The Chinese medicine cinnamon and cinnamon bark are not the same. 1. Cinnamon is the dried bark of cinnamon, family Camphoraceae. It is pungent and hot in flavor, and belongs to the kidney, spleen, heart and liver meridians. It has the effects of inducing fire to return to the source (inhibiting the rising of fire evil in the kidneys), tonifying fire to help Yang (replenishing Yang qi in the body), warming the meridians, dispersing cold and relieving pain (relieving pain by dispelling cold evil in the body). It is mostly used for treating cold pain in waist and knees, impotence and uterine cold, deficiency of Yang (relative deficiency of Yang affecting the head and face), kidney deficiency and asthma, cold pain in the heart and abdomen (cold pain in the location of the heart and abdomen), dizziness, dysmenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain caused by cold hernia (acute abdominal pain due to coldness in the internal organs and coldness from external wind). 2. Cinnamon bark for the camphor plant geranium cinnamon, yinxiang and Sichuan cinnamon bark. It is pungent, sweet and warm in nature, and belongs to the spleen, stomach and liver meridians. It has the effects of regulating qi and relieving pain (relieving pain by unblocking qi), warming the middle and dispersing cold (dispersing cold with medicine that warms the spleen and stomach). It is mostly used for treating vomiting and diarrhea, cold pain in the stomach and abdomen (cold pain in the stomach and abdomen), cold hernia and abdominal pain, soreness and coldness in the waist and knees, cold-dampness paralysis and pain, stagnation of menstrual cramps, intestinal wind, bloody dysentery, bleeding from wounds, bruises and pains, and so on. From the above, it can be seen that the Chinese medicines cinnamon and cinnamon bark have different origins and are therefore not the same. Clinical use of the above two Chinese medicines should be guided by a doctor after diagnosis and should not be used on one’s own.