Wu Shao She
StarZaocys dhumnades (Cantor)
Traditionally used for
- Nerves & recovery
- Pain & joints
- Skin
Cautions & contraindications
- Allergy risk
☯ TCM Properties
Dispels Wind-Dampness; Unblocks the Channels and Collaterals; Extinguishes Wind and Stops Spasms; Dispels Wind and Stops Itching
Traditional Chinese Uses
Wu Shao She (zaocys black-striped snake, black rat snake) is a warm substance used in Chinese medicine to expel Wind and damp from deep within the channels, sinew, and bone. It is applied for severe bi syndrome with joint pain, stiffness, and numbness; for facial paralysis and tremors from Wind in the channels; and for stubborn skin conditions including chronic non-healing lesions and scaly skin disorders. Its penetrating ability to reach deep levels of the body makes it more effective than many plant-based Wind-expelling herbs for difficult, chronic conditions.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Wu Shao She is the dried body of the Chinese rat snake, Zaocys dhumnades (Colubridae), a large non-venomous colubrid native to eastern and southern China, Taiwan, and Vietnam. The snake reaches 1.5-2.5 m in length, with adults uniformly olive-green to brownish dorsally, fading to yellow on the flanks, and a creamy ventral surface. After capture, the snake is gutted, coiled, and dried whole; the head and skin may be retained or removed depending on regional preparation. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wu Shao She is sweet and neutral, entering the Liver channel, used to expel wind, unblock the channels, and relieve spasms — particularly in rheumatic painful obstruction and chronic skin disorders. (Sources: Wikipedia; Chinese Materia Medica)
Active Constituents
Total amino acids of the dried snake body
Amino acids (protein hydrolysate)Concentration: Total amino acid content 277.13 to 515.05 mg/g across three medicinal snakes (Bungarus parvus, Agkistrodon and Zaocys) determined by pre-column 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate derivatisation HPLC; Zaocys had the highest content of non-essential, semi-essential and so-called medicinal amino acids of the three
The drug is essentially a dried protein matrix, and amino acid profiling is the only quantitative compositional analysis published for it. The four most abundant amino acids in all three medicinal snakes were glutamic acid, glycine, aspartic acid and lysine. Glycine, tyrosine, glutamic acid and serine were the amino acids that best discriminated the three species by orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis, which is a quality-control finding rather than a pharmacological one.
Essential amino acids
Amino acidsConcentration: 74.56 to 203.94 mg/g across the three medicinal snakes; Agkistrodon rather than Zaocys had the highest essential amino acid content
Recorded because it is measured, not because an effect has been demonstrated. No specific pharmacological activity has been attributed to the essential amino acid fraction of this drug.
Glycine
Amino acidConcentration: One of the four most abundant amino acids in Zaocys, and one of the four amino acids that statistically discriminate Zaocys from Agkistrodon and Bungarus parvus
Consistent with a collagen-rich animal tissue. The authors suggest the between-species differences in glycine, tyrosine, glutamic acid and serine may relate to the different clinical applications of the three snake drugs, but they explicitly frame this as a hypothesis requiring further study.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Naja atra (Chinese cobra), Ptyas korros, Ptyas mucosus, Sinonatrix annularis and Dinodon septentrionalis sold as Wu Shao She
A market survey of commercially available Zaocys dhumnades found the drug adulterated, and identified the counterfeits as Ptyas korros, Ptyas mucosus, Naja atra, Sinonatrix annularis and Dinodon septentrionalis among others. This is a substitution hazard rather than a pharmacological interaction, and it is the principal documented risk of this drug. The substituted taxa include a front-fanged elapid, Naja atra, and Ptyas mucosa, a species whose international trade is regulated under CITES and which dominates China's recorded colubrid snake exports. The authors report that authentic Zaocys is distinguishable by the sword ridge along the back, the iron tail and strongly keeled scales, so the counterfeits are separable on morphology when the whole dried animal is presented and not when it has been sliced or powdered.
Clinical note: Buy and dispense Wu Shao She as recognisable whole dried material, not as slices or powder, and check for the dorsal ridge, keeled scales and tapering tail. Powdered snake drug of unverified origin should not be dispensed. Sourcing also carries a legal dimension where the substituted species is CITES-regulated.
Raw or inadequately processed snake tissue (Spirometra erinaceieuropaei sparganosis)
This is an infectious hazard intrinsic to the drug material. A 2018 survey of wild snakes in Hunan province found spargana, the plerocercoid larvae of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei, in 91.7 percent of 375 animals, and specifically in 99.1 percent of Zaocys dhumnades, the highest prevalence of the three species examined. Half the parasites were in muscular tissue and a further 32.1 percent in subcutaneous tissue, which is precisely the tissue that constitutes the drug. All isolates were confirmed as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei by cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 sequencing, and the authors call for control of illegal wildlife trade on the strength of the finding.
Clinical note: Do not use raw, semi-dried, poultice or fresh-snake preparations, and do not use snake wine prepared at home from a whole animal. Only properly dried and, where the tradition specifies, wine-processed or roasted material should be dispensed. Sparganosis presents late and can be neurological, so a patient with a history of raw snake use and unexplained migratory swellings or seizures warrants specific investigation.
Animal protein allergens
The drug is a dried animal protein preparation, and the only published quantitative analysis of it is an amino acid profile. Hypersensitivity to a foreign protein is a generic and predictable risk for such material, but no case series of allergic reactions specific to Zaocys has been published. Absence of published reports is not evidence that the reactions do not occur.
Clinical note: Take an allergy history before dispensing any animal-derived drug, and stop at the first sign of urticaria, angio-oedema or wheeze.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 6–12 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】6～12g。 【性味与归经】甘，平。归肝经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Moderate evidence · 3 studiesRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
2
0 verified · 2 unverified
In vitro / animal
1
1 verified · 0 unverified
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Prevalence and molecular characterization of Spirometra erinaceieuropaei spargana in snakes in Hunan Province, China
Survey of 375 wild snakes from Hunan province in 2018. Overall spargana prevalence was 91.7 percent (344 of 375), and 99.1 percent of Zaocys dhumnades were infected, against 94.1 percent of Elaphe carinata and 86.7 percent of Elaphe taeniura. Fifty percent of the parasites were in muscular tissue, 32.1 percent subcutaneous and 17.9 percent in the coelomic cavity. Partial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 sequencing identified all plerocercoids as Spirometra erinaceieuropaei, the first such report for the province. This is the most directly relevant safety study for this drug: the parasite burden is in the same tissue as the medicinal material, and the species-specific prevalence in Zaocys dhumnades was essentially universal in this wild-caught sample.
Molecular Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of Spirometra Tapeworms from Snakes in Hunan Province
Forty-nine Spirometra isolates from snakes across 15 areas of Hunan province were characterised by 18S and 28S ribosomal DNA sequencing; all clustered with Spirometra erinaceieuropaei from China, Vietnam and Australia, and the isolates showed no host segregation or geographical isolation. Supports the preceding prevalence study by confirming that the parasite in Chinese medicinal snakes is the human-infective species and that it is not confined to one host snake.
Patterns and Risks of China's Snake Trade Driven by Medicinal and Culinary Traditions
Analysis of official CITES trade data from 1975 to 2023 using whole organism equivalents. Cumulative traded volume exceeded 11.7 million whole organism equivalents, and China shifted from a supply centre in the early 1990s to a consumption hub by 2012. Colubrid snakes accounted for 81.5 percent of exports and Ptyas mucosa alone for 56.8 percent, a pattern the authors attribute to the domestic medicine-and-food culture. They identified misreported species, including the non-native Naja naja recorded as wild-sourced exports from China, and recommend molecular identification tools to correct identification bias. Directly relevant to Wu Shao She because Ptyas mucosus is one of the documented counterfeits for this drug and because it shows that species misreporting is a systemic feature of this supply chain.
Historical Texts
Ben Cao Yan Yi, by Kou Zongshi
Northern Song dynasty, 1116Ben Cao Gang Mu, scale section (lin bu), entry Wu She
Ming dynasty, 1596; compiled by Li ShizhenReferences
- J. K. Jin, Q. S. Yang, M. X. Chen, Q. Yao, Z. F. Ding, P. F. Zhang, J. Wang, K. Yang. [Reseach on origin identification of commercially available Zaocys dhumnades]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) (2019) [DOI]
- X. Wang, Y. Y. Lin, W. T. Zhong, Z. G. Ma, M. H. Wu, H. Cao, Y. Zhang. [Evaluation of nutritional value of three kinds of medicinal snakes based on content of 15 amino acids]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) (2025) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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