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Daily Herb Study
Lian
Qiao
Clears
Heat
One
Introduction to the Herb
Also known as: Huanghuaguan, Huangshoudan.
Taste and Properties: Bitter, slightly cold; enters the Lung, Heart, and Small Intestine meridians.
Functions: Clears heat and detoxifies, reduces swelling and disperses nodules, disperses wind-heat.
Category: Heat-clearing herbs – Heat-clearing and detoxifying herbs.
Lian Qiao (Forsythia) is the dried fruit of the Forsythia suspensa plant from the Oleaceae family. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules, and dispersing wind-heat. It is indicated for carbuncles, swollen toxins, scrofula, wind-heat exterior syndrome, initial stage of warm diseases, and painful heat stranguria.
Two
Herbal Verse
Lian Qiao is bitter and cold, able to dispel toxic swellings,
When Qi gathers and blood congeals, warm heat can be expelled.
Three
Common Combinations
Lian Qiao combined with Zhe Bei Mu
Lian Qiao excels at clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules; Zhe Bei Mu excels at clearing heat, transforming phlegm, and dispersing stagnation.
The combination of these two herbs can clear heat, detoxify, reduce swelling, transform phlegm, and soften hardness. It is suitable for tuberculosis of the cervical lymph nodes caused by phlegm-heat stagnation, subcutaneous lumps resembling kernels, thyroid tumors, and cough with wheezing due to phlegm-heat obstructing the lungs.
Lian Qiao combined with Zhi Zi
Lian Qiao is light in quality, adept at dispersing heat evil from the upper jiao, clearing heart fire, and expelling toxins, allowing the gathered Qi and blood to disperse, clearing heat and detoxifying, reducing swelling and dispersing nodules; Zhi Zi is bitter and cold, able to clear and descend the fire evil of the three jiaos, can clear the heart and relieve irritability, cool the blood and detoxify, and is commonly used for treating heat diseases with irritability and restlessness.
The combination of these two herbs enhances the effects of cooling the blood and detoxifying, clearing the heart and relieving irritability. It is suitable for high fever and delirium caused by warm heat invading the pericardium; irritability and yellow urine caused by heat in the heart meridian; and skin ulcers caused by heat toxins.
Four
Distribution Areas
Distribution: Found in Hebei, Shanxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu, and other regions. Currently cultivated. Authentic production areas: Northeast, North China, and the Yangtze River basin to Yunnan.
Five
Folklore
A long time ago, in the mountains of Motianling, there lived a brother and sister named Da Niu and Lian Qiao who depended on each other.
One day, Lian Qiao went to the mountain to bring food to her brother. As she reached a slope, she suddenly saw a large python coiling around a child. She rushed forward, picked up a stone, and relentlessly struck the python. The python, in pain, released the child and lunged at Lian Qiao with its gaping mouth. The child was saved, but Lian Qiao was coiled to death by the python.
Not long after Lian Qiao’s death, small trees began to grow around her grave. The trees multiplied and grew larger, and people said these were transformed from Lian Qiao to commemorate her, so they named this tree “Lian Qiao Tree.”
Six
Summary from Ancient Texts
1. “Shennong Bencao Jing”: “Indicated for cold and heat, mouse fistula, scrofula, carbuncles, ulcers, goiter, heat accumulation, and poison.”
2. “Zhen Zhu Nang”: “Lian Qiao has three uses: to drain heart fire, to clear various heat from the upper jiao, and as a sacred medicine for sores.”
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Some content of this article is referenced from: Baidu Zhihu
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