Pinyin: Hua Shi  Chinese: 滑石
Pharmaceutical: Talcum / Magnesium Silicate
Taxonomy: Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂
English: Talc / Talcum Powder

Tastes: Sweet, bland and cold
Meridians Entered: Bladder, Lung and Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Promotes urination and drains Heat from the Urinary Bladder (aids the movement of gravel and stones), (expels Damp-Heat)
   Hot Painful Urinary Dysfunction (Lin Syndrome) with hot, painful urination, dark, painful, burning, scanty urine
   Damp-Heat diarrhoea
   Qi Level Heat with Dampness with unremitting fever, heavy feeling in the body, thirst, yellow tongue coat
2. Releases Summeheat and resolves Dampness
   Summerheat (fever, urinary difficulty, thirst)
3. Absorbs Dampness and clears Heat (topically)
   Damp skin lesions (eczema, damp sores, prickly heat)
4. Stops bleeding due to Heat
   Heat type bleeding
   Nosebleed, vomiting blood (taken internally) Bleeding from wounds and sores (topical)
5. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of minerals which can, with protracted taking, make the body light, free from hunger 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).

Standard Dosage: 10-20g in decoction, or applied externally.
Cautions: Talc can cause granulomas in the rectum, vagina or wounds and prolonged external use has also been linked to ovarian (Wentzensen & O'Brien, 2021), stomach (Chang et al., 2020) and lung (Chang et al., 2017) cancer but other reviews contradict these findings (Goodman et al., 2020) suggesting this may only be an effect seen in rats (Prueitt et al., 2024). For safety it should therefore not be used for prolonged periods.

It should also not be in inhaled as it can cause lung irritation and remain in the body for up to 40 years (Johnson, 2021).

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. It is generally substituted with Chi Fu Ling and Ze Xie.

Pinyin: Xue Yu Tan  Chinese: 血余炭
Pharmaceutical: Crinis Hominis adustus
English: Charred Human Hair

Tastes: Bitter, astringent, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver and Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Astringes leakage of Blood and stops bleeding
   Bleeding, especially epistaxis and uterine bleeding
2. Tonifies Yin and promotes urination
   Blood Lin
3. Eliminates Blood Stasis
   Blood Stasis
4. Generates flesh and resolves sores
   Topically for sores or burns that have already ulcerated

Standard Dosage: 6-10g in decoction, 1.5-3g as powder.

Pinyin: Bai Yu  Chinese: 白魚
Pharmaceutical: Caro Culteris
Taxonomy: Erythroculter ilishaeformis seu Culter erythropterus
English: Topmouth culter

Tastes: Sweet, neutral
Meridians Entered: Stomach, Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Stimulates appetite and aids digestion
   Food Stagnation of staple grains, indigestion
2. Strengthens the Spleen and promotes transport of fluids
   Oedema, swelling
   Malnutrition, physical weakness after illness
3. Combined with Hua Shi, it can nourish Yin, replenish Qi and promote urination
   Xiao Ke due to obstruction of the Spleen and Stomach

Standard Dosage: Eaten as food, 100g per serving.
Cautions: Should not be combined with Da Zao.

Avoid in cases of asthma and wheezing, cancer, lupus erythematosus, urticaria, lymph tuberculosis and boils.