Baicao Traditional Chinese Medicine
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The efficacy and functions of Lian Qiao (Forsythia)
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Chinese medicine is a unique medicinal system of traditional Chinese medicine. Do you know about Lian Qiao (Forsythia)? What are its efficacy and functions? What are the methods, dosages, and precautions for its use? Let’s learn about the efficacy, functions, methods, dosages, and precautions of Lian Qiao.
Introduction to Lian Qiao
【Alias】: Huan Lian Zi, Da Qiao Zi, Kong Qiao, Kong Ke, Luo Qiao
【Category of Medicinal Material】: Fruit/Seed type
【Properties and Flavor】: Bitter; slightly cold.
① “Shennong Bencao Jing”: Bitter taste, neutral.
② “Bielu”: Non-toxic.
③ “Yixue Qiyuan”: “Zhu Zhi Mi Jue” states, cool in nature, bitter in taste.
④ “Gangmu”: Slightly bitter and pungent.
【Meridians Entered】: Heart, Liver, Gallbladder meridians.
① “Tangye Bencao”: Hand and foot Shaoyang, Yangming meridians.
② “Gangmu”: Shaoyin Heart meridian, Jueyin pericardium Qi division.
③ “Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie”: Enters Heart, Liver, Gallbladder, Stomach, Sanjiao, and Large Intestine meridians.
【Medicinal Part Used】: The fruit of the plant Forsythia suspensa.
【Distribution and Habitat】: In mainland China, it is distributed in Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Shandong, Jiangsu, Henan, Jiangxi, Hubei, Sichuan, and Yunnan provinces.
【Morphological Characteristics】: Deciduous shrub, up to 3 meters tall; branches are slender and arching, with hollow internodes, and nodes have spots, with many prominent lenticels. Leaves are simple or sometimes trifoliate, opposite, ovate or ovate-elliptic, 3-10 cm long, with serrated edges. Flowers are solitary or in clusters in leaf axils; calyx is green, 4-lobed, lobes are oblong; corolla is yellow, with 4 lobes, obovate-elliptic, with 2 stamens, which may be longer or shorter than the pistil; flowers bloom before the leaves from March to April.
The commercial Lian Qiao is elongated or oval, 1-2.5 cm long, 0.5-1.3 cm in diameter, with a yellow-brown surface, longitudinal wrinkles, and many small raised spots, with a distinct longitudinal groove on each side. The tip is sharp, and the base may have a fruit stalk. The fruit skin is hard and brittle, with a flat cross-section. The green Lian Qiao fruit is complete, with a green-brown surface, mostly without warty protrusions, containing many seeds that are yellow-green and elongated, with wings on one side. The best quality green Lian Qiao is dry, black-green, and without cracks; the best quality mature Lian Qiao is brown-yellow, thick-skinned, and shiny.
Dosage and Administration of Lian Qiao
Internal use: Decoction, 6-15g; or in pills or powders.
Efficacy and Functions of Lian Qiao
Clears heat and detoxifies; reduces swelling and disperses nodules. It is indicated for wind-heat colds. It treats wind-heat colds; warm diseases; heat stranguria; carbuncles; swelling and toxicity; scrofula; goiter; and throat obstruction. It is used for carbuncles, scrofula, breast abscess, erysipelas, wind-heat colds, initial warm diseases, heat entering the Ying level, high fever with thirst, delirium with rashes, and heat stranguria.
① “Shennong Bencao Jing”: Treats cold and heat, mouse paralysis, scrofula, carbuncles, goiter, and heat accumulation.
② “Bielu”: Eliminates white worms.
③ “Yaoxing Lun”: Treats five types of stranguria, urinary obstruction, and removes heat from the heart.
④ “Rihua Zibencao”: Unblocks the small intestine and expels pus. Treats sores and boils, relieves pain, and regulates menstruation.
⑤ Li Gao: Disperses blood stasis and qi stagnation; reduces swelling.
⑥ Wang Haogu: Treats deafness and tinnitus.
Formulas Containing Lian Qiao
① For treating Taiyin wind warmth, warm heat, warm epidemic, and winter warmth, with initial symptoms of heat without aversion to cold and thirst: Lian Qiao 30g, Jin Hua 30g, Ku Jiao Geng 18g, Bo He 18g, Zhu Ye 12g, Sheng Gan Cao 15g, Jie Sui 12g, Dan Dou Chi 15g, Niu Bang Zi 18g. Grind into a powder, take 18g each time, decoct with fresh reed root soup, and take when the aroma is strong, do not overboil. For severe cases, take twice a day, three times a day for mild cases; if the illness does not resolve, repeat the dose. (“Wenbing Tiaobian” Yin Qiao San)
② For treating all types of heat in children: Lian Qiao, Fang Feng, Gan Cao (roasted), and Shan Zhi Zi in equal parts. Grind into a powder, take 6g with one cup of water, decoct to 70% remaining, strain and take warm. (“Leizheng Huo Ren Shu” Lian Qiao Drink)
③ For treating red rashes and toxic conditions: Lian Qiao alone, decoct and drink. (“Yuqiao Yiling”)
④ For treating breast abscess and lumps: Lian Qiao, male mouse droppings, dandelion, and Chuan Bei Mu each 6g. Decoction for oral use. (“Yuqiao Yiling”)
⑤ For treating scrofula and tuberculosis that do not resolve: Lian Qiao, Gui Jian Yu, Qu Mai, and Gan Cao (roasted) in equal parts. Grind into a fine powder, take 6g with rice wash water before bed. (“Yangshi Family Collection” Lian Qiao San)
⑥ For treating tongue ulcers: Lian Qiao 30g, Huang Bai 15g, Gan Cao 10g. Decoct and gargle. (“Yuqiao Yiling”)
Further Reading: Precautions
Contraindicated for those with spleen and stomach deficiency, qi deficiency with fever, and for those with carbuncles that have already ruptured, with thin and light-colored pus.
① “Bencao Jing Shu”: Do not take if carbuncles have already ruptured, do not take if there is great heat due to deficiency, do not take if the spleen and stomach are weak and prone to diarrhea.
② “Bencao Tongxuan”: Long-term use may lead to cold accumulation issues.
Traditional Chinese Medicine culture is profound and extensive
TCM emphasizes yin and yang, where solitary yin does not give birth, and solitary yang does not grow. Where there is yin, there is yang; where there is up, there is down; where there is front, there is back; one thing controls another; no substance exists in isolation or without constraints! Maintaining the balance of the entire universe, each dimension has its own very strict system of checks and balances! Therefore, every disease must have a corresponding medicine or method to subdue it!
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