Pinyin: Bai Tou Weng  Chinese: 白头翁
Pharmaceutical: Radix Pulsatillae Chinensis
English: Pulsatilla Root / Chinese Anemone Root

Tastes: Bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Large Intestine, Liver and Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat, alleviates dysentery, cools the Blood and resolves Fire toxicity
   Dysentery, Damp-Heat in the Stomach or Intestines, hematochezia
   Toxic Fire dysentery
2. Expels Gu Parasites
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)

Standard Dosage: 9-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Huang Lian  Chinese: 黄连
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Coptidis
Taxonomy: Coptidis chinensis
English: Coptis Rhizome / Goldthread Rhizome

Tastes: Bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Heart, Stomach, Large Intestine and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and drains Dampness
   Damp-Heat in the Stomach or Intestines with diarrhoea or dysenteric disorder
   Stomach Heat with vomiting and/or acid regurgitation
2. Drains Fire and resolves Fire toxicity
   Heat with Blazing Fire (Toxic Heat) with high fever. irritability, disorientation, delirium, a red tongue and a rapid, full pulse
   Heat from Excess with toxicity: painful, red eyes and a sore throat
   Boils, carbuncles and abscesses (Chuang Yung)
3. Clears Heat and stops bleeding
   Blood Heat with epistaxis, hematuria, hemafecia and hemoptysis
4. Clears Heat topically
   Infected wounds, red and painful eyes, ulcerations of the tongue and mouth (topical)
5. Clears Heart Fire (sedative)
   Heart Fire
   Lack of communication between the Heart and Kidneys
6. Drains Stomach Fire
   Stomach Fire
7. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, improve memory. 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: 2-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for deficiency-cold syndrome. Because its taste is extremly bitter and dryness, overdosage and long-time taking will impair spleen and stomach, yin and fluids.

Pinyin: Huang Bai  Chinese: 黄柏
Pharmaceutical: Cortex Phellodendri
Taxonomy: Phellodendron amurense seu chinense
English: Amur Corktree Bark

Tastes: Bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Gallbladder, Large Intestine, Kidney and Bladder

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Damp-Heat especially from the Lower Jiao
   Thick, yellow vaginal discharge, foul smelling diarrhoea or dysenteric disorder
   Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao
   Hot Leg Qi with red, swollen, painful knees, legs or feet
   Damp-Heat jaundice
2. Drains Kidney Fire (False Heat, Deficiency Heat)
   Kidney Yin Deficiency with Empty Fire Rising (steaming bone disorder, night sweats, afternoon fevers and sweating, occasionally with nocturnal emissions and spermatorrhea)
3. Drains Fire and relieves Fire toxicity
   Toxic sores and Damp-skin lesions (internally and topically)

Standard Dosage: 6-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for deficiency-cold syndrome. Overdosage and long-time taking will impair spleen and stomach.

Pinyin: Qin Pi  Chinese: 秦皮
Pharmaceutical: Cortex Fraxini
Taxonomy: Fraxinus rhynchophylla seu bungeana seu chinensis seu paxiana seu szaboana seu stylosa
English: Ash Bark

Tastes: Bitter and cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Gallbladder, Large Intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat, resolves toxicity and dries Dampness; astringes diarrhoea and dysentery
   Diarrhoea, dysenteric disorders with blood in the stool
   Vaginal discharge due to Damp-Heat
2. Drains Liver Fire and benefits the eyes
   Liver Fire affecting the eyes with redness and swelling of the eyes, styes or superficial visual obstruction
3. Disperses Wind-Dampness
   Wind-Damp-Heat Bi
   Psoriasis (decoction used as a wash)
4. Calms wheezing, stops coughs and resolves Phlegm
   Wheezing and coughs due to Lung Heat
5. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the middle class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, keep the head from becoming white and make the body light. 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: 6-12g in decoction.

Pinyin: Gan Cao  Chinese: 甘草
Pharmaceutical: Radix Glycyrrhizae
Taxonomy: Glycyrrhiza uralensis seu glabra seu inflata
English: Liquorice Root

Tastes: Sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Heart, Lung and Spleen (and all 12 meridians)

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies the Spleen and augments Qi
   Spleen Qi Deficiency with shortness of breath, lassitude and loose stools
   Qi and Blood Deficiency with an irregular pulse and/or palpitations
   Heart Qi Deficiency or Heart Yang Deficiency
2. Moistens the Lungs, resolves Phlegm and stops coughing
   Lung Heat or Cold
   Productive or non-productive coughing
3. Moderates spasms and alleviates pain
   Painful muscle spasms of the abdomen and legs
4. Clears Heat and relieves Fire Toxicity
   Raw for Toxic Heat with sore throat or carbuncles and sores (Chuang Yung)
5. Antidote for many toxic substances (internal and topical)
   Poisoning
   Bites (after washing the wound, chew Gan Cao and apply a thick layer on the bite wound, changing whenever it dries out; Bao Xiang-Ao, 1846, New Compilation of Proven Formulas)
6. Moderates and harmonizes the harsh properties of other herbs and guides the herbs to all twelve channels
   Often added in small doses to harmonise formulas
7. Tonifies the Qi while suppressing Parasites
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
8. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the superior class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, 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).

Standard Dosage: Typically 1.5-9g in decoction. Large doses can be up 30g.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for combining with Hai Zao, Da Ji, Gan Sui and Yuan Hua because of "eighteen antagonisms". It is also contraindicated in cases of dampness obstruction in middle energizer and edema because it can help dampness obstruct qi, and it is prohibited from long-term usage in large dosage (more than 20g/day) and should be avoided or used with extreme caution in patients with high blood pressure because it may raise aldosterone levels in the blood causing retention of sodium.

The NHS recommends avoiding during pregnancy.

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.