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Clearing fire, removing dampness.
Bitter flavor enters the Heart meridian; cold nature overcomes heat. Clears excess fire in the Middle Jiao (Middle Burner); removes damp-heat in the Spleen.
Treats dysentery with abdominal pain (blood in stool is called "dysentery"; contraindicated for cold-type pain. Abdominal pain varies by cold, heat, deficiency, excess, food stagnation, blood stasis, and phlegm-dampness. Cold requires warming; heat requires clearing; deficiency requires tonifying; excess requires purging; food stagnation requires digestion-promoting methods; blood stasis requires moving and dispersing; phlegm-dampness requires resolving phlegm and promoting diuresis. Pain that cannot be pressed is excess pain; pain that stops upon pressing is deficiency pain), alternating chills and fever (pathogen in Shaoyang [Lesser Yang]), jaundice and five types of strangury (Lin syndrome), blood obstruction (excess heat in the Blood level) and rebellious Qi, carbuncles, sores, ulcers, and various hemorrhages. Resolves phlegm (Zhu Danxi believed Huangqin descends phlegm by leveraging its fire-clearing property. Note: Phlegm moves due to fire; one must first descend fire), promotes urination, relieves thirst, and calms the fetus (pregnancy benefits from clearing heat and cooling blood; if blood does not move recklessly, the fetus remains secure); nourishes Yin, subdues Yang, and supplements Bladder water.
Wine-fried, it acts upward, clears Lung fire, and benefits Qi in the chest (The Lung governs Qi; heat injures Qi; clearing heat thus protects the Lung). Treats wind-heat and damp-heat in the Upper Jiao (Upper Burner) (Zhu Danxi stated: Huangqin is a herb for the Upper and Middle Jiao), fiery cough with fishy odor in the throat (among the five odors, the Lung corresponds to fishiness), red and swollen painful eyes. Overuse damages the Stomach. Contraindicated in blood deficiency and middle-jiao cold (Synergies: combined with Chaihu to relieve chills and fever; with Shaoyao to treat dysentery; with Houpo and Huanglian to stop abdominal pain; with Sangbaipi to clear Lung fire; with Baizhu to calm the fetus—these are its miraculous applications. Li Shizhen noted: Zhang Zhongjing used it in Xiao Chaihu Tang for Shaoyang syndrome, Huangqin Tang for Taiyang-Shaoyang combined syndrome with diarrhea, and Xixin Tang for post-purging fullness in the heart after Shaoyang syndrome. Huanglian is bitter and cold, entering the Heart to clear heat and remove Spleen damp-heat, preventing Stomach fire from flowing into the Lung and damaging Metal, thereby protecting the Lung. However, it is unsuitable for Lung deficiency because bitter-cold damages Earth, injuring the Mother organ. Although Shaoyang syndrome is at half-exterior and half-interior, cardiac diaphragm stuffiness actually involves pathogenic factors in the Heart and Upper Jiao Lung. Restlessness, frequent vomiting, silence, and loss of appetite involve the Middle Jiao Spleen and Stomach. Thus, Huangqin is used to treat the Ministerial Fire of Hand-Foot Shaoyang; it is also a Shaoyang herb. Yang Shiying said: Chaihu’s ability to reduce fever is inferior to Huangqin. Li Shizhen said: Chaihu uses bitterness to disperse, addressing the branch of fire; Huangqin uses cold to overcome heat, addressing the root of fire. Dong Yuan treated Lung heat where the body felt like burning, with restlessness and thirst, worse during the day, using Yiwu Huangqin Tang to purge Qi-level fire in the Lung meridian, with one liang of Huangqin decocted. The *Bencao Fang* used it for metrorrhagia and sudden profuse diarrhea).
Those with bright yellow color are superior. Those hollow in the center are called Kukui, or Piankuai, which clear Lung fire and heat on the muscle surface. Those solid inside are called Tiaokui, or Zikuai, which clear Large Intestine fire and supplement Bladder water. For upward action, fry with wine. To clear Liver and Gallbladder fire, fry with pig bile. Shan Zhu Yu and Long Gu serve as guiding herbs. Adversely affected by Danpi and Dansha.