It becomes milder and more beneficial after repeated purgation. It should be used in small doses for those with Qi deficiency. This is because if there is stagnant Qi, it breaks the stagnation; if there is no stagnation, it damages the True Qi. It is strictly contraindicated for those with shortness of breath. When used, remove the pith. It eliminates accumulations and relieves pain; stir-fry with vinegar.
Zhiqiao (Aurantii Fructus)
Zhiqiao is slightly cold in nature and bitter-sour in taste. It expels water retention, resolves phlegm, and widens the chest and diaphragm. It stops vomiting, treats dysentery and diarrhea, attacks hard accumulations, disperses hemorrhoids, benefits from wind pathogens, and opens orifices and passages.
Zhi refers to plants belonging to the Citrus genus; only the peel, with the pith removed, is used. It is non-toxic. Its action is floating and ascending with a slight descending tendency, representing Yang within Yin. It expels retained water beneath the heart, removes dampness from the stomach, reduces distension and fullness, drains lung phlegm and Qi, and treats coughs due to consumptive Qi. It alleviates stuffiness and fatigue in the back and shoulders, chest and diaphragm obstruction, and abdominal and hypochondriac fullness and pain. Li Dongyuan stated: "It eliminates phlegm causing epigastric blockage and vents Qi stagnation in the abdomen." It stops vomiting and regurgitation, cholera-like disorders, and the five types of diaphragmatic Qi disorders; treats dysentery and diarrhea; digests retained food; breaks up masses (Zheng), phlegm-bindings, and old accumulations; treats intestinal wind with bloody stool, and hemorrhoidal swelling. This corresponds to what the Materia Medica describes as "calming the Stomach." It treats generalized pruritus due to wind-rash,