Pinyin: Jing Jie  Chinese: 荆芥
Pharmaceutical: Herba Schizonepetae
English: Japanese Catnip

Tastes: Pungent, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Lung and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Releases the Exterior and expels Wind
   Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat Carbuncles or boils (Chuang Yung) when they first erupt - especially with chills and fever
2. Vents rashes and relieves itching
   Initial-stage measles and pruritic skin eruptions
3. Stops bleeding
   Hemorrhage (auxiliary)
4. Dispels Wind and relieves muscle spasms
   Postpartum spasms, trismus, muscle cramps and spasms due to Wind

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.

Pinyin: E Jiao  Chinese: 阿胶
Pharmaceutical: Colla Corii Asini
English: Donkey-Hide Gelatin / Ass-Hide Glue

Tastes: Sweet, neutral
Meridians Entered: Lung, Liver, Kidney and Heart

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies the Blood
   Blood Deficiency with dizziness, sallow or pale complexion and palpitations
2. Nourishes the Blood and stops bleeding
   Any kind of bleeding, especially consumptive disorders with hemoptysis, hemafecia, menorrhagia or metrorrhagia
3. Nourishes and moistens Yin
   Yin Deficiency with irritability and insomnia in the aftermath of a Warm febrile disease
4. Moistens the Lungs and Large Intestine
   Dry Lung coughs due to Yin Deficiency or consumption

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for spleen and stomach deficiency, poor appetite, loose stool due to spleen deficiency because it is greasy and will produce indigestion.

Animal products are prohibited from use in the UK under the Medicines Act 1968 ch. 67 which restricts herbalists to the use of plant products only. It may be substituted with a variety of Blood and Yin tonics depending on the formula, or gelatin from other animal sources such as pigs or cows included as dietary advice, provided it is not supplied by the herbalist as part of the prescription.

Pinyin: Chuan Shan Long  Chinese: 穿山龍
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Dioscoreae Nipponicae
Taxonomy: Dioscorea Nipponica
English: Japanese Yam Rhizome

Tastes: Bitter, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver and Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Dispels Wind and eliminates Dampness
   Wind-Damp Bi with numbness of the flesh and skin and difficulty flexing and extending the joints
   Commonly used for Hot Bi
2. Invigorates the Blood, unblocks the collaterals and relaxes the sinews
   Blood Stasis due to trauma
   Chest Bi
   Heart Qi and Blood Stagnation
3. Transforms Phlegm and alleviates cough
   Lung Heat coughs

Standard Dosage: 6-9g in decoction, or up to 30-45g fresh soaked in wine.

Pinyin: Yu Yu Liang  Chinese: 禹余粮
Pharmaceutical: Limonitum
Taxonomy: FeO(OH)⋅nH₂O
English: Limonite / Hydrated Ferric Oxide

Tastes: Sweet, astringent, neutral
Meridians Entered: Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Astringes the Intestines and stops diarrhoea
   Chronic diarrhoea or dysentery disorders
   Instability of the Lower Jiao with diarrhoea to the point of incontinence
   Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiencies diarrhoea especially in the elderly
2. Restrains leakage of Body Fluids and inhibits and stops bleeding
   Incessant vaginal discharge
   Unrelenting uterine bleeding
3. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of minerals which can, after sublimation, make one free from hunger, make the body light and prolong life. This may suggest it was part of supplementing the diet when engaging in an "avoiding grain" (Bigu 辟穀) fasting regime to cultivate life (Yangsheng 養生). Unusually, a second entry for Tai Yi Yu Yu Liang (太一禹馀粮, "Supreme Unity of Yu's Surplus Provisions"), possibly the sublimated version, is given, whose effects with prolonged taking are to resist cold and summerheat, prevent hunger and make one an immortal with a body so light it is able to fly a thousand li.

Standard Dosage: 10-20g in decoction.
Cautions: Use with caution for pregnant women.

Mineral products are prohibited from use in the UK under the Medicines Act 1968 ch. 67 which restricts herbalists to the use of plant products only.

Pinyin: Sang Bai Pi  Chinese: 桑白皮
Pharmaceutical: Cortex Mori
Taxonomy: Morus alba
English: Mulberry Root Bark

Tastes: Sweet, cold
Meridians Entered: Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Heat from the Lungs, stops coughing and calms wheezing
   Coughing and wheezing, fullness and hemoptysis due to Lung Heat
2. Promotes urination and reduces oedema
   Lung Heat obstructing the descending action of the Lung, preventing water from moving and stopping perspiration (floating oedema, facial oedema, swelling of the upper extremities, fever, thirst, urinary difficulty, a floating pulse)
3. Lowers blood pressure
   Hypertension

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for lung cold and wind-cold cough patients for its cold and descending property. It should be used with cautions for patients with much urine.

Pinyin: Hua Jiao / Chuan Jiao  Chinese: 花椒 / 川椒
Pharmaceutical: Pericarpium Zanthoxyli
Taxonomy: Zanthoxylum bungeanum seu schinifolium
English: Sichuan Pepper

Tastes: Pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Spleen, Stomach and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Warms the Middle Jiao, disperses Cold, dispels Dampness, relieves diarrhoea and alleviates pain
   Spleen and Stomach Deficiency Cold with Cold and pain in the abdomen, vomiting and diarrhoea
2. Kills Parasites and alleviates abdominal pain
   Abdominal pain due to roundworms
   Moist dermal ulcers
   Gu Parasites / chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)

Standard Dosage: 3-6g in decoction.