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Clears heat and toxicity from the Heart and Stomach.
Bitter, salty, and extremely cold in nature. Resolves heat toxicity of the Heart and Stomach. Treats heat-induced mania in Shanghan (Cold Damage) and epidemic febrile diseases. Treats macules caused by Yang toxicity. (When heat severely damages blood, with excess internally and deficiency externally, macules appear; purple-black macules indicate extreme heat causing gastric tissue necrosis, often fatal. The *Huoren Shu* records treating red macules with irritability and pain using Xijiao Daqing Tang.) Treats jaundice and hot dysentery. Treats erysipelas and sore throat. Do not use unless there is heat toxicity in the Heart and Stomach. It grows everywhere. Two to three chi high. Round stems, long leaves. Leaves grow opposite at nodes. Small red flowers bloom in clusters in August. Large fruits.

Drains Liver fire, disperses stagnant fire.
Salty and cold in nature. Its green color enters the Liver to drain Liver fire. Disperses stagnant fire in the Five Zang organs. Resolves wind-heat accumulated and harbored in the Middle and Lower Jiao. (*Yanyi* records: A woman suffered from damp sores all over her umbilical region, abdomen, and genitalia, with heat, itching, pain, yellow discharge, and difficult urination and defecation. She applied eel, pine resin, and lead oxide, which worsened the heat and pain. As she loved alcohol and fish/shrimp (wind-inducing foods), she used four liang of Portulaca oleracea, mashed, mixed with one liang of Qingdai, applied topically. Heat and pain ceased. She then took Bazheng San and recovered. This was wind-heat harbored in the Middle and Lower Jiao; if toxins were not expelled, it would lead to intestinal wind and internal hemorrhoids. Unable to abstain from alcohol and triggering foods, she indeed developed hemorrhoids.) Treats macules in Shanghan. Treats bloody dysentery and hemoptysis. (Grind with Almond seeds, place inside a persimmon cake, bake and eat; named Shengbingzi, treats hemoptysis.) Treats pediatric convulsions, epilepsy, and malnutrition fever. Treats erysipelas heat. Topical application for carbuncles, snakebites, and dog bites. Nature is cool. Contraindicated for those with Middle Jiao cold. Even those with Yin deficiency and heat should avoid it. Genuine Qingdai comes from Persia and is now unavailable. Dried indigo powder currently used is also good. (Contains much calcined stone, so must be washed clean.)

Clears heat and stops vomiting.
Sweet and harmonizing to the Stomach; cold and descending in action. Treats vomiting, hiccups, and regurgitation. (Stomach heat rising causes vomiting and inability to keep food down.) Treats exogenous heat causing thirst (Xiaoke). Treats irritability and heat in Shanghan. Reduces frequent urination. (The Lung is the upper source of water; the Spleen scatters essence upward to the Lung, enabling regulation of water passages and downward transport to the Bladder. The Kidney is the water organ, governing urination and defecation. Heat in these three meridians causes severe urinary frequency, unbearable due to the rapid nature of fire. Lu Gen is hollow, clears Upper Jiao damp-heat; once damp-heat resolves, Lung Qi transformation functions normally, and urination returns to its regular course.) Lu Sun can detoxify fish, crab, and pufferfish poison. Treats regurgitation and vomiting. Contraindicated for vomiting due to Cold. Select thick, green stalks growing against the current. Remove roots and joints. (For heat-induced cholera with irritability, decoct three qian of Lu Gen and two qian of Ophiopogonis Radix [Mendong] in water; cure follows.)