Herbal medicines for dispersing wind-cold

Use ginger, cinnamon twig, perilla, and ephedra to dispel wind-cold.

Xinyi, Huixiang, and Xiangru; BaiZhi, scallion white, plus Jingfang.

Notopterygium, Ligusticum, Xanthium seeds, Tamarisk, and Asarum all exhibit excellent therapeutic effects.

Herbs that disperse wind-heat

For dispersing wind-heat, use Shengma, floating duckweed, peppermint, and mulberry flower.

Bupleurum, Gypsum, Vitex, Arctium, and Dodder Seed, along with Equisetum, Fermented Soybeans, and Cicada Slough.

Heat-clearing and fire-draining herbs

Do not delay in clearing heat and draining fire: Anemarrhena, Gypsum, and Halite.

Rehmannia root, bamboo leaves, and淡竹叶; celosia, gardenia, and cassia seeds.

Duck’s-foot, summer-withered, and valley-essence herb; honey-mong flower pollen works without bias.

Heat-clearing and damp-drying herbs

Heat-clearing and damp-drying herbs are bitter and cold in nature: Scutellaria, Phellodendron, and Coptis.

Gentian root, sophora, chinaberry bark, tangerine peel, and dictamnus.

Heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs

Dandelion for clearing heat and detoxifying, combined with Dryopteris crassirhizoma and Forsythia suspensa, paired with Houttuynia cordata.

Isatis leaf, honeysuckle, wild chrysanthemum, indigo naturalis, and poria.

Radix Polygoni Cuspidati, Semen Lysimachiae, Radix Bupleuri, and Rhizoma Pinelliae.

Shegan, Baijiang, Yadanzi, Zaoxiu, Loulu, and Baitouweng.

White-flowered snake-tongue purslane, mung bean, buckwheat, and evergreen.

Ground-ivy root, mountain arrowhead, as well as white atractylodes and red vine.

Heat-clearing and blood-cooling herbs

Clears heat and cools the blood: water buffalo horn, lithospermum, moutan bark, and red peony root.

Xuan Shen and Sheng Di both nourish yin, thereby eliminating all syndromes of excess heat in the blood and nutritive yin.

Herbal medicines for clearing虚heat

Herbs that clear虚heat are all cold in nature; Artemisia annua and Pueraria lobata have proven efficacy.

Bone and skin decoction has unique therapeutic effects; there is also silver bupleurum and coptis.

Purgative

Purgative drugs are classified into three categories: drastic purgation, aggressive purgation, and moistening.

Euphorbia, Daphne, Ipomoea seeds, Phytolacca, Croton, and Qianjin.

Sulfur, rhubarb, aloe, senna leaves, hemp seeds, and apricot kernels.

Wind-dampness-dispelling and cold-dispelling herbs

Dispels wind, removes dampness, and disperses cold stagnation; sea-wind vine stem and thunder-king vine.
Duhuo, Chuanwu, Weilingxian; Wushao, Qishe, Xungufeng.
Papaya, old crane’s tendon-stretching herb, silkworm excrement, pine knots, and lulu tong.

Herbs for dispelling wind-dampness and clearing heat

Dispels wind, eliminates dampness, and reduces heat and swelling: Qin Jiao, Hai Tong, and Chou Wu Tong.

Mulberry branches, Stephania tetrandra, and Siegesbeckia orientalis; loofah vines, stonebreaker, and Chinese prickly ash.

Herbal medicine for dispelling wind-dampness and strengthening tendons and bones

Dispelling wind and eliminating dampness to strengthen tendons and bones—Cibotium and Dendrobium are truly remarkable.

The bark of the five-leafed aralia, known as “Qian Nian Jian,” is aromatic and volatile; it is steeped in alcohol and taken as a medicinal infusion.

Herbs for Dampness Transformation

Use Atractylodes to aromatize and dampen; use Agastache, Patchouli, and Magnolia Bark to strengthen and transform.

Amomum, Amomum villosum, and cardamom—warming the spleen and strengthening the stomach to dispel cold-dampness.

Diuretic and Damp-Draining Herbs

Diuretic and damp-draining herbs are divided into three categories, with Poria and Polyporus leading the way in reducing swelling.

Alisma, Euphorbia, Coix Seed, winter melon, gourd, and shepherd’s purse—add them in.

Xiangjiapi and corn silk, as well as the mole cricket, are used in medicine in both fresh and dried forms.

For diuresis and promoting urination, use Guanmutong, Bixie, Bianxu, and Cheqian.

Glehnia, Equisetum, and Juncus; Pyrrosia, Talc, and Hedyotis.

Do not forget the seeds of Kochia and Malva, which promote diuresis and clear yellowish dampness—use them like gold.

Artemisia capillaris, Polygonum cuspidatum, and Lysimachia clethroides—every part of the plant is fully utilized.

Warming herbs

Aconite and cinnamon warm the interior; fennel, cloves, and evodia warm the lower burner.

Sichuan pepper, black pepper, and long pepper; dried ginger, galangal, and piper longum—what a delightful combination!

Qi-regulating herbs

Twenty-one qi-regulating herbs: tangerine peel, green tangerine peel, and greater pericarpium.

Agarwood, green agarwood, sandalwood, bitter orange fruit, and persimmon pedicel—all together.

Xiangfu, citron, nine-spotted bug, fingered citron, black pepper, green plum calyx,

Gansong, sword bean, lychee seed, Chinese chives, rose, and chinaberry—all together.

Digestive medicine

Aids digestion and resolves food stagnation, harmonizing the spleen and stomach; hawthorn, Shenqu, and inner gold are most effective.

Malt sprouts and chicken vine, combined with radish for qi regulation, yield even more remarkable effects.

Anthelmintic

Areca nut is excellent for expelling and killing parasites; Leiwan, Heshi, and He Cao Ya are also effective.

Wuyi, Chinese torreya seeds, and aristolochia fruit, along with neem root bark and pumpkin.

1. Exterior-releasing herbs

Herbs that release the exterior primarily disperse pathogenic factors; their pungent flavor is indicated for conditions of cold, heat, and pain.

For exterior syndromes of wind-cold and wind-heat, prolonged decoction and extended use are inadvisable;

In cases of deficiency, one must be cautious to avoid harming the vital essence; warming initially dispels pathogenic factors and clears heat as well.

It can eliminate edema and relieve cough and wheezing; in some cases, it also alleviates pain and promotes the eruption of rashes.

1.1 Warm and Mild Exterior-Resolving Herbs

Xinwen Jiebiao San disperses wind-cold; its pungent-warm nature enables it to disperse.

Exogenous chills accompanied by pain, with a floating, tight, thin, and white pulse, along with various types of sweating.

Ephedra, Asarum, and Cinnamon Twig; Schizonepeta, Ledebouriella, Angelica, and White Angelica Root;

Perilla, ginger, and ledebouriella; white parts of scallions, notopterygium, and xanthium seeds.

Coriander, Elsholtzia, and willow of the Xi River—to clear the nasal passages and open the orifices, one must use pungent herbs like Xinyi.

1.2 Pungent-Cool Exterior-Resolving Herbs

Xinliang herbs disperse the exterior and dispel wind-heat; when heat predominates and cold is mild, there is thirst in the mouth and throat.

Headache, red eyes, thin yellow coating on the tongue, floating and rapid pulse, and dry cough.

Kudzu root, bupleurum, and cimicifuga; cicada slough, chrysanthemum, and mulberry leaves;

Cowherb and Vitex, duckweed fermented soybeans and peppermint;

Later, horsetail causes discomfort; traditionally, soybean curd is used to clear damp-heat.

2. Heat-Clearing and Detoxifying Medicines

Heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs are diverse, promoting bowel movement to eliminate dryness, detoxify, cool the blood, and reduce fever;

Use with caution in cases of poor appetite and loose stools, as cold and cooling herbs can easily damage the spleen and stomach.

2.1 Heat-Clearing and Fire-Purging Medicines

Clearing heat is indicated for qi-level heat, with excess patterns in various zang-fu organs.

High fever with profuse sweating and a large, bounding pulse indicates deficiency and depletion of vital energy, necessitating tonification.

Gypsum, Anemarrhena, Prunella, Hedyotis, Flos Lonicerae, Phragmites rhizome, and Gardenia.

Goujingcao is paired with Mimenghua, and bear bile can be combined with Qingxiangzi;

Eye-brightening tea with night-glow sand; bamboo leaves cannot compare with cassia seeds.

2.2 Heat-Clearing and Damp-Drying Herbs

Heat-clearing and damp-drying herbs are bitter and cold in nature, indicated for dysentery, phlegm, hemorrhoids, fistulas, and diarrhea.

Jaundice, dark urine, purulent discharge from the ears, dysuria with yellowish discharge, and lower-jiao heat.

Coptis and Scutellaria with Phellodendron, plus Gentian and Sophora;

Within the bark of Dictamnus, Tangsongcao, and Hu Huangqinpi can also be used.

2.3 Heat-Clearing and Detoxifying Herbs

Heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs are cold in nature; used for venomous insect bites and cancer.

For febrile illnesses with sore and swollen throat, and for toxic dysentery and skin sores, nothing is more effective than this.

2.3.1 Medication for Warm Diseases

Warmly heat gold, silver, forsythia, and big green leaves, then add isatis root;

Indigo, mung bean, and Andrographis; bear bile, lithospermum, and evergreen.

Clears heat and detoxifies—mountain cymbidium; many others are included as well.

2.3.2 Principal Medications for Pharyngeal Swelling and Pain

Treat the throat with Shan Dou Gen, She Gan, Ma Bo, Suan Jiang, and Jin Guo Lan;

Olive-wood rule, big green leaves—match them however you like.

2.3.3 Heat-Clearing Medicines for Dysentery

For heat-toxin diarrhea and dysentery: Pulsatilla, Chinese bark, duck bile, and purslane.

2.3.4 Medicines for Heat-Toxin Sores and Ulcers

For heat-toxin sores and ulcers: dandelion, purple-flowered ground-ivy, and tufuling.

Paris polyphylla, Hedyotis diffusa, Bletilla striata, and Ampelopsis japonica;

Cigu, Loulu, and Qianliguang; half a branch of golden buckwheat is used in the formula.

2.4 Heat-Clearing and Blood-Cooling Herbs

When there is heat in the blood, cool-the-blood herbs are indicated; mental confusion, erratic behavior, and insomnia at night may ensue.

When heat invades the營, causing hematemesis, epistaxis, and hematochezia, nourish yin with sweet, bitter, salty, and cold herbs.

Cooling the blood: Rehmannia and Xuan Shen; Red Peony and Lithospermum, plus Peony.

Ox horn, bezoar, and dictamnus bark—plus loofah fiber—are all time-honored traditional remedies.

2.5 Elimination of Pseudo-Heat Medicines

Deficient heat with bone-steaming primarily injures yin, characterized by vexing heat in the palms, soles, and heart, along with a rapid, fine pulse.

Liver and kidney yin deficiency with excessive internal heat, occurring in the later stage of febrile diseases and manifesting as nocturnal emission.

For a red tongue with scant coating, use this formula: Artemisia, White Weir, and Cortex Lycii.

Silver Bupleurum and Picrorhiza scrophulariiflora must be combined for pediatric malnutrition with accumulation.

3. Cathartics

A purgative that promotes bowel movement and effectively eliminates accumulated fluid retention.

3.1 Capture the Medicine

The purgative herbs most often employed are bitterly cold in nature: rhubarb, aloe, and mirabilite.

Glauber’s salt is more potent, while mirabilite is milder; senna leaves lie in between.

3.2 Moistening and Descending Medicines

Moisten and cool the fire with hemp seeds, plum kernels, apricot kernels, peach kernels, walnuts, and Chinese juniper seeds;

Senna honey, Trichosanthes seed, angelica, perilla seed, and mulberry fruit;

Cistanche, Cuscuta, and Polygonum multiflorum—when body fluids are depleted, constipation ensues, and heat damages the yin.

3.3峻下逐水药

峻下逐水 herbs are highly potent and generally intolerable for most people;

The medicine induces profuse diarrhea to eliminate edema, expel accumulated phlegm and fluid, and promote diuresis.

Toxins can easily damage the body’s vital energy; pregnant women who are weak should avoid taking medications indiscriminately.

Gansui, Daji, and Yuanhua; Shanglu, Badou, and Qianniuzi.

4. Wind-Dampness-Removing Medicines

In addition to dispelling wind-cold and damp pathogenic factors, herbs that eliminate wind-dampness relieve bi syndrome and pain.

It is indicated for damp-bi, spasm, numbness, and paralysis, as well as weakness of the lower back and limbs.

4.1 Wind-Dampness-Dispelling and Cold-Dispersing Herbs

Dispel wind and散cold with pungent, bitter, and warm herbs: Du Huo, Chuan Wu, and Lei Gong Teng.

Chinese snakewood, papaya, weilingxian, silkworm excrement, pine knots, and xun gu feng;

Ligusticum sinense wraps around Piper kadsura, while Geranium thunbergii is seen with Lysimachia christinae.

4.2 Wind-Dampness-Removing and Heat-Clearing Herbs

Dispelling wind and clearing heat often involves bitter-cold herbs, as heat-induced bi syndrome presents with redness, swelling, and pain in the joints;

Flower snake, Xanthium, black-striped snake, Qin艽, Stephania tetrandra, and Trachelospermum jasminoides;

Herba Siegesbeckiae, Ramulus Mori, Cortex Pittospori, Tiger Bone, Leopard Bone, and Spiny Antelope Root.

4.3 Dispelling Wind and Strengthening Muscles and Bones

Wind-dispelling and tendon-strengthening herbs are mostly warm in nature; they fortify bones, treat soft tissue disorders, and tonify the kidneys and liver.

Also benefits the water channels: Five-leaf Acanthopanax, Mistletoe of Mulberry, and Thousand-Year-Old Ginger.

5. Aromatic Damp-Drying Herbs

Aromatic herbs that transform dampness primarily tonify the spleen; pungent, aromatic, and warming herbs should be avoided in cases of deficiency-fire.

Do not overfry when there is plenty of oil; add it to the formula only after the other ingredients are added.

Patchouli, Atractylodes, Amomum villosum, and Amomum tsao-ko.

6. Diuretic and Damp-Draining Herbs

Diuretic herbs have a sweet and bland nature, promoting the drainage of dampness and alleviating edema and dysuria.

Effective in eliminating dampness and jaundice; indicated for phlegm-dampness and diarrhea with disharmony.

Depleting body fluids and damaging yin, kidney deficiency of severe degree should not be treated lightly.

6.1 Diuretic and Anti-edema Medicines

Promotes diuresis and reduces edema but does not facilitate bowel movements; indicated for diarrhea and phlegm-dampness.

Alisma, Lagenaria, Pericarpium of Citrulli, mole cricket, shepherd’s purse, and coix seed.

Red adzuki beans and corn silk, together with Poria, promote diuresis and drain dampness.

Winter melon rind can eliminate edema, and poria penetrates the kidney and bladder meridians.

6.2 Diuretic and Urinary-Flow-Enhancing Medicines

Diuretic and litholytic herbs are cold in nature and primarily enter the Bladder and Kidney meridians;

You Qing treats dampness and heat in the lower burner, resulting in four types of dysuria characterized by short, reddish urine.

Plantain seeds and plantain herb, mallow and bladderwort, and Akebia stem;

Talc and Stephania tetrandra, along with Hedyotis diffusa, are incorporated into Diuretic Spirit;

Stone fern, rhizoma dryopteris, and fructus kochiae; for nocturnal fright and insomnia, combine with ligustri lucidi herb.

6.3 Drugs for Removing Dampness and Jaundice

For dampness-resolving and jaundice-reducing treatment, use Artemisia capillaris and Polygonum cuspidatum, in addition to Lysimachia christinae.

Dehumidifies, reduces jaundice, and detoxifies swelling; moneywort can treat sores and snake bites.

7. Warming Herbs

Warming herbs can dispel cold; pungent, hot, and warming herbs that tonify the kidneys can restore yang.

Cold in the interior, cold in the organs, and yang deficiency: abdominal coldness with vomiting and diarrhea due to depletion of kidney yang.

Cold intolerance, cold limbs, pale complexion, poor appetite, and limb distension;

When the pulse is faint and nearly extinguished, it becomes clear and long; in cases of heat injury leading to deficiency and pregnancy, caution should be exercised when prescribing formulas.

Aconite, cinnamon, and fennel; Wu Zhu Yu, Gao Liang, and dried ginger;

Pepper, Sichuan pepper, and long pepper; outside of these are cloves.

8. Qi-regulating herbs

Medicines that move qi are intended to regulate qi; if their action is too strong, they will instead deplete qi.

Pungent, aromatic, bitter, and warm—dispersing, draining, and penetrating; warming to promote smooth flow and facilitate the circulation of qi.

Warm dryness harms yin and is wary of qi deficiency; lightly decocted formulas are contraindicated in pregnancy as they may deplete qi.

Tangerine peel, orange-red peel, and green peel, along with sandalwood and agarwood, are all paired with bitter orange fruit.

Wuyao, Xiangfu, Chuanlianzǐ, Foshou, citron seeds, and lychee;

Gansong sword bean and allium tuberosum, rose blossoms play with the persimmon stem.

9. Digestive Medicines

Medicines that aid digestion dissolve stagnation and accumulation, gently guiding and harmonizing the spleen and stomach meridians.

For deficiency and stagnation, harmonize the flow of qi; for deficiency-cold and damp obstruction, warm the middle with aromatic herbs.

Hawthorn, Shenqu, barley malt, radish seed, and chicken gizzard lining.

10. Anthelmintic

Many anthelmintic drugs are toxic and can clear accumulation in the spleen, stomach, and large intestine;

It kills insects, eliminates malnutrition, resolves jaundice, and completely cures itching, hunger, and umbilical pain.

The magistrate’s areca nuts and neem bark, crane buds, leech pills, and pumpkin seeds;

Guanzhong, garlic, pomegranate root, as well as heshi and torreya seeds.

11. Hemostatic drugs

Hemostatic medicines come in various forms: cooling the blood to resolve stasis, warming to consolidate, and dispersing to dissipate.

Cold and warm herbs have different dispersing and astringent properties; their indications correspond to bleeding and purpura.

11.1 Blood-Cooling and Hemostatic Medicines

Cool the blood and stop bleeding with large and small thistles, geum, sophora flowers, and white pampas grass roots;

For heat-induced cough with copious phlegm, add Platycladus orientalis; for fetal preservation and detoxification, add ramie root.

11.2 Blood-Stasis-Resolving and Hemostatic Medicines

To resolve blood stasis and stop bleeding from trauma, use Sanqi, madder root, and typha pollen.

Regulating qi and invigorating blood are often combined, with no departure from flower stamen stone and agarwood.

11.3 Hemostatic Agents with Convergent Effects

Astringent herbs that promote hemostasis often have a strong astringent taste; use them with caution when blood stasis is evident at the onset.

For deficiency and external injuries, lotus root nodes, crane’s bill, and bletilla are highly effective;

Palm charcoal and blood-remnant charcoal, plus purple pearl and hedgehog skin.

11.4 Warm-Meridian Hemostatic Medicines

Warm the meridians to stop bleeding with mugwort leaves; the common people also use hearth soil.

The Liver and Spleen meridians are warm and hot in nature; the Spleen fails to control the blood, and the Chong Meridian is unstable.

It is commonly paired with Yijian to warm the kidney palace; however, it is contraindicated in cases of deficiency heat and erratic bleeding.

Stove soil, also known as “Fulonggan,” is charred yellow, deep reddish-brown, and finely soft.

12. Blood-activating and stasis-resolving herbs

It invigorates blood and dispels stasis, returning to the heart and liver; its pungent and bitter nature enables it to circulate freely.

Promotes blood circulation, disperses stasis, unblocks the meridians, relieves bi syndrome and reduces swelling, and also alleviates pain.

Heavy menstrual bleeding depletes the blood; if it flows freely without stasis, pregnancy should be approached with caution.

12.1 Blood-Activating and Pain-Relieving Medicines

Promoting blood circulation and relieving pain is the primary function of Duoxin San; regulating qi benefits conditions characterized by stagnation and blood stasis.

Chuanxiong, myrrh, yanhusuo, turmeric, frankincense, and yujin.

Vinegar, Sanleng, Wulingzhi, plus Ezhushi and Danshen to relieve pain.

12.2 Blood-Activating and Menstrual-Regulating Herbs

Promotes blood circulation and regulates menstruation, primarily for gynecological conditions; effectively removes blood stasis and alleviates pain from injuries and falls.

Red flower, zelan, motherwort; achyranthes, king of herbs, not leaving, salvia.

The rose is outshone by the trumpet vine; peach kernels are no match for chicken-blood vine.

12.3 Blood-Activating and Injury-Healing Medicines

Promotes blood circulation to heal injuries, reduce swelling and pain, foster tissue regeneration, stop bleeding, and restore tendons and bones.

However, copper, earthworm, strychnos seeds, blood resin, sappan wood, and drynaria;

For injuries from falls and blows, as well as blood stasis and obstruction, Royal Liu Jinu is indispensable.

12.4 Blood-Activating and Mass-Resolving Medicines

It has a potent blood-breaking and mass-resolving effect; it must be used for treating masses, lumps, and accumulations.

Curcuma, Acorus, leeches, blister beetles, horseflies, and pangolins;

Dried lacquer, soapberry, and prickly ash; verbena, but no wolfsbane.

13. Cough-suppressing, expectorant, and bronchodilator drugs

Phlegm-resolving and phlegm-transforming medicines, as well as cough-suppressing and asthma-relieving agents, constitute another category;

Shortness of breath, phlegm, confusion, mania, dizziness, limb numbness; sudden fright, hemiplegia, goiter, and inability to move.

At the onset of measles, do not suppress the cough; the key is to clear and diffuse the lung qi.

13.1 Warm and Transform Cold Phlegm Medicines

Medicines for cold phlegm are mostly warm and drying; they should be used with caution in cases of heat-dryness-induced hemoptysis.

White Aconite, Pinellia, White Mustard Seed, White Stemona, Soapnut, and Arisaema;

Use Flos Farfarae to reverse rebellion and stop vomiting, and use Platycodon grandiflorus to disperse phlegm and pus.

13.2 Heat-Clearing and Phlegm-Resolving Medicines

Herbs that clear heat and resolve phlegm are cold in nature and are generally not used for cold phlegm or damp phlegm.

Bamboo茹, Trichosanthes fruit, and Tianzhu Huang; Fritillaria bulb, Peucedanum root, and Platycodon.

Sea cucumber shell and yellow root, kelp and wakame;

Pumice, Sterculia seeds, and Qingmeng stone are also included in the formula.

13.3 Cough-Relieving and Asthma-Soothing Medicines

In clinical practice, the choice of medication varies depending on whether cough and wheezing are due to cold, heat, deficiency, or excess.

Aster, Stemona, Perilla seeds, mulberry bark, loquat leaves, and bitter almonds;

Ginkgo, potato, and golden flower; houttuynia and fritillaria precede the winter heliotrope.

14. Sedatives

Calming the spirit and stabilizing the will is akin to medicine; the heart and liver are closely interconnected.

Palpitations, insomnia, and mental restlessness; frequent, frenzied dreams that can be treated symptomatically.

Crush the ore thoroughly before prolonged decoction; do not use the toxic powder or pill for extended periods.

14.1 Sedative Medicines for Calming the Heart

The heart is agitated by excessive heart-fire, with rising liver-yang and restless mind;

Calming the liver and subduing yang to stabilize the spirit; palpitations and insomnia due to heart-fire disturbing the mind.

Cinnabar, dragon bone, and magnetite; amber and tonghua can calm the mind.

Oyster pearls and black lead were commonly used in the past, as was amethyst.

14.2 Heart-Nourishing and Spirit-Soothing Herbs

The seed kernel is sweet and moist, nourishing the body; when the heart and kidneys are out of harmony, one often dreams at night.

Sour Jujube, Chinese Parasol Tree Seeds, Albizia Bark, Polygala Root, Poria, and Honeysuckle Vine.

15. Liver-soothing herbs

Herbs that calm the liver, subdue yang, and suppress wind all enter the Liver meridian, yet differ in their properties.

Yin deficiency and blood depletion contraindicate warming and drying herbs; cold and cooling herbs are ineffective for treating deficiency and palpitations.

Excessive liver fire generates wind, while phlegm obstruction and blood deficiency readily lead to loss of consciousness.

15.1 Liver-Calming and Yang-Subduing Herbs

Pearl oyster, oyster shell, and lithopone to calm the liver and subdue yang;

Ochre, tribulus, and purple shell teeth—collectively clear heat and calm the mind.

15.2 Wind-Calming and Spasm-Relieving Medicines

To calm the wind and arrest convulsions in cases of blood deficiency, use goat’s horn, bezoar, and hook vine.

Tianma, Quanxie, Red Earth Dragon; Jiangcan, Chuanshe, and Centipede are used for sores and snakes.

16. Opening-orifice medicines

Medicines that open the orifices are mostly aromatic, easily volatilizing and suitable for making powders and pills;

Camphor, sweet flag, suhe incense, musk, toad venom, and borneol;

Spicy herbs are only for emergency relief; prolonged use to treat superficial symptoms will damage the vital essence.

17. Tonifying Herbs

Deficiency of qi and blood, as well as yin and yang, are addressed by four major categories of tonifying herbs.

Do not abuse it when you are weak; once you harm your vital energy, you will have no regrets.

17.1 Qi-tonifying Herbs

Qi deficiency leads to few words, easy bloating and diarrhea; lack of qi results in easy sweating, shortness of breath, and aversion to physical activity.

Tonify qi with ginseng, white hyacinth bean, astragalus, codonopsis, and pseudoginseng;

Atractylodes and Chinese yam with jujubes, malt syrup, honey, and American ginseng;

Licorice, black-bone chicken, and gynostemma; in ancient times, polygonatum was also used.

17.2 Tonifying Yang Herbs

Yang deficiency presents with aversion to cold, cold extremities, soreness and weakness in the lower back and knees, and mental fatigue.

A bland and cold constitution often leads to infertility, frequent urination, and a tendency to leak qi and essence.

Tonify yang with deer antler, Morinda root, and epimedium; use Curculigo and horny goat weed, along with sea dog kidney.

Cuscuta and Cynomorium for tonifying the bones, Dipsacus and Amomum for reinforcing the kidneys and enhancing intelligence;

Gecko, Lepidium seed, placenta, cordyceps, and stone walnut kernels;

In addition, eucommia strengthens the bones and muscles and stabilizes the fetus and consolidates the meridians in this formula.

17.3 Blood-tonifying Medicines

Pale lips and nails, tinnitus, insomnia, forgetfulness, scanty and pale menstruation—these are signs of blood deficiency.

Dang Gui, Shu Di, Bai Shao, E Jiao, He Shou Wu, and Long Yan are used.

17.4 Yin-Nourishing Herbs

Yin deficiency with tidal fever, blurred and dim vision, knee weakness, constipation, and dry cough;

Use with caution in cases of cold-damp phlegm syndrome, spleen deficiency with abdominal distension, and loose stools.

17.4.1 Medicines for Lung and Stomach Yin Deficiency

For deficiency of lung and stomach yin, use Adenophora, Dendrobium, Ophiopogon, and Asparagus.

Lily bulb, Ophiopogon, and Polygonatum, with American ginseng used in the case of Tai Xu.

17.4.2 Medicines for Liver and Kidney Yin Deficiency

Goji berries for liver and kidney yin deficiency; turtle plastron and tortoise shell; Chinese mahogany seeds.

Mulberry, sesame, and black hair herb—this formula is for yin deficiency causing white hair.

18. Astringent Medicines

Astringent herbs can consolidate the root; prolonged cough, diarrhea, leukorrhea, and frequent urination.

Spontaneous and night sweats accompanied by deficiency-related wheezing—astringent treatment addresses the symptoms but not the root cause.

18.1 Consolidating the Exterior to Stop Sweating

Astringing the exterior and stopping perspiration belongs to the Lung meridian; yin deficiency with internal heat damages the body fluids.

When spleen and lung qi are deficient and the exterior is neglected, use floating wheat and ephedra root.

Five-flavor five-times mountain cornel; not indicated for conditions characterized by spontaneous sweating.

18.2 Astringing the Lungs and Stopping Diarrhea

Astringent herbs that consolidate the lungs and astringe the intestines have a sour taste; they are indicated for deficiency-related dysentery, diarrhea, and cough.

Poppy shells and cinnabar, pomegranate peel and gallnuts;

Black plum, Chinese jujube, and litharge; nutmeg and schisandra.

18.3 Medicines for Consolidating Essence, Astringing Leucorrhea, and Restricting Urination

It consolidates essence, restrains urination, and stops leukorrhea; however, it is contraindicated in cases of damp-heat-induced enuresis.

Cornus fruit, lotus seeds, and Euryale seeds; sea-buckthorn, two-seeded fruit, and golden cherry.

Nourish and tonify the liver, kidneys, and spleen to address the root cause.

19. Emetic drugs

Induces vomiting to expel phlegm, food stagnation, and toxins; its potent action can easily deplete the vital essence.

The elderly, the infirm, children, and pregnant women with cough and tuberculosis—every contraindication to treatment must be thoroughly remembered.

Corydalis and copper sulfate are also used, along with melon pedicels and table salt.

20. Topical medication

Topically applied to detoxify and treat sores, it expels toxins, kills parasites, and relieves itching;

It draws out toxins, dissolves decay, and promotes the regeneration of healthy tissue, ensuring smooth drainage of abscesses and boils.

Most highly toxic substances must be stored securely, whether taken internally or applied externally.

20.1 Insecticidal, Detoxicating, Dehumidifying, and Anti-Pruritic Medicines

It treats poisoning, kills insects and snake bites, and also dries dampness to relieve itching;

Alum, Cnidium, realgar, and Rhus verniciflua are used externally, as is sulfur.

Garlic, soil, and honeysuckle bark—remove the toxicity and take internally; details are explained in depth.

Light powdered camphor and mercury, with toads lending a hand as well.

20.2 Detoxifying, Debriding, and Tissue-Regenerating Medicines

Transforming decay into new flesh is highly toxic; drawing out the poison and elevating the medicine is akin to arsenic.

Light powder, lead丹, calamine, borax, blister beetles, and arsenic.

Pine resin, spider, wood apple, catechu, blood-resin, and castor seeds;

Sesame oil, realgar, and strychnos seeds; commonly mixed with lime and rat droppings.