Properties: Salty, cold
Meridans Entered:
Primary: Liver and Kidney
Extraordinary Vessels: Chong, Ren, Yin Qiao
Traditional Actions/Indications:
- Nourishes Yin and anchors Yang
Yin Deficiency with fever, steaming bone disorder, night sweats or consumption
Internal stirring of Liver Wind
- Invigorates the Blood, promotes menstruation, softens hardness and dissipates nodules
Chest and flank accumulations with pain and amenorrhea
Excessive menstruation due to Hot Blood
Malarial disorders with palpable masses
- Heavily anchors, descends, unblocks and facilitates the functions of the Blood vessels
Problems in children due to internal clumping
Suggested Daily Dosage: 10-15g in decoction.
Cautions: 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 is generally substituted with Qing Hao and Sheng Di Huang, or Huang Jing.
Turtles may also act as viral reservoirs and have been proposed as the potential intermediate host for coronavirus between bats and humans (Liu et al., 2020.
Appears in 9 formulae listed on this site: (click to display)
Research Links & References: (click to display)
Research Links:
Reference Notes:
Individual herb information has sourced mainly from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes. Zhou, Xie and Yan (2011): Encyclopedia of Traditional Chinese Medicines, Vol. 5, has been used for entries not available from those sources with additional material searched for and filled in where available. Western herbs not appearing in the Chinese literature have used Ross (2010): Combining Western Herbs and Chinese Medicine: A Clinical Materia Medica, White Rabbit Institute of Healing and therapeutika.ch. Choices of which source to use or combine have been my own.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted. Actions and indications are taken from traditional uses and do not necessarily reflect the evidence base which should be researched independently. Dosages are for guidance only and will vary dependening on the potency of the batch and the tolerance of the individual so should be evaluated by a professional based on individual needs.
