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Luo Guansi (Luffa Fruit Fibre)

Unblocks the meridians. Cools blood and dispels wind. The nature is sweet and cold. Resolves phlegm and detoxifies. (Luo Guansi has a sweet taste and cold nature, enters the meridians to resolve heat pathogens; when heat is removed, wind is eliminated. The fluids in the collaterals do not congeal into phlegm, thus preventing various conditions such as swellings and toxic sores; hence it is said to detoxify.)

(Shi Hua Cai, also known as Qilin Cai, grows among the sands and rocks of the South Sea. It resembles coral, with fine teeth on its branches. It is white and can be eaten as a vegetable. Its taste is sweet and salty, and its nature is cold and slippery. It clears hot phlegm from the lungs and drains damp-heat from the intestines. It can be used for conditions such as hemorrhoidal bleeding due to yin deficiency and damp-heat, but those with deficiency-cold should strictly avoid it.)

The nature is sweet and neutral, nourishes Ying-Yin to treat hematemesis and epistaxis. The substance possesses cooling and dark properties, effectively treating hemorrhoids and fistulas while stopping intestinal bleeding. One must understand the differences between toxic and non-toxic varieties, and carefully distinguish between good wood and rotten wood. (Mu Er grows on rotten wood, arising from damp-heat and receiving yin-dark qi, inevitably carrying slight toxicity. With a sweet taste and black color, although it can treat conditions like hemorrhoidal discharge and intestinal redness, it is ultimately not an excellent medicinal herb for curing diseases, but merely suitable for dietary use. Moreover, since there are various types of wood, careful examination is necessary.)

Sweet and neutral regulates the stomach and disperses wind qi. Fragrant and moist harmonizes the middle jiao and moves blood stasis. (Xiang Jun may grow from soil or wood, varying in species, all arising from stagnant damp-heat steaming. However, this substance is fragrant, sweet, and palatable, thus able to regulate the spleen and harmonize the stomach. Its fragrance seems to enter the blood level, and its form seems suitable for dispersion, thus it can also disperse wind.)

Wu Zhu Yu

Disperses cold in the Jueyin channel. Pungent and bitter soothes the liver and descends cold turbidity. Dries dampness in the spleen. Aromatic treats vomiting and cures cold pain. Therefore, it is suitable for hernia, masses, and Hong Kong foot (gouty arthritis/foot drop). It is also effective for stagnation and fluid retention. For acid regurgitation and chest fullness, it guides downward. For Pi accumulation and Ben Tun (rushing qi), its warming and dispersing action can be utilized. (Wu Zhu Yu is pungent, bitter, and warm, aromatic and drying. It is originally the principal herb for the liver, but also enters the spleen and stomach, because the spleen likes aromatic dryness and the stomach likes descending. Its property of directing qi downward is very rapid, extremely capable of ventilating and dispersing stagnation. Thus, it treats diseases such as abdominal pain and hernia caused by liver qi stagnation and cold turbidity settling below, or pathogenic factors moving downward to the extreme and then reversing upward, resulting in vomiting, acid regurgitation, and chest fullness. All these can be treated. From its pungent, bitter, aromatic, and drying nature, its efficacy can be generally inferred. Therefore, for treating the liver, treating the stomach, and addressing cold-damp stagnation and turbidity in the middle and lower jiao, nothing is unsuitable.)