From the YINA Materia Medica — a living library of the plants we formulate with, read in two languages at once: the classical and the molecular.
THE ENTRY
Chinese — 甘草 (gān cǎo), "sweet grass" Also known as — 国老 guó lǎo ("the venerable elder"), 粉草 fěn cǎo
Botanical — Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. (also G. glabra, G. inflata), Fabaceae Pharmacopoeial — Glycyrrhizae Radix / Radix Glycyrrhizae
Category — 补气药, herbs that tonify qi
Nature — neutral
Flavor — sweet
Channels — Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach — and, by reputation, all twelve
Actions — tonifies Spleen qi · clears heat and resolves toxicity · moistens the Lung · relieves spasm and pain · harmonizes the other herbs in a formula
Common names — licorice root, sweetroot
Part used — dried root and rhizome, lifted in autumn
FIELD NOTES
Every great formula needs a diplomat. In Chinese medicine, that role belongs to licorice.
Glycyrrhiza is a modest-looking legume — a sprawling shrub with feathery leaves and pale violet flowers, sending down a deep, fibrous root that runs sweet all the way through. That sweetness is not incidental. Break the root and taste it, and the flavor arrives immediately: frankly, almost startlingly sweet, with a soft, rounding warmth that seems to smooth whatever it touches. In a tradition where flavor is a map to function, sweetness is the taste of things that harmonize, nourish, and slow a system down.
This is the quiet power of licorice. Where other herbs are specialists — one moves qi, another drains heat, another anchors the spirit — licorice is the one that makes them work together. It softens the harsh, tempers the extreme, and carries the whole formula further into the body. It is, almost literally, the peacemaker of the apothecary.
THE CLASSICAL RECORD
Licorice enters the written tradition among the very first herbs recorded. It appears in the Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica, c. 200 CE), placed among the superior, top-grade tonics — the herbs gentle enough to take over a lifetime.
Its most enduring title, though, came from the physician Tao Hongjing (c. 500 CE), who called it 国老 — the venerable elder, the respected statesman who reconciles opposing parties and brings a fractious court into agreement. Li Shizhen echoed the sentiment a thousand years later in the Bencao Gangmu (1596), describing an herb that mediates, detoxifies, and harmonizes above all else. From this reputation comes one of the most quoted lines in Chinese herbalism:
十方九草
In ten formulas, nine contain licorice.
The pattern licorice governs is less a single complaint than a quality of imbalance — a formula, or a body, running too hot, too harsh, or too scattered. It tonifies a weary Spleen, calms spasm and cramping, soothes a raw and inflamed throat, and famously clears heat and resolves toxicity. And it is precisely there — in that idea of cooling heat and drawing out what irritates — that licorice steps off the page and onto the skin. In TCM dermatology, heat and toxicity are the roots of redness, of angry breakouts, of the flush that will not settle. Licorice was always the herb reached for to quiet them.
THE PHYTOCHEMISTRY
Licorice's reputation as a soother is unusually well matched by its chemistry. Its signature compound is glycyrrhizin, the molecule responsible for that intense sweetness — many times sweeter than sugar — and for much of the root's traditional anti-inflammatory and detoxifying use. But for the skin, three lesser-known compounds do the most celebrated work, each backed by clinical study.
Glabridin — the calmer and the brightener. Glabridin is both a strong anti-inflammatory and a potent antioxidant, shielding skin from the oxidative stress of pollution and UV light that drives premature aging. It also interrupts tyrosinase, the enzyme that manufactures melanin — which makes it a gentle ally against dark spots and uneven tone.
Liquiritin — the pigment disperser. Where glabridin slows melanin's production, liquiritin helps break up and disperse the pigment already deposited in the skin. A study in Phytotherapy Research (2013) found a topical licorice preparation meaningfully reduced melasma and UV-induced pigmentation against a placebo — a non-irritating alternative to harsher brighteners like hydroquinone.
Licochalcone A — the redness soother. A standout anti-inflammatory, licochalcone A was shown in a trial published in the Journal of Dermatological Treatment (2008) to significantly reduce redness and inflammation in mild-to-moderate eczema. It also carries antimicrobial activity that helps keep acne-causing bacteria in check — a natural fit for reactive, breakout-prone skin.
A note that pleases the molecular reader: these actives are not evenly distributed. Glabridin runs highest in G. glabra, while licochalcone A is characteristic of G. inflata — a reminder that with licorice, species and preparation quietly decide which of its gifts you receive.
AS AN INGESTIBLE
True to its title, licorice rarely takes center stage. It works as the harmonizer within a formula — the elder in the room — softening strong herbs, guiding them to the right channels, and easing the digestive upset that potent prescriptions can cause. This is why it appears in more classical formulas than almost any other herb.
Its form matters. Used raw, licorice leans toward clearing heat and resolving toxicity; honey-fried (炙甘草, zhì gān cǎo), it turns warmer and more nourishing, better suited to tonifying Spleen qi and settling the heart — the star of the classic formula Zhi Gan Cao Tang, long used for palpitations and an irregular pulse.
A word of real caution. Licorice is gentle in small, formulated amounts, but glycyrrhizin taken in large doses or over long stretches can raise blood pressure, prompt water retention, and lower potassium. It is best approached carefully during pregnancy, with hypertension, or alongside certain medications — and, like all herbs, used under the guidance of a licensed practitioner rather than by the handful.
AS A TOPICAL
If licorice's internal role is to harmonize, its topical role is to soothe and to brighten — and here the modern evidence is genuinely strong. Its actives are well suited to reactive, sensitive, and uneven skin: the anti-inflammatory glabridin and licochalcone A calm the redness behind rosacea, eczema, and post-procedure irritation, while glabridin and liquiritin together address hyperpigmentation from two directions — slowing melanin's creation and dispersing what has already formed.
What makes licorice especially valuable is its temperament. It is one of the few brightening and calming actives gentle enough for nearly every skin type, including the most inflammation-prone, and mild enough to use daily. It pairs beautifully with antioxidants like vitamin C, deepening the brightening and protective effect without the sting that harsher agents can bring.
The honest framing is this: licorice is not a dramatic, resurfacing active. It is a patient one — a soother and an evener, quietly protective, that rewards consistent use with calmer, clearer, more luminous skin. Exactly the temperament of the elder it was named for.
養生 · THE SEASONAL RITUAL
The practice. When the day has left you frayed — overheated, irritable, running hot in body or mind — make a small cup of licorice tea. Simmer a few slices of dried root in water for ten minutes, until the liquid turns golden and unmistakably sweet. Hold the warm cup a moment before you drink. Let the first sip land, and notice the sweetness doing what it does best: rounding the sharp edges, settling what was unsettled.
This is yang sheng — nourishing life through small, harmonizing acts. Not every tonic is meant to push or stimulate. Some, like licorice, simply bring things back into agreement: the body with itself, the day with its close. A few quiet minutes of that is a kind of medicine too.
SELECTED SOURCES
Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica, c. 200 CE) · Tao Hongjing, Ming Yi Bie Lu (c. 500 CE) · Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu (1596) · Bensky, Clavey & Stöger, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed. · Study on licochalcone A and inflammation in mild-to-moderate eczema, Journal of Dermatological Treatment (2008) · Study on topical licorice extract for melasma and UV-induced pigmentation, Phytotherapy Research (2013) · Research on glabridin, tyrosinase inhibition, and antioxidant activity · Research on the antimicrobial activity of licorice extracts, Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.
This entry is offered for education. It is not medical advice and it is not a diagnosis. Please patch test new products, and consult a licensed practitioner of Chinese medicine or a dermatologist before beginning any new herb or treatment, especially with a pre-existing condition.
