Herbs that release the exterior

1. Ephedra: It is a principal herb for inducing perspiration and releasing the exterior. It is also a key herb for treating wheezing and cough due to obstruction of lung qi.

2. Bai Zhi: A key herb for treating Yangming headache.

3. Xinyi: A key herb for treating rhinorrhea, headache, nasal congestion, and runny nose associated with nasal sinusitis.

4. Perilla: A commonly used herb for treating wind-cold common cold.

5. Ginger: Enters the Spleen meridian, excels at warming the middle jiao and stopping vomiting, and is known as the “sacred herb for treating vomiting.”

6. Schizonepeta: A versatile herb for dispersing exterior pathogenic factors and releasing the exterior.

7. Wind-Dispelling: A general remedy for treating wind-related conditions; the moistening agent among wind-dispelling herbs.

8. Xanthium fruit: an excellent remedy for nasal sinusitis.

9. Elsholtzia: The Ephedra of the summer months for dispersing the exterior.

10. Asarum: It is a principal herb for treating various pain syndromes caused by wind-cold and wind-damp invasion, as well as nasal sinusitis with headache; it is also a key herb for resolving latent cold-fluid accumulation in the lungs.

11. Kudzu root: a principal herb for treating stiffness and pain in the neck and back.

12. Bupleurum: It is a principal herb for treating Shaoyang syndrome and a commonly used remedy for the chills and fever of malaria. (It is also a principal herb for treating liver-and-gallbladder syndromes.)

Heat-clearing herbs

13. Gypsum: It is the principal herb for clearing and draining excess heat from the qi level of the Lung and Stomach meridians. (It is the principal herb for treating high fever at the qi level and excess fire in the Lung and Stomach.)

14. Gardenia: A principal herb for treating heat-induced illness characterized by heart palpitations, restlessness, and agitation.

15. Prunella vulgaris: It is a principal herb for treating liver-yang dizziness, nocturnal eye pain, and scrofulous swellings and nodules.

16. Coptis: A principal herb for treating damp-heat and fire stagnation; a key herb for treating diarrhea and dysentery.

17. Anemarrhena: A principal herb for clearing excess heat in the qi level of the Lung and Stomach meridians.

18. Sophora flavescens: A commonly used herb for treating leukorrhea due to damp-heat and certain skin diseases.

19. Rehmannia root: A principal herb for clearing heat, cooling the blood, and arresting bleeding.

20. Honeysuckle: A principal herb for treating all internal and external carbuncles and abscesses.

21. Dandelion: A principal herb for treating breast abscesses.

22. Viola yedoensis: Its primary therapeutic specialty is the treatment of carbuncles and toxic sores.

23. Wild chrysanthemum: an excellent remedy for surgical carbuncles and abscesses.

24. Paris: commonly used for carbuncles, furuncles, and venomous snake bites.

25. Leucaena: an excellent remedy for breast abscesses.

26. Tufuling: a key herb for treating syphilis.

27. Shegan: A commonly used herb for treating sore throat and pharyngeal swelling.

28. Gentian: It is the principal herb for treating excess damp-heat and intense fire in the Liver Meridian.

29. Forsythia: Known as the “sacred herb for treating sores.”

30. Dàqīngyè: A principal herb for treating various syndromes caused by excessive blood heat and toxicity.

31. Houttuynia cordata: a key herb for treating pulmonary carbuncle.

32. Red vine and houttuynia herb are essential herbs for treating intestinal carbuncle.

33. Shegan: A commonly used herb for treating sore and swollen throat.

34. Sophora tonkinensis: a key herb for treating sore and swollen throat.

35. Ma Bo: A commonly used herb for treating sore throat and swelling; particularly suitable for cases of laryngeal obstruction accompanied by bleeding and ulceration.

36. Purslane: A commonly used herb for treating dysentery.

37. Lobelia chinensis: A commonly used herb for treating various conditions of sores, carbuncles, and toxic swellings caused by heat-toxin. (Campanulaceae)

38. Golden Buckwheat: Its primary therapeutic indication is pulmonary carbuncle accompanied by thick, foul-smelling sputum or expectoration of purulent blood.

39. White-headed Pheasant: An excellent herb for treating heat-toxin-induced dysentery with blood.

40. White Clematis: Commonly used for scalds and burns.

41. Sijiqing: Particularly effective for treating burns caused by water and fire.

42. Mung beans: sweet and cool in nature, effective at resolving heat-toxins such as those caused by aconite, croton seeds, and arsenic trioxide. They are an excellent antidote.

43. Rehmannia root: a key herb for clearing heat, cooling the blood, and stopping bleeding.

44. Moutan Cortex: the principal herb for treating bone-steaming without sweating.

45. Artemisia annua: Effective in eliminating malaria-related chills and fever; an excellent remedy for malaria.

46. Cortex Lycii: In addition to treating spontaneous sweating and bone-steaming fever, it is an excellent herb for clearing deficient heat and alleviating bone-steaming syndrome.

47. Silver Bupleurum: A commonly used herb for clearing deficient heat and treating bone-steaming.

Purgative

48. Rhubarb: A principal herb for treating stagnation and constipation, particularly effective for constipation due to excess heat. It is also commonly used in various conditions characterized by blood stasis.

49. Glauber’s salt: a key herb for treating internal accumulation of excess heat in the stomach and intestines, resulting in dry, hard stools that are difficult to pass.

50. Aloe: Utilizing its insecticidal properties, it can be applied externally to treat tinea and sores.

51. Senna leaves: Used for habitual constipation and senile constipation.

Wind-dampness-dispelling herbs

52. Angelica pubescens: the principal herb for rheumatic bi pain. It can be used regardless of whether the condition is acute or chronic.

53. Weilingxian: A principal herb for rheumatic bi pain. It is potent and highly mobile, dispersing rather than retaining, and penetrates all twelve meridians.

54. Xu Changqing: A principal herb for treating wind-bi or severe pain associated with bi syndrome.

55. Aconite: an excellent herb for treating wind-cold-damp bi syndrome, particularly suitable for cases where cold pathogenic factors predominate.

56. Agkistrodon acutus: penetrates the bones to dispel wind, expels both internal and external wind-pathogenic factors, and is a principal herb for arresting wind-related disorders. It is particularly effective in treating stubborn bi syndromes that have persisted for a long time. It is also commonly used to treat convulsions and spasms, and is frequently employed when wind-toxin pathogenic factors obstruct the skin and muscles. The effects of Bungarus multicinctus are similar but less potent; however, it is non-toxic.

57. Papaya: It is a principal herb for treating rheumatic bi syndrome, particularly damp-bi and tendon–meridian contracture. (It is also commonly used to treat rheumatic bi syndrome characterized by soreness, heaviness, stiffness, numbness, as well as vomiting, diarrhea, and cramping of the limbs.)

58. Pine Nut Oil: Particularly effective in treating rheumatic bi syndrome characterized by predominant cold-dampness, dispelling wind-damp from the muscles and bones.

59. Haidongteng: Commonly used for wind-cold-damp bi syndrome, pain in the limbs and joints, tendon and meridian spasms, and difficulty in flexion and extension. (Piperaceae)

60. Kunming Mountain Begonia: An excellent remedy for chronic wind-cold-damp bi syndrome characterized by joint pain and paralysis.

61. Snow-covered Aconite: Excellent for relieving pain and a valuable remedy for treating various types of pain.

62. Qin Jiao: a moistening agent among wind-dispelling herbs. It can be combined with other formulas regardless of whether the condition is cold or hot, or whether it is acute or chronic; it is particularly indicated for heat-induced bi syndrome. It is also a key herb for treating deficiency heat.

63. Stephania: It is a particularly important herb for treating rheumatic bi syndrome, especially when damp-heat predominates, presenting with limb soreness and heaviness, joint redness, swelling, and pain, as well as generalized body aches due to damp-heat.

64. Mulberry twigs: Applicable to bi syndromes regardless of cold or heat, acute or chronic, particularly effective for wind-damp-heat bi. They are especially good at ascending the upper limbs.

65. Pittosporum bark: Particularly effective in treating bi pain and stiffness of the lower-limb joints.

66. Tripterygium wilfordii: a principal herb for treating stubborn rheumatic arthralgia. The bark is highly toxic. (Celastraceae)

67. Five-leafed Acanthopanax: a tonic herb for dispelling wind and dampness. Particularly suitable for the elderly and those with prolonged illness who are physically weak.

68. Drynaria: It is most suitable for low back pain and spinal stiffness due to deficiency of the liver and kidneys combined with wind-cold-damp pathogenic factors, resulting in an inability to bend or straighten the body.

69. Qian Nian Jian: “Especially suitable for the elderly,” and is often used in combination with Zuan Di Feng.

70. Snow Lotus: Particularly indicated for rheumatic bi syndrome with predominant cold-dampness.

71. Mistletoe: A principal herb for treating fetal instability due to deficiency of the liver and kidneys.

Diuretic and Damp-Draining Herbs

72. Agastache: a key herb for aromatic transformation of damp-turbidity. It can also relieve nausea and vomiting, making it the most effective remedy for vomiting caused by obstruction of damp-turbidity in the middle burner.

73. Atractylodes: a principal herb for treating dampness obstructing the middle burner. When wind-cold combined with dampness invades, if not treated with Notopterygium, Atractylodes should be used instead.

74. Houpu: A principal herb for regulating qi, eliminating food stagnation, and relieving distension. (It is the principal herb for eliminating fullness and distension.)

75. Amomum villosum: a key herb for invigorating the spleen and regulating the stomach. It is particularly indicated for cases of cold-dampness and qi stagnation. It is an excellent remedy for treating qi stagnation and nausea during pregnancy as well as fetal restlessness.

76. Poria: a key herb for promoting diuresis and reducing edema.

77. Plantago seeds: promote diuresis and facilitate urination; by promoting urination, they help to consolidate the large intestine.

78. Talc: an excellent remedy for treating damp-heat dysuria; a superior choice for addressing various syndromes due to summer-damp; and an essential medicinal agent for treating moist sores, eczema, and miliaria toxin.

79. Dianthus superbus: A commonly used herb for treating淋证, particularly effective for热淋.

80. Polygonum aviculare: “Effective in eliminating three types of parasites”—ascaris, enterobius, and hookworm.

81. Moutong: It is a key herb for treating damp-heat dysuria and pain, as well as oral and lingual ulcers and vexing heart fire that either ascends or descends to the small intestine, resulting in red urine; it is also a key herb for treating insufficient lactation and heat-induced bi syndrome.

82. Haisanjin: A principal herb for treating various types of dysuria and urinary obstruction; often used as an auxiliary herb in the treatment of淋 syndrome.

83. Stone Fern: Particularly suitable for hematuria.

84. Rhizoma Dioscoreae: Excellent at draining dampness and separating clear from turbid, making it a key herb for treating chyluria. (Family Dioscoreaceae)

85. Herba Lysimachiae: a principal herb for treating lithiasis; an excellent choice for addressing damp-heat jaundice and hepatobiliary calculi.

86. Artemisia capillaris: a principal herb for treating damp-heat jaundice. (A principal herb for the treatment of jaundice.)

Warming herbs

87. Fuzi: the principal herb for tonifying fire and supporting yang, as well as for restoring yang and rescuing from critical conditions. (It is known as “the foremost herb for restoring yang and rescuing from critical conditions.”)

88. Dried Ginger: the principal herb for warming the middle burner and dispersing cold. (It is the chief herb for warming the middle jiao.)

89. Cinnamon: It is a principal herb for treating conditions such as deficiency-cold of the Lower Jiao and upward floating of deficient Yang; it is also an excellent remedy for deficiency of Spleen and Kidney Yang. (It is a principal herb for treating deficiency of Mingmen Fire.)

90. Wu Zhu Yu: The principal herb for treating all types of pain caused by liver cold and qi stagnation. It is the key remedy for conditions such as middle-jiao cold with liver rebellion or cold accumulation obstructing the liver meridians, resulting in various kinds of pain. (It is the essential herb for treating all pain due to liver cold and qi stagnation; it is also a commonly used medicine for treating spleen and kidney yang deficiency accompanied by five-watch diarrhea.)

91. Clove: a key herb for treating stomach cold and hiccups.

Qi-regulating herbs

92. Green tangerine peel: disperses liver qi and breaks up stagnation; compared with aged tangerine peel, it is more pungent in nature, with a stronger qi-moving effect, and tends to act primarily on the liver and gallbladder.

93. Tangerine peel: a principal herb for resolving phlegm.

94. Agarwood: It is a principal herb for regulating qi and relieving pain; it is also a key herb for treating damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery characterized by tenesmus and a feeling of incomplete evacuation.

95. Xiangfu: A principal herb for soothing the liver and resolving depression, regulating qi to relieve bi syndrome and pain. It is a key herb for menstruation regulation in gynecology. “It is the chief steward of qi-related disorders and the commander-in-chief of women’s ailments,” serving as a qi-moving, blood-nourishing herb.

96. Allium macrostemon: a key herb for treating chest oppression.

97. Dafupi: A herb that broadens the middle burner and promotes the flow of qi.

Digestive medicine

98. Hawthorn: A key herb for resolving stagnation caused by the digestion of greasy, meaty foods.

99. Divine Formula: Treats food stagnation combined with exterior syndrome due to wind-cold invasion.

100. Malt: Treats food stagnation caused by rice, flour, potatoes, and yams, and can also promote lactation.

101. Radish Seed: For cases of food stagnation combined with qi stagnation.

102. Chicken Gizzard Liner: A key herb for aiding digestion and strengthening the spleen.

Anthelmintic

103. Quisqualis: a principal herb for treating ascariasis and for treating infantile malnutrition with accumulation of food stagnation; particularly indicated for children. Should be avoided when taken with tea.

104. Neem bark: a broad-spectrum anthelmintic traditional Chinese medicine, primarily effective against roundworms.

105. Areca nut: expels tapeworms and also has a purgative effect on the worm bodies.

106. Pumpkin seeds: expel tapeworms; used in combination with areca nuts.

107. Crataegus buds: a new drug for eliminating tapeworms. (Rosaceae)

108. Lei Wan: Broad-spectrum anthelmintic, particularly effective against tapeworms. It can directly kill parasites.

Hemostatic drug

109. Great Thistle: A principal herb for treating blood heat and its erratic, uncontrolled flow.

110. Small Thistle: A principal herb for treating blood heat with erratic bleeding and for resolving sores, carbuncles, and toxic swellings.

111. Sanguisorba: An excellent herb for treating blood heat–induced bleeding, particularly bleeding in the lower jiao; it is also a key medicinal agent for treating scalds and burns caused by water and fire.

112. Platycladus leaves: a principal herb for treating various bleeding disorders, particularly those due to blood heat.

113. Ramie Root: Hemostatic, heat-clearing, and fetal-protective; traditionally regarded as a key herb for ensuring fetal safety. (Urticaceae)

114. Sanqi: A principal herb for treating various conditions involving bleeding and blood stasis. (A key herb in traumatology.)

115. Madder Root: A key herb for regulating menstruation in gynecology.

116. Typha Pollen: An excellent herb for hemostasis and promoting blood circulation to resolve stasis. It is indicated for blood disorders regardless of whether they are due to cold or heat, with or without stasis; it is especially suitable when stasis is present. It is particularly commonly used in gynecology.

117. Agarwood: Indicated for both internal and external bleeding due to trauma, and is commonly used in surgical practice.

118. Biejí: A principal herb for astringency and hemostasis, particularly indicated for bleeding due to lung and stomach disorders. It is also commonly used externally to reduce swelling and promote tissue regeneration in sores and ulcers.

119. Palm charcoal: a principal herb for astringency and hemostasis, particularly indicated for metrorrhagia and menorrhagia. Due to its strong astringent properties, it is most suitable for individuals without blood stasis.

120. Mugwort Leaf: A principal herb for warming the meridians and arresting bleeding. It is a key remedy for deficiency-cold in the lower jiao of gynecology or for cold pathogenic factors invading the uterus; it is also an essential herb for ensuring fetal stability.

121. Prepared Ginger: Treats bleeding disorders caused by the spleen’s failure to control the blood.

122. Hearth-soil: a key herb for warming the meridians and arresting bleeding, particularly effective for hematemesis and hematochezia.

Blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs

123. Chuanxiong: Known as the “qi-moving herb of the blood.” It “descends menstrual flow and resolves stagnation in the middle burner,” making it a key herb in gynecology. It is the principal remedy for blood stasis and qi stagnation, and its property of “ascending to the head and eyes” also makes it an essential treatment for headache—“for headache, Chuanxiong must be used.”

124. Corydalis: It “unblocks stagnation of qi in the blood and stagnation of blood in the qi, thereby specifically alleviating pain throughout the entire body,” making it an excellent herb for invigorating blood circulation, resolving blood stasis, and relieving pain. “When heart pain is so severe it feels like death is at hand, promptly seek out Corydalis.”

125. Curcuma: a key herb for promoting blood circulation, regulating qi, and cooling the blood.

126. Polygonum cuspidatum: A key herb for treating scalds and venomous snake bites.

127. Turmeric: Excels in promoting the circulation of qi and blood in the limbs and arms, thereby relieving bi syndrome and pain.

128. Frankincense: A key herb in the department of traumatology. It calms pain throughout the meridians, disperses blood stasis to relieve pain, promotes blood circulation to resolve abscesses, and also removes necrotic tissue while fostering new tissue growth.

129. Myrrh: Like frankincense, it is a key herb in the department of traumatology. It is often used to treat stomach pain characterized by severe blood stasis and qi stagnation.

130. Wu Ling Zhi: a principal herb for treating pain due to blood stasis. It is often used in conjunction with Pu Huang, as in the formula “Shi Xiao San.”

131. Salvia miltiorrhiza: A commonly used herb for regulating menstruation in gynecology. It is an excellent remedy for promoting blood circulation and harmonizing the menstrual cycle, eliminating blood stasis while generating new blood without harming the body’s vital essence. As the saying goes, “A single dose of Salvia miltiorrhiza disperses just as effectively as the Four-Ingredient Decoction.” The Four-Ingredient Decoction consists of Angelica sinensis, Ligusticum chuanxiong, Rehmannia glutinosa preparata, and Paeonia lactiflora.

132. Safflower: It is a principal herb for invigorating blood circulation, resolving blood stasis, promoting menstrual flow, and relieving pain; it is also commonly used to treat blood-stasis conditions in gynecology and obstetrics, as well as for the treatment of traumatic injuries and swelling and pain due to blood stasis.

133. Peach Kernel: An excellent herb for treating intestinal dryness and constipation, intestinal abscess, and pulmonary abscess. (It is also a commonly used medicinal ingredient for treating various conditions characterized by blood stasis and obstruction.)

134. Motherwort: A principal herb for treating gynecological disorders related to menstruation and childbirth.

135. Ligusticum: A commonly used herb for treating gynecological conditions characterized by blood stasis related to menstruation and childbirth, particularly edema caused by the mutual obstruction of water and blood stasis.

136. Achyranthes: A principal herb for treating postpartum disorders. While promoting blood circulation and eliminating blood stasis, it also facilitates the downward movement and drainage of pathogenic factors. It is particularly effective in guiding fire (and blood) downward.

137. Spatholobus suberectus: A commonly used herb for treating stagnation of the meridians and disharmony of the collaterals. (Fabaceae)

138. Wang Bu Liu Xing and pangolin scales are essential herbs for promoting lactation. Pangolin scales are also a key herb for treating sores, ulcers, and swelling with pain.

139. Tui Bie Chong: A commonly used herbal medicine in traumatology, particularly effective for fractures, tendon injuries, blood stasis, and swelling and pain.

140. Semen Strychni: reduces swelling, disperses nodules, and relieves pain; an excellent remedy in traumatology for treating injuries and alleviating pain. It is also a commonly used herb for treating stubborn rheumatic obstruction, spastic pain, numbness, and paralysis.

141. Native copper: Promotes fracture healing and is a key herb in traumatology.

142. Sumer: “Dispelling stasis and resolving blood stasis” is a commonly used herb for gynecological conditions characterized by blood stasis and stagnation, such as menstrual disorders and postpartum syndromes, as well as other conditions involving blood stasis and stagnation.

143. Drynaria: a key herb in traumatology. It is so named because it enters the Kidney to treat the bones, thereby addressing bone injuries and fractures.

144. Dragon’s Blood: A key herb in traumatology and other syndromes characterized by blood stasis and pain.

145. Curcuma: It specializes in addressing blood within the qi, making it, alongside Xiangfu, another “blood-moving herb for the qi.” It is indicated for conditions arising from long-standing stagnation of qi, blood stasis, and food accumulation, such as masses and accumulations, as well as various types of bi pain caused by qi stagnation, blood stasis, food retention, and cold congealing. It is often used in combination with Sanleng.

146. Sanleng: Its functions are similar to those of Ezhushi. Both can break stagnation of qi and blood, resolve accumulations, and relieve pain. However, Sanleng is more effective at breaking blood stasis, while Ezhushi is more effective at breaking qi stagnation.

Phlegm-dissolving, cough-suppressing, and asthma-relieving medication

147. Banxia: A principal herb for treating damp phlegm and cold phlegm. (It is a key herb for drying dampness to transform phlegm and for warming to transform cold phlegm.) It is particularly indicated for treating damp phlegm in the zang-fu organs. Its bitter taste has the effect of descending rebellious qi and harmonizing the stomach, making it a primary remedy for vomiting, especially when such vomiting is caused by phlegm-dampness or stomach cold leading to upward rebellion of stomach qi.

148. Yu Bai Fu: Dispels wind-phlegm and relieves pain; its nature is ascending. It is particularly effective in treating various disorders of the head and face.

149. White Mustard Seed: Effectively eliminates “phlegm residing between the skin and the membranes” and promotes the flow of qi while dispersing phlegm.

150. Soapnut: When stubborn phlegm is congealed and obstructing the lungs, presenting with coughing, reverse flow of qi, occasional expectoration of thick sputum, and particular difficulty in lying flat, this herb is especially indicated.

151. Xuanfu Hua: A principal herb for treating rebellious qi in the lungs and stomach. “Most flowers ascend; Xuanfu alone descends.” It can descend qi, transform phlegm, reverse rebellion, and stop vomiting.

152. Bai Qian: It is indicated for both cold and heat patterns, as well as for external pathogenic factors and internal injuries; it is particularly suitable for cases of phlegm-dampness or cold phlegm obstructing the lungs, resulting in downward dysfunction of lung qi. It descends qi and transforms phlegm, while warming and transforming cold phlegm.

153. Fritillaria Bulb: It has a moistening effect and is particularly indicated for chronic cough due to internal injury, as well as for syndromes characterized by dry phlegm and heat-related phlegm. It is a commonly used herb for treating coughs caused by heat-phlegm and dry-phlegm.

154. Zhebei: It has the effect of “draining” and is commonly used to treat cough due to wind-heat as well as cough caused by phlegm-heat obstructing the lungs. It is a frequently employed herb for treating lung-heat cough.

155. Bamboo juice: Indicated for phlegm-heat cough, especially when the phlegm is thick and difficult to expectorate or when stubborn, sticky phlegm has accumulated.

156. Bamboo茹: A key herb for treating stomach heat and vomiting.

157. Tianzhu Huang: clears and transforms phlegm-heat, clears the heart and calms the spirit. It shares the properties of bamboo juice but lacks the latter’s cold and slippery nature.

158. Peucedanum praeruptorum: Although it is closely related to Peucedanum decursivum in its phlegm-transforming action, its cooling nature makes it less effective for cases of exogenous cough and wheezing without fever.

159. Platycodon: Its nature is conducive to ascending. “It serves as the ‘ship and oar’ among all herbs and as the ‘guide’ for the lung meridian,” capable of carrying medicinal substances upward.

160. Mingshi: an excellent remedy for treating epileptic seizures. It expels phlegm and eliminates accumulation, soothes the liver, and calms the spirit. As in the “Duomingsan” formula.

161. Almonds: A key herb for treating cough and wheezing.

162. Stemona: Its primary function is to moisten the lungs and relieve cough, making it a key herb for treating both acute and chronic coughs. It also has anthelmintic and pediculicidal properties.

163. Aster: Sweet and moist, with a bitter nature that promotes drainage; it is warm in nature but not hot, and its substance is moistening without being drying. It excels at nourishing the lungs and descending rebellious qi, opening up lung stagnation, and transforming phlegm-turbidity. It is indicated for all coughs—whether due to external pathogenic factors or internal injury, regardless of the duration of the illness or the pattern of cold, heat, deficiency, or excess.

164. Aristolochia: It is most suitable for cases of heat-accumulation in the lungs, where the lung’s function of descending and dispersing is impaired, resulting in cough and wheezing with sputum.

165. Mulberry Bark: Descends Lung Qi to relieve wheezing and expel fluid to reduce swelling; its action is gentle. It clears Lung Heat and reduces Lung Fire, making it particularly suitable for yang-type edema due to water retention, such as that caused by wind-water or water-dampness patterns.

166. Semen Lepidii: Descends lung qi to relieve asthma and promotes diuresis to reduce edema. Its action is potent. It drains water, dampness, phlegm, and sputum from the lungs, making it particularly suitable for cases of severe pathogenic factors causing wheezing, fullness, and inability to lie down.

167. Ginkgo nuts: Particularly indicated for women with leukorrhea due to spleen and kidney deficiency, characterized by pale color and thin consistency. They astringe the lungs, transform phlegm, and relieve asthma; when combined with ephedra, they “astringe the lungs without retaining pathogenic factors and disperse the lungs without depleting qi.”

168. Datura: an anesthetic, antitussive, and bronchodilator. It is indicated for adults and the elderly with nonproductive or scanty cough and wheezing that have failed to respond to other treatments.

169. Trichosanthes: a principal herb for treating chest oppression due to heat-phlegm.

170. Fat Sea: This herb is sweet and cool in nature, with a light texture, and thus has the effects of clearing and dispersing lung qi, transforming phlegm, relieving throat obstruction, and improving voice. It is often steeped and taken as a single herb, or it may be combined with Platycodon and licorice for synergistic effects.

Sedative herbs

171. Cinnabar: It both tranquilizes the spirit through its heavy, stabilizing nature and clears the heart to calm the spirit. It is a medicinal herb that pacifies the heart, clears excess fire, and calms the spirit while establishing resolve.

172. Dragon Bone: A commonly used herb for tranquilizing the mind and calming the spirit.

173. Ziziphus Jujuba Seed: A key herb for nourishing the heart and calming the spirit.

174. Valerian: calms the mind and soothes the spirit, dispels wind and relieves spasms.

175. Albizzia bark: Effectively alleviates liver qi stagnation and is a herb that soothes the heart and calms the spirit.

176. Polygala: Harmonizes the Heart and Kidneys, calms the spirit, and is an excellent herb for enhancing intelligence and strengthening memory.

Liver-calming and wind-suppressing herbs

177. Shell of the abalone: a key herb for cooling and calming the liver. Particularly indicated for dizziness due to liver-yang excess arising from yin deficiency of the liver and kidney.

178. Daizheshi: A crucial herb for tranquilizing the mind and descending rebellious qi, particularly effective in reversing stomach qi rebellion. It is also a commonly used agent for tranquilizing the mind and subduing yang.

179. Tribulus: a key herb for dispelling wind and improving vision. It has a pungent flavor and is particularly effective in clearing wind-heat from the Liver meridian.

180. Raw Iron Drop: Used for the syndrome of furious rage and yang collapse due to liver qi stagnation with exuberant fire.

181. Antelope Horn: A principal herb for treating liver wind stirring internally and for convulsions and epileptic seizures. It is particularly indicated in cases where extreme heat gives rise to wind.

182. Bezoar: a superior herb for clearing heat and detoxifying. It is commonly used to treat conditions such as high fever, mental confusion, convulsions, and twitching in children with acute wind-heat syndrome.

183. Pearl: Commonly used to treat various eye diseases.

184. Uncaria: Particularly indicated for cases of liver-yang transforming into wind, especially in situations where extreme heat gives rise to wind, resulting in limb convulsions, as well as in pediatric febrile convulsions. (It is a commonly used herb for treating internal wind due to liver dysfunction and for managing epileptic seizures and convulsions.)

185. Gastrodia: Gastrodia can calm liver yang and suppress liver wind; its nature is mild and neutral, making it suitable for liver wind arising from internal disturbance due to various etiologies, as well as for convulsions and epileptic seizures. It may be used regardless of whether the pattern is cold, heat, deficiency, or excess. (It is a principal herb for treating dizziness and headache, and is appropriate in both cold and heat patterns.)

186. Whole Scorpion: A principal herb for treating spasms and convulsions. Its potency is no less than that of Antelope Horn, yet its nature is mild and neutral.

187. Centipede: It facilitates the flow of qi both internally and externally and is highly effective in dispelling wind and arresting convulsions; together with whole scorpion, it is a principal herb for calming wind. Its nature is dry and pungent.

188. Bombyx batryticus: Particularly indicated for convulsions and epilepsy accompanied by phlegm-heat.

Opening-the-Mind Medication

189. Musk: A crucial herb for awakening the spirit and restoring consciousness. It is effective for closed syndromes with loss of consciousness arising from various causes, regardless of whether the underlying pattern is cold or heat. It can also be used to induce labor and expel the fetus.

190. Suhe Xiang: A key herb for treating cold-induced obstruction with loss of consciousness, characterized by a pale complexion, cool body, white coating on the tongue, and a slow pulse.

191. Borneol: a cooling and dispersing herb.

192. Acorus tatarinowii: Particularly effective in treating mental confusion caused by turbid phlegm-dampness obstructing the orifices of clarity.

Tonifying herbs

193. Ginseng: Greatly tonifies primordial qi and is a crucial herb for rescuing from collapse (a vital herb for restoring life in critical emergencies; a key herb for tonifying the lungs; a key herb for tonifying the spleen).

194. American ginseng: a cooling tonic among qi-tonifying herbs. It is neutral in nature and nourishes both qi and yin. It is indicated for severe cases of qi and yin deficiency accompanied by excess heat.

195. Codonopsis: Nourishes both qi and blood.

196. Prince Ginseng: a mild, tonifying herb among qi-tonifying medicines. It has a neutral nature. It is suitable for mild cases of qi and yin deficiency without excessive internal heat, as well as for children.

197. Astragalus: A principal herb for tonifying the middle jiao and replenishing qi; a key remedy for edema due to qi deficiency; regarded as the “chief of tonics.”

198. Atractylodes: a principal herb for tonifying qi and strengthening the spleen (“the premier herb for tonifying qi and strengthening the spleen”).

199. Chinese yam: an excellent herb for gently tonifying both qi and yin.

200. Licorice: tonifies the spleen and replenishes qi, eliminates phlegm and relieves cough, alleviates urgency and relieves pain, clears heat and detoxifies, and harmonizes all other herbs. It is known as the “National Elder.”

201. Jujube: the principal herb for treating “zang zao,” a condition characterized by insufficient nourishment of the heart and loss of mental stability.

202. Sea buckthorn: A commonly used herb in Tibetan and Mongolian medicine for treating cough, wheezing, and excessive phlegm.

203. Maltose: Particularly indicated for epigastric and abdominal pain due to spleen-stomach deficiency-cold, characterized by relief upon palpation, with exacerbation on an empty stomach and slight alleviation after eating. It is also used for developmental delay in children.

204. Deer Antler Velvet: It has a potent yang-tonifying effect but acts more slowly, making it suitable for chronic yang deficiency. Its efficacy in acute conditions is inferior to that of Fuzi. It is a principal herb for warming the kidneys and strengthening yang, tonifying the Du Channel, and nourishing essence and blood.

205. Epimedium: Also known as “Xianlingpi” or “Qizhangcao.” It tonifies the kidneys and strengthens yang, dispels wind, and eliminates dampness.

206. Morinda: Particularly suitable for individuals with kidney yang deficiency accompanied by wind-dampness.

207. Eucommia: a principal herb for treating kidney deficiency with lumbosacral soreness and weakness of the sinews and bones; Dipsacus is similarly effective. It is also an excellent remedy for fetal leakage and fetal movement due to liver–kidney deficiency.

208. Cistanche: a key herb for tonifying kidney yang and nourishing essence and blood.

209. Cuscuta: Also a tonic that harmonizes yin and yang. Its functions include tonifying kidney yang, nourishing kidney essence to consolidate essence and restrain urination, and securing the fetus.

210. Gecko: An excellent remedy for various deficiency-pattern coughs and wheezes, with the effects of consolidating the root and nurturing the vital essence.

211. Alpinia oxyphylla: A principal herb for treating spleen cold causing diarrhea and pain, or excessive salivation.

212. Cordyceps: It has the effect of invigorating yang and restoring erectile function, and is also an excellent tonic for the lungs and kidneys, particularly suitable for those with fatigue-induced coughing, phlegm, and hemoptysis.

213. Seahorse: It has the effects of guiding fire back to its origin and replenishing true qi. It is used to treat asthma caused by kidney deficiency.

214. Dang Gui: a key herb for regulating menstruation in gynecology and an excellent tonic for replenishing blood in internal medicine (known as the “sacred herb” for blood tonification, and the principal herb for blood enrichment and menstrual regulation in gynecology). It is also a crucial herb for promoting blood circulation and resolving blood stasis.

215. Cuttlefish bone: a superior herbal remedy for gynecological conditions.

216. Rehmannia Root (Shu Di Huang): It is a principal herb for nourishing the blood and replenishing deficiency; it is also a principal herb for tonifying kidney yin. It “greatly tonifies the true yin of the five zang organs” and “greatly nourishes the true water.”

217. White Peony Root: Treats headache and dizziness due to excessive liver yang.

218. Donkey-hide gelatin: sweet and neutral in nature, with a moistening quality; it is a principal herb for tonifying the blood, particularly effective in treating blood deficiency caused by hemorrhage. Its sweet taste and sticky consistency make it an essential hemostatic agent.

219. Polygonum multiflorum: neither cold nor dry nor greasy, making it an excellent tonic.

220. Goji berries: a mild tonic that nourishes kidney essence and liver blood.

Astringent herbs

221. Ephedra Root: A key herb for astringing the lungs, consolidating the exterior, and arresting perspiration.

222. Floating wheat: an excellent herb for nourishing the heart, astringing body fluids, consolidating the exterior, and stopping perspiration.

223. Schisandra: A principal herb for treating chronic cough and deficiency-related wheezing. It is also commonly used to treat spermatorrhea and seminal emission due to kidney deficiency and failure of the renal orifices to securely contain essence.

224. Black Plum: A commonly used herb for treating chronic diarrhea and dysentery.

225. Poppy husk: a quintessential herb for astringing the intestines and arresting diarrhea. It is indicated for chronic diarrhea and dysentery in cases where there is no pathogenic obstruction.

226. Terminalia chebula: a commonly used herb for treating chronic diarrhea and dysentery; a key remedy for aphonia; regarded in Tibetan medicine as the “King of All Medicines,” with a status comparable to that of licorice.

227. Pomegranate peel: a commonly used herb for treating chronic diarrhea and dysentery.

228. Cishi Zhi: A commonly used herb for treating chronic diarrhea and dysentery, as well as purulent and bloody diarrhea. It is often used in combination with Yuyuliang.

229. Cornus: a principal herb for harmonizing and tonifying yin and yang; a principal herb for consolidating essence and arresting seminal emission; and a principal herb for preventing the collapse of primordial qi.

230. Sanguo Xiao: An excellent herb for treating spermatorrhea and seminal emission due to kidney deficiency and failure to consolidate, as well as enuresis and frequent urination, and leukorrhea.

231. Cuttlebone: An excellent remedy for epigastric pain and excessive gastric acid.

232. Lotus seeds: Treat leukorrhea due to spleen and kidney deficiency.

233. Euryale seed: an excellent remedy for leukorrhea.

234. Bark of the Chinese Toon Tree: A commonly used herb for stopping leukorrhea, particularly suitable for cases of blood heat, metrorrhagia, and hematochezia.

235. Celosia: A commonly used herb for treating leukorrhea.

Emetic

236. Changshan: a principal herb for treating malaria, particularly effective against tertian and quartan malaria.

237. Sulfur: a key medicinal agent for treating scabies.

238. Cnidium: A commonly used medicinal herb for dermatological and gynecological conditions.

239. Beehive: A commonly used item in surgery.