【Name】 Dried Ginger
【Pinyin】 Gàn Jiānɡ
【Source】 This product is the dried rhizome of the ginger plant (Zingiber officinale). It is harvested in winter, with the fibrous roots and soil removed, then sun-dried or dried at low temperatures. Freshly sliced and dried is referred to as “dried ginger slices”.
【Characteristics】 Dried ginger: flat block-like shape, with finger-like branches, 3-7 cm long and 1-2 cm thick. The surface is grayish-yellow or light gray-brown, rough, with longitudinal wrinkles and distinct nodes. Branching areas often have remnants of scales, and the tips of branches show stem scars or buds. The texture is solid, with a cross-section that is yellowish-white or grayish-white, powdery or granular, with distinct annular patterns in the inner skin layer and scattered yellow oil spots. It has a fragrant, unique aroma and a spicy taste. Dried ginger slices: irregular longitudinal or diagonal slices, with finger-like branches, 1-6 cm long, 1-2 cm wide, and 0.2-0.4 cm thick. The outer skin is grayish-yellow or light yellow-brown, rough, with longitudinal wrinkles and distinct nodes, and the cut surface is grayish-yellow or grayish-white, slightly powdery, with many longitudinal fibers, some appearing hair-like. The texture is solid, with a fibrous cross-section. It has a fragrant, unique aroma and a spicy taste.
【Preparation】 Dried ginger: Remove impurities, soak in water for 3-6 hours, drain, steam, and then slice or cut into small cubes, and dry. Prepared ginger: Take ginger pieces, stir-fry in a pot over high heat until they puff up, the outer skin turns dark yellow, and the inside turns yellow, sprinkle with a little water, remove, and dry.
【Properties and Flavor】 Spicy, hot.
① Shennong Bencao Jing: “Taste is spicy, warm.”
② Bielu: “Very hot, non-toxic.”
③ Yao Xing Lun: “Taste is bitter and spicy.”
【Meridian Entry】 Enters the Spleen, Stomach, and Lung meridians.
① Bencao Jing Jie: “Enters the Liver, Lung, and Kidney meridians.”
② Depei Bencao: “Dried ginger enters the Hand Shaoyin and Foot Taiyin meridian Qi; prepared ginger enters the Foot Taiyin meridian blood.”
【Functions】 Warms the middle and expels cold, restores Yang and unblocks meridians. Treats cold pain in the heart and abdomen, vomiting and diarrhea, cold limbs with weak pulse, cold-induced cough, wind-cold-damp obstruction, Yang deficiency with vomiting, epistaxis, and hematochezia.
① Shennong Bencao Jing: “Mainly treats chest fullness, cough, reverse Qi, warms the middle, stops bleeding, induces sweating, expels wind-damp obstruction, and treats diarrhea.” Fresh ginger is especially good.”
② Bielu: “Treats cold abdominal pain, food poisoning, cholera, fullness, wind evil toxins, skin gas accumulation, and stops blood spitting.”
③ Yao Xing Lun: “Treats cold pain in the waist and kidneys, cold Qi, breaks blood, expels wind, unblocks joints, opens the five organs and six bowels, expels wind, cold, and damp obstruction, and frequent urination at night. Treats cough, mainly warms the middle, stops persistent cholera, abdominal pain, reduces cold fullness and diarrhea, and treats blood stasis. For patients who are weak and cold, it is advisable to use more.”
④ Tang Bencao: “Treats wind, stops Qi, stops bleeding, and unblocks the meridians, inducing slight sweating.”
⑤ Rihua Zibencao: “Dissolves phlegm, stops Qi, treats cramps, diarrhea, cold in the abdomen, reverse stomach, dry heaving, blood stasis, and stops nasal bleeding, resolves cold and heat toxins, opens the appetite, and dissolves undigested food.”
⑥ Yixue Qiyuan: “Zhuzhi Miyi states, unblocks heart Qi, assists Yang, expels cold from the viscera, and releases cold Qi from the meridians, treating cold abdominal pain.”
⑦ Wang Haogu: “Mainly treats cold obstruction in the heart, and prolonged eye issues.” “Prepared ginger warms the Spleen and dries the Stomach.”
⑧ Yixue Rumen: “Prepared ginger warms the Spleen and Stomach, treats internal cold water leakage, diarrhea, and abdominal distension, stops epistaxis, blood spitting, blood diarrhea, and menorrhagia.”
⑨ Yaopin Huayi: “Prepared ginger reduces deficiency heat.”
⑩ Changsha Yaojie: “Dries dampness, warms the middle, moves stagnation, reduces turbidity, calms cough, lifts sinking, and stops diarrhea.” (Effects and Functions of Dried Ginger)
【Cautions】 Avoid use in cases of Yin deficiency with internal heat, and blood heat disorders. Pregnant women should use with caution. ① Bencao Jing Jizhu: “Qin pepper is a guiding herb. Avoid Huanglian, Huangqin, and Tian shushi. It is toxic to Banxia and Datura.” ② Bencao Jing Shu: “Long-term use damages Yin and harms the eyes. Yin deficiency with internal heat, Yin deficiency cough with blood spitting, exterior deficiency with heat sweating, spontaneous sweating, night sweating, viscera toxins leading to blood in stool, heat-induced vomiting, and fire heat abdominal pain should be avoided.”
【Story】
In the Qing Dynasty, the folk doctor Wu Jutong, from Huai’an, was born during the Qianlong and Daoguang eras. He was an outstanding TCM scholar specializing in warm diseases. His contributions to TCM include legislative reforms and theoretical improvements, especially in the treatment of warm diseases, leaving behind many formulas that further refined the basic treatment methods for exogenous and febrile diseases.
It is said that one day, Wu Jutong went out and saw a crowd gathered around a woman who had fainted on the ground, pale and unresponsive. Wu Jutong quickly pushed through the crowd and inquired about the situation. From her husband, he learned that the woman had been suffering from diarrhea for several days and suddenly fainted that morning. They had already sought help from the local doctor, but to no avail. Wu Jutong approached and felt her limbs were cold as a corpse, and her pulse was weak and almost undetectable, indicating she was close to death. In a moment of urgency, without any needles or medicine, he remembered he had a piece of ginger on him, so he took it out and instructed her husband to brew it into a soup for her to drink. After consuming the ginger soup, within a short time, she slowly opened her eyes, her limbs began to warm up, and soon she could sit up. The onlookers were amazed and praised him, asking what this miraculous medicine was. In fact, the piece of ginger Wu Jutong had was just a common piece of dried ginger.
If a patient has insufficient Yang Qi in the Spleen and Stomach and excessively consumes cold drinks or watermelon in summer, leading to cold in the Spleen and Stomach and abdominal pain, or if they get chilled in cold weather or rain, the cold can invade the body. In such cases, dried ginger can warm the middle and restore warmth from within, allowing the body to recover quickly. Therefore, dried ginger has the function of warming the middle and dispelling cold.
The above content is extracted from the internet, and I would like to express my gratitude to the original author!
