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Poria (Fuling) serves as the guiding herb (shi). Contraindicated with green onion, garlic, radish, various animal bloods, and scaleless fish; also contraindicated for concurrent use with drying and heating herbs. It can stabilize Cinnabaris (Zhusha).

Bitter, astringent, slightly warm. Enters the blood level of the Foot-Jueyin Liver Meridian and Foot-Shaoyin Kidney Meridian. Nourishes blood and tonifies the liver, secures essence and benefits the kidney. Strengthens sinews and bones, darkens beard and hair, dispels abdominal cold, expels intestinal wind, treats chronic malaria, stops chronic dysentery, drains liver wind, dissipates scrofula and carbuncles. For treating skin wind-pain, mix with ginger juice for topical application, warm with mild fire; it heals spontaneously after three applications. Combined with Sesamum indicum (Huma), treats leprosy. Assisted by Achyranthes bidentata (Niuxi), treats flaccidity due to wind. Ground into powder, mixed with saliva and applied to the umbilicus, stops spontaneous sweating. Decocted with Artemisia argyi (Aiye) into a concentrated liquid, washes tinea and scabies.

The white variety enters the qi level; the red variety enters the blood level. Do not let it touch iron vessels. Soak in rice washing water, scrape off the peel with a bamboo knife, slice, mix with black soybeans, steam and sun-dry nine times before use. The variety produced in Pingyang soil causes blood stasis when taken, leading to numbness.

Acorus tatarinowii (Shichangpu) serves as the guiding herb (shi) for Coix seed (Yiyi). Feared by Peucedanum praeruptorum (Qianhu), Bupleurum chinense (Chaihu), Ostrea concha (Muli), Rheum palmatum (Dahuang), and Abelmoschus manihot root (Kuigen).

Sweet, bitter, neutral. Enters the qi level of the Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian and Foot-Jueyin Liver Meridian. Expels wind-dampness and secures the lower jiao; capable of treating generalized bi-syndrome and muscle flaccidity, old blood in joints, retained water in the bladder, impotence and urinary incontinence, pain in the penis during urination, turbid urine resembling paste, as well as hemorrhoids and malignant sores. With Acorus tatarinowii (Shichangpu), Alpinia oxyphylla (Yizhiren), and Lindera aggregata (Wuyao), treats frequent turbid urine. Assisted by Eucommia ulmoides (Duzhong), treats bi-syndrome and weakness in waist and legs. Assisted by Inula japonica (Xuanjinfu) and Panther bone (Hutougu), treats headache and induces sweating. Stir-fried with salt and taken, treats frequent and painful urination. (This is because heat-toxin from rotting matter flows into the small intestine. This differs from the astringent pain of strangury.) Promotes diuresis, stir-fried with salt water. Expels wind-dampness, stir-fried with wine. Contraindicated for those with spontaneous free urination, and those without wind-dampness but presenting with the aforementioned symptoms.

Turbid urine has different pathologies. Some are due to excessive yin-fire in the intestines and stomach; some are due to heat-pathogen stagnation in the bladder; some are due to insufficient kidney-water causing failure of kidney-qi transformation. If one administers drying-dampness agents like Dioscorea hypoglauca (Bixie), the fire will become more intense and kidney-water more depleted, making the turbidity worse. Only cases where turbid urine is caused by internal stagnation of wind-dampness in the intestines and stomach respond effectively to Bixie Qingfen Yin.