Properties: Pungent, bitter, slightly cold
Meridans Entered:
Primary: Heart, Liver and Lung
Traditional Actions/Indications:
- Aromatically opens the Orifices, revives the Spirit and unblocks closed disorders
Impaired consciousness fainting and convulsions
- Clears Heat, drains Fire, resolves toxicity, clears the eyes and removes Superficial Visual Obstructions
Heat leading to headache, red and swollen eyes, Superficial Visual Obstruction and sores in the mouth
- Clears Heat, alleviates pain, dissipates nodules and alleviates itching
Topically for pain and swelling of the throat, skin diseases such as sores and scabies, and eye diseases such as photophobia and excessive tearing
Suggested Daily Dosage: 0.1-0.3g in powder or pills for internal use. Should not be decocted.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for pregnant women.
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. While natural Bing Pian is a crystalised tree resin, the Dryobalanops aromatica is critically endangered making genuine Bing Pian expensive and morally questionable. Most Bing Pian is therefore synthetically made and not suitable for consumption. It is generally substituted with Shi Chang Pu and Yuan Zhi where possible.
Quality Tests:
Placed in a large bowl of water and lit it will zip around the surface. The natural borneol from tree resin will move in circles while the synthetic variety will move in linear triangular patterns (Open day at Avicenna Clinic Brighton, 2016).
Appears in 10 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.
