24 solar terms (節氣). The thin arcs are Earth's eighteen-day interludes.

Today

秋分 qiū fēn · Autumn Equinox

Metal

Autumn

Organ network
Lung · Large Intestine 肺 · 大腸
Flavor
Pungent 辛
Climate
Dryness 燥
Direction
West 西

秋三月，此謂容平。天氣以急，地氣以明。

The three months of autumn are called Gathering and Leveling. The qi of heaven turns brisk; the qi of earth turns clear.

— Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 2

Modern read. Autumn turns the year inward. The classics pair it with the lungs, with letting go, and with gathering in. Shorter evenings, earlier nights, finishing what summer started.

The text's own practice 早臥早起，與雞俱興 Lie down early, rise early, get up with the rooster.

This is general education, not medical advice. Solar-term dates are approximate to a day.

II · 五行 · wǔ xíng

The Five Phases, in motion

Five movements that feed and restrain one another. A lab value is a single still frame; the phases describe the whole film. Choose a phase to see what it feeds, what it holds in check, and what holds it.

Generating: each phase feeds the nextRestraining: each phase holds another in check

Keyboard: Tab to the phases, then use the arrow keys.

Wood mù

Growth and extension: the push of a green shoot through cold soil.

Season
Spring 春
Organ pair
Liver 肝 · Gallbladder 膽
Flavor
Sour 酸
Climate
Wind 風
Emotion, as the classics name it
Anger 怒
From the materia medica
White peony root, Bái Sháo 白芍: sour and bitter, classically linked to the Liver.

Fed by WaterFeeds FireRestrains EarthRestrained by Metal

Fire huǒ

Expression at full height: warmth, light, connection.

Season
Summer 夏
Organ pair
Heart 心 · Small Intestine 小腸
Flavor
Bitter 苦
Climate
Heat 熱
Emotion, as the classics name it
Joy 喜
From the materia medica
Coptis rhizome, Huáng Lián 黃連: intensely bitter and cold, classically linked to the Heart.

Fed by WoodFeeds EarthRestrains MetalRestrained by Water

Earth tǔ

The center and the pivot: what receives, ripens and steadies.

Season
Late summer 長夏, and the turn between every season
Organ pair
Spleen 脾 · Stomach 胃
Flavor
Sweet 甘
Climate
Dampness 濕
Emotion, as the classics name it
Pensiveness 思
From the materia medica
Licorice root, Gān Cǎo 甘草: sweet and neutral, classically the harmonizer of a formula.

Fed by FireFeeds MetalRestrains WaterRestrained by Wood

Metal jīn

Gathering in and letting go: the clarity of an autumn morning.

Season
Autumn 秋
Organ pair
Lung 肺 · Large Intestine 大腸
Flavor
Pungent 辛
Climate
Dryness 燥
Emotion, as the classics name it
Sorrow 憂
From the materia medica
Fresh ginger, Shēng Jiāng 生薑: pungent and slightly warm, classically linked to the Lung.

Fed by EarthFeeds WaterRestrains WoodRestrained by Fire

Water shuǐ

Depth and storage: the reserve beneath everything else.

Season
Winter 冬
Organ pair
Kidney 腎 · Bladder 膀胱
Flavor
Salty 鹹
Climate
Cold 寒
Emotion, as the classics name it
Fear 恐
From the materia medica
Oyster shell, Mǔ Lì 牡蠣: salty and slightly cold, classically linked to the Kidney.

Fed by MetalFeeds WoodRestrains FireRestrained by Earth

Correspondences as listed in Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 5. General education, not medical advice.

III · Ancient text, modern read

The classics, read slowly

Five short lines from public-domain classics, each paired with what it asks of a person living now.

  1. 01

    治病必求於本

    “In addressing illness, always seek the root.”

    Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 5

    A symptom is where a pattern surfaces, rarely where it begins. The classical method follows it back down. That is all we mean when we say real medicine has roots.

  2. 02

    食飲有節，起居有常

    “They ate and drank with measure, and rose and rested at regular hours.”

    Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 1

    The very first chapter of the oldest classic of Chinese medicine is about rhythm. Food, sleep, work and rest are the levers that stay in your own hands every single day.

  3. 03

    渴而穿井，鬥而鑄錐

    “To dig a well once already thirsty; to forge a weapon once the fight has begun.”

    Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 2

    The classics prized attention before crisis. Noticing early, in your sleep, your appetite, your energy, is the most ordinary form of self-care there is.

  4. 04

    觀其脈證，知犯何逆，隨證治之

    “Observe the pulse and the signs, know what has gone awry, and respond according to the pattern.”

    Shang Han Lun, line 16

    Eighteen centuries before “personalized” became a marketing word, the method was already individual: read this person, as they are now, and compose for what you find.

  5. 05

    心者，君主之官也，神明出焉

    “The heart holds the office of sovereign; clarity of spirit issues from it.”

    Huangdi Neijing · Su Wen, ch. 8

    In this medicine the heart is the seat of awareness, more than a pump. The heart has a voice. Use it.

IV · Health freedom

Take your medicine back.

Health freedom, as we practice it, is literacy: knowing your own pattern, knowing your plants, and walking into every conversation about your health with better questions. It challenges dependence as a cultural habit. It is never a reason to step away from the care you already have.

Keep your care team in the room. Tell them about every herb and supplement you take, and never start, stop or change a medication without them. Informed choice is made together.

A Questions worth bringing to your care team

Choose what is on your mind. We will assemble a short list of plain questions to bring to your next visit.

  1. I take, or am considering, herbs or supplements. Can we review them together against my current medications?
  2. Is there anything in my history or recent results that means I should avoid particular herbs?
  3. What would being well look like for me a year from now, and how will we measure it?
  4. What can I do on my own, day to day, that supports this plan?

B Know your own pattern

Seven prompts in the spirit of the classical questions. This is a private journal, not a test: it reads nothing, scores nothing and sends nothing.

Not saving. Your notes disappear when you leave.

If you begin an intake, observations like these are exactly the detail worth sharing.

C Plant literacy, in four short lessons

五味The five flavors

辛散，酸收，甘緩，苦堅，鹹耎

“Pungent disperses, sour gathers, sweet moderates, bitter firms, salty softens.” Su Wen, ch. 22

In the classical materia medica, flavor is a verb as well as a taste. Each one describes a direction of action, which is why a formula is built like a sentence.

四氣The four natures

寒 · 涼 · 溫 · 熱 · 平

Cold, cool, warm, hot, and neutral. Every herb carries a temperature, read from its effect on the body rather than a thermometer. Ginger is warm; chrysanthemum is cool; licorice is neutral.

升降浮沉Rising, falling, floating, sinking

Herbs are also read by direction. Light flowers and leaves tend to float upward and outward; heavy minerals and shells tend to sink and settle. Direction is how a formula is aimed.

君臣佐使Chief, deputy, assistant, envoy

A classical formula is organized like a court. The chief leads; the deputy reinforces it; assistants support, temper or balance; the envoy harmonizes and guides the whole. See it at work in the herb explorer below.

This is general education, not medical advice. Nothing on this page is a substitute for care from your own licensed providers.

V · 本草 · the materia medica

Twelve herbs, read classically

Common, long-taught herbs, described the way the classical materia medica describes them: by nature, flavor, the channels they enter and their character. Turn a card to read it. Then show a formula to watch the herbs take their places.

Formula logic

  • 人參

    Rén Shēn

    Ginseng root

    Ginseng Radix

    Nature
    Slightly warm
    Flavor
    Sweet, slightly bitter
    Channels
    Spleen, Lung

    Substantial and sweet; the classic leader of formulas that build the center.

  • 白朮

    Bái Zhú

    White atractylodes

    Atractylodis macrocephalae Rhizoma

    Nature
    Warm
    Flavor
    Bitter, sweet
    Channels
    Spleen, Stomach

    Drying and warming; classically a companion of the center and its digestion.

  • 茯苓

    Fú Líng

    Poria

    Poria

    Nature
    Neutral
    Flavor
    Sweet, bland
    Channels
    Heart, Spleen, Kidney

    A fungus that grows on the roots of pines; bland and gentle, classically said to drain dampness.

  • 甘草

    Gān Cǎo

    Licorice root

    Glycyrrhizae Radix

    Nature
    Neutral
    Flavor
    Sweet
    Channels
    Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach

    The great harmonizer, found in a large share of the Shang Han Lun's formulas.

  • 桂枝

    Guì Zhī

    Cinnamon twig

    Cinnamomi Ramulus

    Nature
    Warm
    Flavor
    Pungent, sweet
    Channels
    Heart, Lung, Bladder

    Aromatic and outward-moving; the namesake of the first formula in the Shang Han Lun.

  • 白芍

    Bái Sháo

    White peony root

    Paeoniae Radix alba

    Nature
    Slightly cold
    Flavor
    Bitter, sour
    Channels
    Liver, Spleen

    Sour and gathering; the inward counterweight to cinnamon's outward reach.

  • 生薑

    Shēng Jiāng

    Fresh ginger

    Zingiberis Rhizoma recens

    Nature
    Slightly warm
    Flavor
    Pungent
    Channels
    Lung, Spleen, Stomach

    Kitchen-familiar and dispersing; in classical formulas, often paired with jujube.

  • 大棗

    Dà Zǎo

    Jujube

    Jujubae Fructus

    Nature
    Warm
    Flavor
    Sweet
    Channels
    Spleen, Stomach

    Sweet and food-like; classically protective of the center within a formula.

  • 當歸

    Dāng Guī

    Chinese angelica root

    Angelicae sinensis Radix

    Nature
    Warm
    Flavor
    Sweet, pungent
    Channels
    Heart, Liver, Spleen

    Fragrant and moving; a cornerstone of the classical formulas that nourish the blood.

  • 黃芪

    Huáng Qí

    Astragalus root

    Astragali Radix

    Nature
    Slightly warm
    Flavor
    Sweet
    Channels
    Spleen, Lung

    Sweet and rising; classically read as lifting and supporting from within.

  • 陳皮

    Chén Pí

    Aged tangerine peel

    Citri reticulatae Pericarpium

    Nature
    Warm
    Flavor
    Pungent, bitter
    Channels
    Lung, Spleen

    Valued more the longer it ages; aromatic, it keeps a formula moving.

  • 菊花

    Jú Huā

    Chrysanthemum flower

    Chrysanthemi Flos

    Nature
    Slightly cold
    Flavor
    Sweet, bitter
    Channels
    Lung, Liver

    Light, cooling and upward-floating; also a daily tea across East Asia.

A reading lesson, not a shopping list. In practice, herbs are composed into a formula for one person's pattern after an intake, and some herbs interact with medications. Tell your care team what you take.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This is general education, not medical advice.

VI · How it works

Three movements, from anywhere.

Classical herbal medicine, delivered remotely. No exam room, no appointment: the questionnaire is the entry point.

  1. 01

    Intake

    You tell the whole story: sleep, digestion, temperature, cycle, history, the texture of an ordinary day. Nothing is reduced to a single number.

  2. 02

    Pattern read

    Your answers are read through the Five Phases and the Eight Principles. You receive a written map of your pattern: where it sits, and how it moves.

  3. 03

    Formula by mail

    A custom classical formula is composed for that pattern and sent to your door. As your pattern shifts, the formula is re-read and adjusted with it.

The practitioner

Michael Woodworth, M.S., L.Ac.

Licensed acupuncturist and herbalist · Diplomate of the ICEAM · In private practice since 2005

About the practitioner

Rootworth's work is classical herbal medicine and select functional-medicine supplements, read through classical elemental patterning. It does not include acupuncture.

Herbal formulas and supplements are dietary supplements. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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