Ziheche is the traditional Chinese medicine name for the human placenta, also known as baoyi or taiyi. Both fresh and dried placenta can be used medicinally. It is hard and brittle, with a fishy smell. The best specimens are intact, purple-red, and clean.
The placenta is neither plant nor mineral, and there is no such place as the Purple River. So why is it called "Ziheche"? In fact, the name has a strong mythological flavor. According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, "Before heaven and earth, it was the ancestor of yin and yang and the beginning of the universe. When the embryo was about to take shape and the count of nine times nine was complete, the fetus rode upon it." It traveled through the Western Buddhist paradise and the immortal mountains of the South Sea, drifting through the fairyland of Penglai and the Milky Way, so it was called the River Chariot. When it leaves the mother's body, it is red, but turns purple shortly after being left out. Hence, when used as medicine, it is called "Ziheche."
Traditional Chinese medicine holds that the placenta is sweet, salty, and warm in nature, and enters the lung, heart, and kidney meridians. It replenishes the kidneys and essence, and boosts qi and nourishes the blood. The Supplement to the Materia Medica states that it "treats weakness and emaciation from deficient qi and blood, exhaustion in women, darkened faces and skin, and various abdominal disorders that gradually cause wasting and a haggard appearance."
During the Shengli era of the Wu Zhou dynasty, Empress Wu Zetian was already a woman in her seventies, yet she was surrounded by a group of young and handsome male favorites. Among them, the Zhang brothers, Zhang Changzong and Zhang Yizhi, were especially favored. To curry favor with Wu Zetian, the Zhang brothers ordered someone to present the emperor with Ziheche to preserve her health. After taking it, Wu Zetian's white hair indeed turned black and her complexion blossomed. Delighted, she ordered the Zhang brothers to present it regularly for her health.
When those above favor something, those below are sure to follow. Word of Wu Zetian using Ziheche to regain her youth soon spread, and officials' wives and wealthy women in the towns followed suit. Some unscrupulous people began plotting to take advantage of this.
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