Pinyin: Jin Yin Hua  Chinese: 金银花
Pharmaceutical: Flos Lonicerae japonicae
Taxonomy: Lonicera japonica
English: Honeysuckle Flower

Tastes: Pungent, slightly bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Lung, heart, stomach and large intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and resolves Fire Toxicity
   Hot, painful sores and skin eruptions in various stages of development, especially breast, throat and eyes
   Intestinal abscesses
2. Vents and disperses External Wind-Heat
   Early-Stage Wind-Heat Warm-Heat pathogen with fever, chills, slight aversion to Wind, sore throat and headache
   External Summerheat
3. Clears Damp-Heat from the Lower Jiao
   Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with dysentery or Lin Syndrome
4. Cools the Blood and stops bleeding (charred)
   Blood Heat dysentery
5. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   Mysterious bruises due to Ghost Strike (鬼擊) (Wilcox, 2024)

Standard Dosage: 6-30g in decoction. Small doses are for expelling Wind-Heat, large doses for Toxic Heat sores. Can be up to 90g in extreme cases (e.g. Si Miao Yong An Tang).

Pinyin: Zi Hua Di Ding  Chinese: 紫花地丁
Pharmaceutical: Herba Violae
Taxonomy: Viola yedoensis Makino seu prionantha (see notes)
English: Violet herb

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, cold
Meridians Entered: Heart and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and resolves Toxicity, cools the Blood and disperses swelling
   Red and swollen eyes
   Mastitis
   Jaundice
   Dysentery
   Sore throat with swelling and pain
   Topically for bruises and snake bites
2. Clears Hot Sores (Chuang Yung), internally and topically
   Deep rooted sores and abscesses, especially if red and swollen and located on the head and back

Standard Dosage: 15-30g in decoction.

Pinyin: Pu Gong Ying  Chinese: 蒲公英
Pharmaceutical: Herba Taraxaci
Taxonomy: Taraxacum mongolicum seu officinalis
English: Dandelion

Tastes: Bitter, sweet, cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Stomach and Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Reduces abscesses and dissipates nodules
   Internal abscesses and external sores particularly if they are firm and hard, especially breast and intestinal abscess, Chuang Yung (internally and topically)
2. Clears the Liver and clears the eyes
   Eye redness and swelling (alone as a steam)
   Liver Heat, cirrhosis
3. Clears Heat, resolves Dampness and unblocks painful urinary dysfunction
   Damp-Heat painful urinary dysfunction
   Damp-Heat jaundice
4. Relieves Fire toxicity
   Fire toxicity , swollen, painful throat, upper respiratory tract infection
5. Promotes lactation
   Insufficient lactation due to Heat
6. Clears Heat in the Blood
   Congested Fire of the Spleen and Stomach

Standard Dosage: 10-30g in decoction.
Cautions: Overdosage may cause loose bowel or excessive urination. Concurrent use with quinolone antibiotics such as Ciprofloxacin may influence the bioavailability and disposition of the quinolone antibiotics.

Pinyin: Ye Ju Hua  Chinese: 野菊花
Pharmaceutical: Flos Chrysanthemi Indici
English: Wild Chrysanthemum Flower

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Lung and Heart

Actions & Indications:

1. Drains Fire and resolves toxicity
   Fire toxicity with sore, swollen throat
   Furuncles, carbuncles and sores (Chuang Yung)
   Liver-Wind Fire causing red eyes
   As an external wash for itching

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Xia Ku Cao  Chinese: 夏枯草
Pharmaceutical: Spica Prunellae
Taxonomy: Prunella vulgaris
English: Self-heal Spike / All-Heal Spike

Tastes: Bitter and pungent
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Liver Fire and brightens the eyes
   Liver Fire with red, painful or swollen eyes or headache and dizziness
   Eye pain which is worse in the evening due to Liver Yin Deficiency, especially when the eyes are neither red nor swollen
2. Clears Hot Phlegm and dissipates nodules
   Any neck lumps or nodules due to Phlegm-Fire such as scrofula, lipoma, carbuncle, swollen glands or goiter
3. Lowers blood pressure
   Hypertension due to Liver Fire or Liver Yang Rising

Standard Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.

Pinyin: Qing Hao  Chinese: 青蒿
Pharmaceutical: Herba Artemisiae Annuae
Taxonomy: Artemisia Annua
English: Sweet Wormwood

Tastes: Bitter, pungent, cold
Meridians Entered: Liver, Gallbladder and Kidney

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Summerheat or Damp-Heat
   Summerheat with low fever, headache, dizziness and a stifling sensation in the chest
2. Clears Deficiency fevers
   Blood Deficiency or Yin Deficiency fevers
   Sequelae of a febrile disease
   Especially good when steaming bone patterns are marked by anhidrosis
3. Cools the Blood and stops bleeding
   Purpuric rashes or epistaxis due to Blood Heat
4. Stops malarial disorders and relieves Heat
   Malarial disorders with alternating chills and fever
5. Clears Liver Heat and brightens the eyes
   Liver Yang Rising with red eyes, dizziness and photophobia
6. Kills Parasites and expels Ghosts and Demons
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   Around 1^st century BCE, it's fragrance was used ritually to mask the smell of the dead (Liu et al., 2013), where it may have earned its ability to treat ghost possession and then other lingering pathogens with perceived supernatural origins.

Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.

Pinyin: Sang Zhi  Chinese: 桑枝
Pharmaceutical: Ramulus Mori
Taxonomy: Morus alba
English: Mulberry Twig

Tastes: Slightly bitter, mild
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Dispels Wind-Dampness, unblocks the channels and collaterals, benefits the joints and stops spasms
   Wind-Damp with spasms, especially warm Bi in the upper extremities
   Numbness in the extremities or hemiplegia as sequelae for Wind-Stroke
2. Promotes diuresis and reduces oedema (regulates water metabolism)
   Edema especially when accompanied by joint pain

Standard Dosage: 9-30g in decoction.

Pinyin: Bai Mao Gen  Chinese: 白茅根
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Imperatae
Taxonomy: Imperata cylindrica
English: Wooly Grass Rhizome / Lanlang Grass Rhizome / Cogongrass Rhizome / Imperata Rhizome

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

Actions & Indications:

1. Cools the Blood and stops bleeding
   Bleeding due to Blood Heat with epistaxis, hematemesis, hemoptysis and hematuria
2. Clears Heat and promotes urination
   Lin Syndrome Heat patterns with oedema and urinary difficulty
3. Clears Heat from the Stomach and Lungs
   Stomach Heat with nausea and thirst Lung Heat with wheezing
4. Wards off Ghosts (鬼 Gui)
   Baopuzi says that if you see a ghost in the mountains, throw some Bai Mao at it and it will die (Wen, 2024).

Standard Dosage: 15-30g in decoction.