Dried Ginger (Gan Jiang)
is the dried rhizome of the ginger plant (Zingiber officinale). It is also known as Bai Jiang (White Ginger), Jun Jiang (Uniform Ginger), and Gan Sheng Jiang (Dried Fresh Ginger). The fresh ginger is sliced and dried in the sun or at low temperatures, referred to as “dried ginger slices.” It has an aromatic scent, a spicy taste, and is characterized by its hot nature, entering the Spleen (Pi), Stomach (Wei), Kidney (Shen), Heart (Xin), and Lung (Fei) meridians. It has the effects of warming the middle, dispersing cold, reviving yang, unblocking the meridians, and warming the lungs to transform phlegm. It is primarily used for cold pain in the abdomen, vomiting, diarrhea, cold extremities, weak pulse, and cough with phlegm due to cold.
1
Treatment of Cold Pain in the Abdomen with Thunderous Diarrhea
Dried ginger is spicy and hot, driving away cold and entering the Spleen and Stomach, thus treating cold pain in the stomach and abdomen caused by Spleen and Stomach deficiency or cold stimulation. If the abdominal pain is severe and tender to touch, with abdominal distension and relief from warmth, it indicates cold evil attacking the Stomach, and should be combined with Fu Zi (Aconite), Sheng Jiang (Fresh Ginger), Cao Dou Kou (Cardamom), and Hou Po (Magnolia Bark). If the abdominal pain is persistent and relieved by warmth and pressure, it indicates Spleen and Stomach deficiency cold, and should be combined with Dang Shen (Codonopsis), Bai Zhu (White Atractylodes), and Zhi Gan Cao (Honey-Fried Licorice). If there is discomfort in the stomach with a preference for salivation, it indicates cold phlegm in the stomach, and should be combined with Bai Zhu, Fu Ling (Poria), and Gui Zhi (Cinnamon Twig). This is similar to the formula Li Zhong Wan from the “Shang Han Lun” (Treatise on Cold Damage).
2
Reviving Yang and Rescuing Reversal
For treating severe vomiting and diarrhea after profuse sweating, with cold extremities and a weak pulse, combine with Fu Zi and Gan Cao. For cold evil entering the interior, affecting the three yin organs, causing severe abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, aversion to cold, and fatigue, with a deep, slow, weak pulse or no pulse, combine with Fu Zi, Dang Shen, and Rou Gui (Cinnamon). If there is excess yin counteracting yang, with a weak pulse, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and a flushed face, add Fu Zi and white scallion to break yin and restore yang.
3
Treatment of Phlegm Syndrome due to Cold-Heat Intermingling
The Spleen and Stomach reside in the middle jiao, serving as the pivot for the rise and fall of yin and yang. When the middle qi is weak and cold and heat are mixed, it leads to phlegm syndrome. The Spleen qi governs ascent, while the Liver qi governs descent; when this balance is disrupted, it results in vomiting and bowel sounds with diarrhea. Dried ginger drives away cold and eliminates evil, and when combined with heat-clearing herbs like Huang Qin (Scutellaria) and Huang Lian (Coptis), it regulates cold and heat, guiding stagnation and resolving phlegm. This is similar to the Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang from the “Shang Han Lun”.
4
Warming the Lungs and Transforming Phlegm
Dried ginger, being spicy and hot, enters the lungs and can warm the lungs to transform phlegm. If cold phlegm is retained, causing the lungs to lose their ability to disperse and regulate, leading to cough, copious thin phlegm, chest fullness, or dry heaving, or if there is phlegm and cough after exposure to cold evil with aversion to cold, fever without sweating, cough with wheezing, heavy body, and swelling of the face and extremities, with a white, slippery tongue coating and floating pulse, it is advisable to add dried ginger to the formula for releasing the exterior, dispersing cold, and transforming phlegm, such as in Xiao Qing Long Tang from the “Shang Han Lun”.
5
Treatment of Deficiency Cold Lung Atrophy
In cases of prolonged illness that depletes yang qi, or chronic cough leading to cold wheezing that does not resolve, or chronic lung deficiency with wheezing, the lung qi is gradually depleted, leading to yang deficiency or deficiency heat causing lung atrophy. This can also result in lung deficiency with cold, where qi fails to transform fluids, leading to phlegm accumulation. Clinical symptoms include coughing up turbid saliva, indicating chronic deficiency of the lungs. Dried ginger, being spicy and warm, enters the lungs, warming and transforming phlegm, allowing for proper qi transformation and restoration of fluids. This is similar to Gan Cao Gan Jiang Tang from the “Shang Han Lun”.
Additionally, the “Qian Jin Fang” uses dried ginger (processed) ground into powder, taken in a dose of two qian (approximately 6 grams) to treat middle cold diarrhea (personal experience suggests adding Dang Shen, Bai Zhu, and Fu Ling for better results); the “Bu Que Zhou Hou Fang” uses dried ginger cut into bean-sized pieces, taken with sea rice in a dose of six to seven pieces, three times a day. This is used to treat cold dysentery with a blue color; the “Jin Gui Yao Lue” uses dried ginger and Ren Shen (Ginseng) each one liang (approximately 30 grams), and Ban Xia (Pinellia) two liang (approximately 60 grams).
The above three ingredients are ground into powder and made into pills with fresh ginger juice, forming Ren Shen Ban Xia Wan, about the size of a wutong seed. Take ten pills, three times a day. This is recorded for treating persistent vomiting during pregnancy and can be referenced clinically. It can also treat vomiting caused by the intermingling of heat above and cold below, combined with Huang Qin and Huang Lian.
Processed ginger is the product of dried ginger after processing, which is heated until it puffs up and turns brown. It is spicy and hot, entering the Spleen, Stomach, and Kidney meridians, with effects of warming the meridians and stopping bleeding, as well as warming the middle and alleviating pain. It is used for yang deficiency with blood loss, vomiting, and bleeding, as well as Spleen and Stomach deficiency cold, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.
The “Ben Cao Jing Shu” states: “Processed ginger, being spicy, can disperse evil and resolve internal stagnation, and its warming nature can eliminate cold and promote qi. Therefore, it is indicated for chest fullness, cough, and counterflow qi, warming the middle to induce sweating, expelling wind-dampness, and treating diarrhea due to cold, stopping abdominal pain. The mention of stopping bleeding refers to the fact that blood deficiency leads to heat, and heat causes blood to flow erratically. Blackened dried ginger can guide various blood-replenishing herbs into the yin aspect, allowing blood to be replenished, thus reducing heat and preventing erratic blood flow. This also applies to treating intestinal stagnation.”
Dried ginger primarily enters the Spleen and Stomach meridians, excelling at warming the middle and dispersing cold, invigorating Spleen yang, making it a key herb for warming the middle jiao; it also enters the Heart and Kidney meridians to revive yang and unblock the meridians; it enters the Lung meridian to warm the lungs and transform phlegm; processed ginger can also warm the meridians, stop bleeding, and alleviate pain.
Although dried ginger is spicy and non-toxic, with wide applications and good efficacy, it is still a very spicy and hot substance, and should not be used by those with yin deficiency and internal heat, or by pregnant women.
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