古名藕实。补心脾肾、涩精固肠。
甘平而涩。能交水火而媾心肾。安静上下君相火邪。（古方治心肾不交、劳伤白浊、有
莲子
清心饮、补心肾、有瑞莲丸。）涩精气。浓肠胃。治脾泄久痢。白浊梦遗。女人崩带。一切
血病。大便燥者勿服。去心皮。蒸熟、焙干。得枸杞、白术、山药、茯苓。良。莲子中青心
、苦寒。清心去热。（眼赤作痛、莲子末一盏、粳米半升、煮粥常食。）
开胃、去湿热。
苦寒。清心除烦。开胃进食。去湿热。颛治噤口痢。（同人参等分用、较丹溪黄连人参
呷之
、为稳。）淋浊诸证。无湿热而虚寒者勿服。莲之黑而沉水者。（石莲入水必沉、入卤反浮、
煎盐人用以试卤、莲浮至顶、卤乃可用、落田野中者、百年不坏、人得食之、发黑不老、今
肆中石莲、产广中树上、其味大苦、不宜入药。）杵碎。
涩精。
甘平而涩。略与莲子同功。清心通肾。益血固精。乌须黑发。止梦泄遗精。吐崩诸血。
小便
不利者勿服。忌地黄、葱、蒜。
涩、止血。
涩平。解热毒，消瘀血，疗产后血闷。（和地黄研汁、入热酒童便饮。）止吐衄淋痢。一
切血
证。（捣汁饮。）
生、凉血散瘀、熟、补心益胃。
生用甘寒。凉血散瘀。（产后忌生冷、唯藕不忌、为能去瘀故也。宋大官作血KT 、误
落藕
皮、血遂涣散不凝、一人病血淋、痛胀欲死、时珍以藕汁调发灰、每服二钱、三日而愈、梅
师方、产后余血上冲、煮汁服。血见藕皮、涣散不凝、可见藕亦损血之物。）止渴除烦。
解酒毒。蟹毒。（捣汁、热酒调服。）治上焦痰热。（同梨汁服。）小便热淋。（生地汁葡萄汁
等分、入蜜温服。）伤寒时气烦渴。罨金疮伤折。（以上俱生捣汁。卒中毒箭者、藕汁饮、
多多益善。）熟捣涂坼裂冻疮。澄粉可口。煮熟甘平。（市中所卖熟藕、俱用碱水煮、不宜食
。）莲花、贴天泡湿疮。甚效。
Anciently known as "Ou Shi" (Lotus Seed). It tonifies the Heart, Spleen, and Kidney; astringes Essence and secures the Intestines.
(Lotus Seed) is Sweet, Neutral in nature, and Astringent. It can facilitate the interaction between Water and Fire, harmonizing the Heart and Kidney. (In ancient prescriptions for treating Disharmony between Heart and Kidney, and white turbidity due to overstrain, there are Qingxin Yin [Clear Heart Decoction] and Ruilian Wan [Auspicious Lotus Pill] which tonify the Heart and Kidney.) It astringes Essence and Qi, thickens the Stomach and Intestines. It treats Spleen deficiency diarrhea, chronic dysentery, white turbidity, nocturnal emission with dreams. For women, it treats metrorrhagia, leukorrhea, and all kinds of blood disorders. Those with dry stool should not take it. Remove the plumule and skin, steam until cooked, then bake dry. It works well when combined with Gouqi [Lycii Fructus], Baizhu [Atractylodis Rhizoma], Shanyao [Dioscoreae Rhizoma], and Fuling [Poria]. The green plumule (Qingxin) within the lotus seed is Bitter and Cold. It clears Heart heat and removes thermal pathogens. (For red, painful eyes, consume porridge made from one liang of lotus seed powder and half sheng of Jingmi [Oryzae Semen Glutinosum] regularly.)
(Stone Lotus / Black Lotus Seed) opens the appetite and removes damp-heat.
Bitter and Cold. Clears Heart heat, relieves irritability, opens the appetite, and removes damp-heat. It specifically treats Jin Kou Li [Jin Kou Dysentery / Anorexic Dysentery]. (When used in equal parts with Renshen [Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma], it is more stable than Danxi's Huanglian Renshen Cha [Coptis and Ginseng Decoction]). For Lin syndrome [Stranguria], Zhuo syndrome [Turbid Urination], and other conditions, those without damp-heat but presenting with deficiency-cold should not take it. Among lotus seeds, the black ones that sink in water. (Stone Lotus sinks in water but floats in brine; salt makers use it to test brine density; when the lotus seed floats to the top, the brine is usable. Stone lotus found in fields does not decay for a hundred years; consuming it darkens hair and prevents aging. However, stone lotus sold in modern pharmacies, produced on trees in Guangdong, is extremely bitter and unsuitable for medicinal use.) Pound into pieces before use.
(Black Lotus Seed) astringes Essence.
Sweet, Neutral, and Astringent. Its efficacy is slightly similar to that of Lotus Seed. It clears Heart heat, unblocks the Kidney, nourishes Blood, consolidates Essence, darkens beard and hair, stops nocturnal emission and spermatorrhea, and treats hematemesis and metrorrhagia. Those with difficult urination should not take it. Avoid Rehmanniae Radix [Shengdihuang], Allium fistulosum [Cong], and Allium sativum [Suan].
(Lotus Rhizome) possesses Astringency and stops bleeding.
Astringent and Neutral. Resolves toxic heat, dissipates blood stasis, and treats postpartum blood stagnation [Chanshou Xumen]. (Grind with Shengdihuang [Rehmanniae Radix], mix with hot wine and child's urine, and drink.) Stops hematemesis, epistaxis, stranguria, and dysentery. Treats all blood disorders. (Drink the juice extracted by pounding.)
(Lotus Rhizome) Raw: Cools Blood and dissipates stasis; Cooked: Tonifies Heart and benefits Stomach.
Used raw, it is Sweet and Cold. Cools Blood and dissipates stasis. (Postpartum patients should avoid cold/raw foods, but lotus rhizome is an exception because it resolves stasis. In the Song Dynasty, a high official making blood pudding accidentally dropped lotus skin into it, causing the blood to disperse and fail to coagulate. A patient suffering from bloody stranguria, with severe pain and distension nearly causing death, was cured by Li Shizhen using lotus rhizome juice mixed with ash of hair, taken twice daily at 2 qian doses, recovering in three days. Mei Shi Fang records that for postpartum residual blood rushing upward, boiling and drinking lotus rhizome juice works. Blood encountering lotus skin disperses and fails to coagulate, showing that lotus is also a substance that damages/consumes blood.) Relieves thirst and irritability. Resolves alcohol toxicity and crab toxicity. (Extract juice, mix with hot wine, and take.) Treats Phlegm-Heat in the Upper Jiao. (Take together with Pear juice.) Treats hot stranguria. (Mix equal parts of Shengdihuang [Rehmanniae Radix] juice and Vitis Vinifera [Putao] juice, add honey, warm, and take.) Treats restlessness and thirst caused by Shanghan [Cold Damage] or seasonal epidemics. Apply externally to metal wounds and fractures. (All above use raw pounded juice. For sudden poisoning by venomous arrows, drink lotus rhizome juice; the more, the better.) Cooked lotus rhizome pounded and applied treats cracked frostbite. Lotus starch clarified is palatable. Cooked lotus rhizome is Sweet and Neutral. (Cooked lotus rhizome sold in markets is boiled with alkali and should not be eaten.) Lotus flower, applied externally to Tian Pao Chuang [Tian Pao Eczema / Wet Sores]. Very effective.