即西河柳
甘、咸、温。入足阳明、手太阴经。解温疫之躁乱,开肌肉之邪结。一切风火厉气,非
此不能达表。
甘,平。滑利。入手足太阳经。利诸窍,通二便,下有形留着之物。治淋肿、喘咳、不
眠。(火气下降则寐。)配归
身,治堕胎下血。(火清血止。)调鸡子清,治五色丹毒。
初生荚仁作羹食,令人多睡。胃气虚寒者禁用。
辛、苦、温。入手足太阴经气分。除皮肤骨节中邪气,淫淫如虫行。祛五内风湿,止大
肠冷滑,杀虫化食,在所必
需。(虫因湿而生,食因寒而滞。)得槟榔,杀诸虫。配干漆,治虫痫。配诃子、豆蔻,治小
儿疳泻冷痢。配川连,治疳
热生虫。(加猪胆汁、麝香,更效。)配川连末,猪胆汁丸,疗惊喑。(风热去也。)配暖胃益
血理中等药,治鳖瘕。(大如
鳖,小如钱,上侵咽,下蚀肛。)君猪脂,涂热疮。拌蜂蜜,搽湿癣。
去壳,炒。杀虫,和面炒。脾肺燥热者禁用。
甘、辛、咸。入足三阴经血分。达下焦,泄大便,破死血,散痈肿,排脓止痛。得人参,
疗产后气喘。配乳香,治
血风口噤。使防风,发表里风气。锉碎,酒煮浓汁入药,治跌扑血瘀作痛。
少用和血,多用破血。血虚内痛,勿得乱投。
苦、涩、平。治泻痢肠风,止崩中带下。得发炭,治吐衄。配乌贼骨,治血淋。和枯矾
末,治血崩。和蜜、茶,治
肠血。(合栝蒌炭亦可。)合侧柏、卷柏炭,饭丸,止远年下血不止。
笋、花、子皆可用,均宜烧炭调服,不入汤煎汁。痢初起者禁用。
It is Xiheliu (Tamarix Chinensis).
Sweet, salty, warm. Enters the Foot-Yangming Stomach Channel and Hand-Taiyin Lung Channel. Resolves the restlessness and confusion caused by Warm Epidemic (acute febrile diseases caused by warm pathogenic factors), opens up the evil accumulation in muscles. For all wind-fire severe pathogens (pathogenic factors with strong infectivity and toxicity), this herb is indispensable for reaching the exterior.
Sweet, neutral. Slippery and lubricating. Enters the Hand-Taiyin Small Intestine Channel and Foot-Taiyang Bladder Channel. Benefits various orifices, unblocks urination and defecation, and guides downward to expel tangible stagnant matter from the body. Treats stranguria swelling, wheezing and cough, insomnia. (Sleep occurs when fire qi descends.) Paired with Danggui Shen (Radix Angelicae Sinensis Root), treats post-abortion bleeding. (Bleeding stops when fire clears.) Mixed with egg white, treats Wuse Dandu (Five-Color Dan Du, an acute infectious skin disease characterized by rapid onset, changing colors, redness, swelling, heat, and pain).
Consuming soup made from young seed pods promotes sleep. Contraindicated in cases of Spleen-Stomach Qi deficiency and cold.
Pungent, bitter, warm. Enters the Qi level of the Hand-Taiyin Lung Channel and Foot-Taiyin Spleen Channel. Eliminates evil pathogens in the skin and joints, manifesting as itching like insects crawling on the skin. Dispels wind-dampness in the five viscera, stops cold slipperiness of the Large Intestine (loose stools due to cold-dampness), kills parasites, aids digestion, and is essential for treating such conditions. (Parasites arise from dampness; food stagnation arises from cold.) Combined with Binglang (Areca Seed), it kills various parasites. Paired with Ganxi (Dried Lac Insect), treats Chongxian (epileptic seizures caused by parasites). Paired with Hezi (Chebula Fruit) and Doukou (Black Cardamom), treats Xiao'er Ganxie Lengli (pediatric malnutrition with diarrhea and cold dysentery). Paired with Chuanlian (Rhizoma Coptidis), treats Gyanre Shengchong (parasitic infection arising from malnutrition heat). (Adding Zhu Danzhi (Pig Gallbladder Bile) and Shexiang (Musk) enhances efficacy.) Paired with Chuanlian powder, formed into pills with Zhu Danzhi, treats Jingyin (sudden aphonia due to wind-heat). (As wind-heat dissipates.) Paired with herbs that warm the stomach, benefit blood, and regulate the middle (such as Lizhong Wan), treats Bie Xia (abdominal mass resembling a turtle, varying in size, invading the throat upwards and eroding the anus downwards). As the chief ingredient with Zhuzhi (Pig Fat), applied topically for hot sores. Mixed with honey, applied for wet tinea.
Shells removed, stir-fried. To kill parasites, stir-fry with flour. Contraindicated in cases of Spleen-Lung dryness-heat.
Sweet, pungent, salty. Enters the Blood level of the Foot-Sanyin Liver, Spleen, and Kidney Channels. Reaches the Lower Jiao, drains the large intestine, breaks down dead blood (blood stasis), disperses carbuncles and swellings, expels pus, and relieves pain. Combined with Renshen (Ginseng Root), treats postpartum asthma/wheezing. Paired with Rushiangu (Resina Burserae), treats Xuefeng Koujin (facial paralysis or trismus due to blood deficiency and wind invasion). Guided by Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia Root), releases wind-pathogens from both interior and exterior. Crushed, decocted strongly in wine, and added to medicine, treats pain caused by blood stasis from falls and blows.
Small doses harmonize blood; large doses break blood. Do not administer indiscriminately to patients with blood deficiency and internal pain.
Bitter, astringent, neutral. Treats dysentery, intestinal wind (intestinal bleeding), stops metrorrhagia and leukorrhea. Combined with Fa Tan (Carbonized Human Hair), treats hematemesis and epistaxis. Paired with Wuzeigu (Cuttlefish Bone), treats Xuelin (hematuria with painful urination). Mixed with Kufan (Alumen Calcined), treats Xue Beng (profuse uterine bleeding). Mixed with honey and tea, treats intestinal bleeding. (Combined with Gualou Tan (Carbonized Trichosanthes Fruit) is also effective.) Combined with Ce Bai Tan (Carbonized Biota Tops) and Juan Bai Tan (Carbonized Selaginella), formed into pills with rice paste, stops chronic lower bleeding that persists for years.
Shoots, flowers, and seeds are all usable; all should be carbonized and taken mixed with water, not decocted in soup. Contraindicated at the initial stage of dysentery.