Pinyin: Huang Qin  Chinese: 黄芩
Pharmaceutical: Radix Scutellariae baicalensis
Taxonomy: Scutellaria baicalensis
English: Baical Skullcap Root

Tastes: Bitter, cold
Meridians Entered: Lung, Stomach, Gallbladder, Large Intestine and Bladder

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and dries Dampness
   Damp-Heat in the Stomach or Intestines with diarrhoea or dysenteric disorder
   Damp-Warmth with fever, a stifling sensation in the chest and thirst with no desire to drink
   Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with painful urinary dysfunction
   Damp-Heat jaundice (auxiliary), infectious hepatitis
2. Drains Fire and detoxifies
   Heat and Fire especially in the Upper Jiao (Lung) with high fever, irritability, thirst, cough and expectoration of thick, yellow sputum
   Upper respiratory tract infection
   Hot sores and swellings (topical or internal)
3. Cools the Blood and stops bleeding
   Xue Stage Heat or Blood Heat causing bleeding with epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematemesis and hemafecia
4. Clears Heat and calms the fetus
   Fetal restlessness due to Heat
5. Calms ascending Liver Yang
   Liver Yang Rising with headache, irritability, red eyes, flushed face and bitter taste
   High Blood pressure
   Gallbladder Heat

Standard Dosage: 5-15g 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: Zhi Zi  Chinese: 栀子
Pharmaceutical: Fructus Gardeniae
Taxonomy: Gardenia jasminoides
English: Gardenia Fruit

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

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat, reduces Fire and eliminates irritability in the San Jiao
   Excess Heat in the Heart, Stomach and Liver with high fever, irritability, restlessness, a stifling sensation in the chest, insomnia or delirious speech, eye problems, anger, jaundice
2. Clears Heat and resolves Dampness (Drains Damp-Heat)
   Damp-Heat in the Lower Jiao with painful urinary dysfunction (Lin Syndrome)
   Damp-Heat in the Liver/Gallbladder with jaundice
   Damp-Heat in the San Jiao
   Damp-Heat in the Gallbladder and San Jiao channels of the face affecting the nose and eyes or causing sores in the mouth or facial region
3. Cools the Blood and relieves toxicity (stops bleeding by astringing)
   Heat in the Blood with epistaxis, hematemesis, hemafecia or hematuria (partially charred)
4. Reduces swelling and invigorates the Blood
   Blood Stagnation due to trauma (topical)

Standard Dosage: 5-15g in decoction.
Cautions: Being strongly bitter in flavor and cold in nature, it is not good for deficiency-cold syndrome because it can easily impair spleen and stomach. It is contraindicated in case of loose stool due to spleen deficiency.

Pinyin: Bo He  Chinese: 薄荷
Pharmaceutical: Herba Menthae haplocalycis
Taxonomy: Mentha haplocalyx
English: Field Mint / Wild Mint

Tastes: Pungent, cool
Meridians Entered: Lung and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Disperses Wind-Heat, cools and clears the head and eyes and benefits the throat
   Wind-Heat with fever, cough, headache, red eyes and a sore throat
2. Vents rashes
   Early-stage rashes e.g. measles
3. Relieves Stagnation of Liver Qi
   Liver Qi Stagnation with pressure in the chest or flanks, emotional instability and gynecological problems
4. Expels turbid filth
   Exposure to unclean Qi in the Summertime leading to gastric distress with abdominal pain, vomiting. diarrhoea and a thick, yellow, greasy tongue coat
5. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   One of the chief herbs for treating Gu Syndrome, along with Bai Zhi and Zi Su Ye, classed as "open the exterior with snake killing herbs" (Fruehauf, 1998).

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.

Pinyin: Mu Dan Pi  Chinese: 牡丹皮
Pharmaceutical: Cortex radicis Moutan
Taxonomy: Paeonia suffruticosa
English: Tree Peony Root Bark / Moutan Peony Root Bark

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

Actions & Indications:

1. Clears Heat and cools (and harmonizes) the Blood
   Xue Stage Heat with epistaxis, hemoptysis, hematemesis or subcutaneous bleeding
   Menorrhagia due to Blood Heat
2. Clears Deficiency Fire
   Yin Deficiency Heat signs especially in the aftermath of Warm Febrile Disease with fever at night and coolness in the morning (most appropriate when the is no sweating)
3. Invigorates the Blood and dispels Blood Stasis
   Blood Stasis with amenorrhea, abdominal masses, lumps or bruises due to trauma
   Liver Blood Stagnation
4. Clears Liver Fire
   Liver Fire with headache, eye pain, flank pain, flushing and dysmenorrhea
5. Drains pus and reduces swelling
   Non-draining sores (topical)
   Intestinal abscesses (internal)

Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated in cases of profuse menstruation and pregnant women.

Pinyin: Dang Gui  Chinese: 當歸
Pharmaceutical: Radix Angelicae sinensis
Taxonomy: Angelica sinensis
English: Chinese Angelica Root / Tang-Kuei / Dong Quai Root

Tastes: Sweet, Pungent, Warm
Meridians Entered: Heart and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Tonifies the Blood and regulates the menses
   Blood Deficiency, especially when affecting the Heart and Liver with pale, ashen complexion, lusterless nails, tinnitus, blurred vision and palpitations
   Blood Deficiency associated irregular menstruation, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea
2. Invigorates and harmonizes the Blood and disperses Cold (stops pain due to Blood Stasis)
   Blood Stasis causing abdominal pain and carbuncles and pain due to Blood Stasis from traumatic injury, especially when accompanied by Deficiency Cold
   Postpartum menstruation
   Pregnancy (use with caution)
   Blood Deficiency with chronic Wind-Damp-Bi
3. Moistens the Intestines and unblocks the bowels
   Dry Intestines due to Blood Deficiency
4. Reduces swelling, expels pus, generates flesh and alleviates pain
   Sores and abscess (Chuang Yung), internally and topically
5. Stops coughing and treats dyspnea
   Used adjunctively for coughing
6. Tonifies the Blood while suppressing Parasites
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)

Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated in cases of Damp-Heat stagnating in the Middle, Lung Heat with Phlegm Fire, and Yin deficiency with effulgent Yang because it is warm and sweet in properties. In addition, it should be used with caution in cases of loose stool because it can moisten intestines to smooth stool.

Many sources recommend using caution, avoiding or only taking under guidance of a TCM physician during pregnancy as it can cause uterine contractions. However, there are no studies supporting this and the only scientific literature seems to suggest that Z-Ligustilide has anti-spasmodic activities that alleviate dysmenorrhoea by inhibiting uterine contractions (Du et al., 2006; Dietz et al., 2016).

Caution is also advised in breast cancer patients due to its oestrogen stimulating activity. This based upon Lau et al (2005) who found it may stimulate breast cancer growth in vitro, however Yue et al, (2019) demonstrated that it is not that stimulatory in breast cancer both in vitro and in vivo through a series of tests, although they suggested it should still be used with caution in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Conversely, a large population study in Taiwan by Wu et al (2014) found it reduced the subsequent risk of endometrial cancer in breast cancer survivors taking tamoxifen, especially in those of reproductive age.

Pinyin: Bai Shao  Chinese: 白芍
Pharmaceutical: Radix Paeoniae Alba
Taxonomy: Paeonia lactiflora
English: White Peony Root

Tastes: Bitter, sour, sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Spleen and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Nourishes the Blood and regulates menstruation
   Liver Blood Deficiency with menstrual dysfunction, vaginal discharge and uterine bleeding accompanied by a pale face, a lusterless complexion and dull, lusterless nails
   Anemia
   Breast distention and premenstrual syndrome
2. Astringes Yin and adjusts the Ying and Wei
   Yin Deficiency sweating Sweating due to Yin Collapse
   Disharmony between the Liver and Spleen
   Disharmony between the Ying and Wei with non-productive sweating
3. Calms Liver Yang and Liver Wind and alleviates pain
   Liver Qi Stagnation with Liver Yang Rising
   Liver Wind with Yin and Blood Deficiency
   Bi syndrome due to Blood Deficiency with pain and spasms
4. Softens the Liver and relieves pain
   Diarrhoea, borborygmus and abdominal pain
   Dysenteric disorders with tenesmus
5. Tonifies the Blood while suppressing Parasites
   Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)

Standard Dosage: 10-30g in decoction.
Cautions: Caution with anticoagulants as it may slow clotting time. May also slow the absorption of phenytoin.

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.