The newly revised Materia Medica in Tang Dynasty records that hawthorn wood and fruit can cure dysentery and itching.
In the famous Compendium of Materia Medica, Li Shizhen, a famous doctor in ancient China, called hawthorn "a dietotherapy for resolving internal stagnation, resolving phlegm and swallowing acid, blood stasis and flatulence".
In another famous ancient medical work, Huimu Materia Medica, it is also said that hawthorn can "help digestion, eliminate gas accumulation, strengthen gastric septum, eliminate blood and disperse qi".