Pinyin: Jing Jie  Chinese: 荆芥
Pharmaceutical: Herba Schizonepetae
English: Japanese Catnip

Tastes: Pungent, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Lung and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Releases the Exterior and expels Wind
   Wind-Cold or Wind-Heat Carbuncles or boils (Chuang Yung) when they first erupt - especially with chills and fever
2. Vents rashes and relieves itching
   Initial-stage measles and pruritic skin eruptions
3. Stops bleeding
   Hemorrhage (auxiliary)
4. Dispels Wind and relieves muscle spasms
   Postpartum spasms, trismus, muscle cramps and spasms due to Wind

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.

Pinyin: Fang Feng  Chinese: 防风
Pharmaceutical: Radix Saposhnikoviae seu Ledebouriellae
English: Siler

Tastes: Pungent, sweet, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Lung, Liver and Spleen

Actions & Indications:

1. Releases the Exterior and expels External Wind
   Wind-Cold with headache, chills, aversion to Cold, and body aches
2. Expels Wind-Dampness and alleviates pain
   Wind-Damp Bi, especially with Wind predominant
3. Expels Internal Wind and stops spasms
   As an auxiliary for Liver Wind with trembling of hands and feet and tetany
   Intestinal-Wind due to imbalance between Spleen and Liver with recurrent tenesmus and painful diarrhoea with bright blood in the stool
   Migraine headaches
4. Relieves diarrhoea and stops bleeding
   Liver and Spleen Disharmony with recurrent painful diarrhoea, borborygmus and abdominal pain
5. Aids fasting
   Mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing as part of the middle class of herbs which can, with protracted taking, 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: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with caution for blood deficiency and internal wind induced by heat because of its warm property.

Pinyin: Quan Xie  Chinese: 全蝎
Pharmaceutical: Buthus Martensi
Taxonomy: Buthus Martensii
English: Scorpion

Tastes: Pungent, neutral, toxic
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Extinguishes Wind and stops tremors and convulsions
   Liver Wind and Wind-Phlegm-Heat with spasms, acute or chronic childhood convulsions, tetany, opisthotonos, tics, muscular tetany, and seizures
2. Tracks down Wind, unblocks the collaterals and stops pain
   Stubborn headaches and Bipain
3. Attacks and relieves Fire toxins and dissipates nodules and rashes
   Topically for toxic sores, swellings scrofula (Chuang Yung) and cancer

Standard Dosage: 2-5g in decoction.
Cautions: It is toxic, so large dose of it should not be used. It is contraindicated for pregnant women.

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 Gou Teng and Tian Zhu Huang.

Pinyin: Bai Jiang Can  Chinese: 白僵蠶
Pharmaceutical: Bombyx Batryticatus
English: Silkworm

Tastes: Salty, pungent, neutral
Meridians Entered: Liver and Lung

Actions & Indications:

1. Extinguishes Wind and stops spasms and convulsions
   Childhood convulsions and facial paralysis Seizures due to Liver Wind or especially Wind-Phlegm-Heat
2. Dispels Wind, disperses Wind-Heat and stops itching and pain
   Headache, red eyes, a sore, swollen throat and itching skin lesions such as Wind-Rash from externally contracted Wind-Heat or Liver Wind Loss of voice
3. Transforms Phlegm, softens hardness, eliminates toxins and dissipates nodules
   Phlegm-Heat scrofula and other Phlegm nodules
4. Removes the Three Worms
   Said in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing that it removes the Three Worms. These may refer to difficult to treat metabolic disorders caused by overindulgence and should be accompanied by fasting, meditation and exercise regimes.

Standard Dosage: 3-10g 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 Tian Ma and Tian Zhu Huang.

Pinyin: Bai Fu Zi  Chinese: 白附子
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Typhonii
Taxonomy: Typhonium giganteum
English: Giant Typhonium Rhizome

Tastes: Pungent, warm, toxic
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Dries Dampness, transforms Phlegm, expels Wind and stops spasms
   Wind-Phlegm affecting the head causing Wind-Stroke with facial paralysis, hemiplegia, tetany, severe lateral headache or migraine headaches
   Wind-stroke with profuse Phlegm welling up in the throat, impairing speech
2. Relieves toxicity and dissipates nodules
   Phlegm toxicity (topical and fresh) (snake bite, scrofula, other nodules)
3. Dries Dampness and stops pain and itching (expels Wind-Cold-Dampness)
   Wind-Cold-Damp Bi Damp skin problems (eczema) (powder and apply topically)

Standard Dosage: 3-5g in decoction.
Cautions: This herb is pungent, warm, dry and drastic. So it is not suitable for yin deficiency and blood deficiency or exuberant heat with stirring of wind and the pregnant women. Unprocessed herb should not be taken orally.

Pinyin: Wu Gong  Chinese: 蜈蚣 / 吳公
Pharmaceutical: Scolopendrae
Taxonomy: Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans
English: Centipede

Tastes: Pungent, warm, toxic
Meridians Entered: Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Extinguishes Wind and stops spasms and convulsions
   Liver Wind with acute and chronic childhood convulsions, opisthotonis, lockjaw and seizures Facial paralysis due to Wind
2. Attacks and relieves Fire toxins, relieves abdominal masses and dissipates nodules
   Toxic nodules including sores, carbuncles and neck lumps Chuang Yung (topical)
   Cancer
   Snake bites
3. Unblocks the collaterals and stops pain
   Stubborn headaches including migraines Bipain
4. Treats the Ghost Possession, Gu Toxins, and removes the Three Worms
   Said in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing that treats Ghost Possession, Gu Toxins, and snake, worm, and fish Toxins. It kills Ghostly Matters and Old Essences (鬼物老精) and removes the Three Worms. This refers to difficult to treat disorders thought to be of supernatural origin and may refer to chronic metabolic and inflammatory disorders caused by mitochondrial and/or microbiome disturbances. Treatment should be accompanied by fasting, meditation and exercise regimes. Internally for Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)

Standard Dosage: 1-3g in decoction.
Cautions: It is toxic, so it should not be used in large dose. It is contraindicated for pregnant women.

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 Gou Teng and Tian Nan Xing.

Pinyin: Bai Zhi  Chinese: 白芷
Pharmaceutical: Radix Angelicae dahuricae
Taxonomy: Angelica dahurica
English: Dahurian Angelica Root

Tastes: Pungent and warm
Meridians Entered: Lung, Stomach and Large Intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Expels Wind, eliminates Dampness, unblocks the nasal passages, dispels Cold and alleviates pain
   External Wind-Cold patterns, especially with headache
   Supra orbital pain, nasal congestion and toothache, arthritis
   Any External Wind invasion of the Yangming channels of the head with a frontal headache
2. Reduces swelling, eliminates toxins and expels pus
   Early-stage superficial sores, boils and carbuncles, pruritis
3. Expels Dampness, alleviates discharge and treats leukorrhea and diarrhoea
   Vaginal discharge due to Cold-Dampness in the Lower Jiao
4. Releases the Exterior and Drives Out Snakes
   Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
   One of the chief herbs for treating Gu Syndrome, along with Bo He and Zi Su Ye, classed as "open the exterior with snake killing herbs" (Fruehauf, 1998).
   Also used topically for fungal infections which may explain some of its anti-Gu actions.

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It should be used with cautions for Blood Heat induced by Yin deficiency because of its pungent, fragrant, warm, dry property.

Pinyin: Gou Teng  Chinese: 钩藤
Pharmaceutical: Ramulus Uncariae cum Uncis
Taxonomy: Uncaria rhynchophylla seu macrophylla seu sinensis
English: Cat's Claw Vine / Gambir / Uncaria Vine

Tastes: Sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Liver and Pericardium

Actions & Indications:

1. Extinguishes Wind and alleviates spasms
   Liver Heat Transforming into Wind with tremors, seizures and eclampsia
2. Drains Liver Heat and pacifies Liver Yang
   Liver Fire and Liver Yang Rising with headache, irritability, red eyes and dizziness
   Recently used for hypertension (high blood pressure)
3. Releases the Exterior
   Exterior Wind-Heat with fever, headache and red eyes

Standard Dosage: 3-12g in decoction as standard dose but can be up to 30g. Do not decoct for more than 10 minutes.

Pinyin: Ge Gen  Chinese: 葛根
Pharmaceutical: Radix Puerariae
Taxonomy: Pueraria lobata
English: Kudzu Vine Root

Tastes: Sweet, pungent, cool
Meridians Entered: Lung, Spleen and Stomach

Actions & Indications:

1. Discharges Exterior conditions and releases the muscles, especially of the neck and upper back
   Wind-Heat or Wind-Cold lodged in the muscles of the upper back and neck
2. Relieves Heat and generates fluids (relieves thirst)
   Thirst due to Stomach Heat or Wind-Heat or Wasting and Thirsting
3. Vents and discharges measles
   Measles with incomplete expression of the rash
4. Raises Spleen Yang and stops diarrhoea
   Diarrhoea or dysentery due to Heat
   Diarrhoea due to Spleen Deficiency (with appropriate herbs)
5. Lowers blood pressure
   Hypertension symptoms such as headache, dizziness, tinnitus or paresthesia

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.

Pinyin: Tao Ren  Chinese: 桃仁
Pharmaceutical: Semen Persicae
Taxonomy: Prunus persica
English: Peach Seed

Tastes: Bitter, sweet, neutral, lightly toxic
Meridians Entered: Heart, Liver, Lung and Large Intestine

Actions & Indications:

1. Breaks up Blood Stasis and invigorates Blood circulation
   Menstrual disorders, abdominal pain, traumatic injury, flank pain, Lung abscess and Intestinal abscess with fixed abdominal masses associated with Blood Stasis
2. Moistens the Intestines and unblocks the bowels
   Constipation due to dry Intestines
3. Drains abscesses
   Lung and Intestinal abscesses

Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction.
Cautions: Prohibited for pregnant women. Use with cautions for loose stool. Not overuse because of its toxicity.

Pinyin: Hong Hua  Chinese: 红花
Pharmaceutical: Flos Carthami
English: Safflower

Tastes: Pungent, warm
Meridians Entered: Heart and Liver

Actions & Indications:

1. Invigorates the Blood, dispels Blood Stasis, opens the channels, unblocks menstruation and alleviates pain
   Blood Stasis, especially in women for gynecological problems such as abdominal pain, amenorrhea, postpartum dizziness, retained lochia and abdominal masses
   Trauma, non suppurative sores, carbuncles and dark, purplish erythema
   Incomplete expression of rash of measles
   Chest Bi due to Blood Stasis

Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.