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Commonly known as Pine Resin.
Taste: Bitter, Sweet. Temperature: Warm, Neutral. Indications: Carbuncles, malignant sores, head ulcers with white alopecia, scabies, and wind-rheumatism. (From *Shennong Bencao Jing*). Clears latent heat in the stomach, treats dry throat, and xiao-ke (wasting-thirst syndrome).

Prescription: For various joint pains due to wind rheumatism, where pain in all joints is unbearable. Use thirty jin of pine resin, refined fifty times. Mix with three sheng of refined butter and three sheng of pine resin, stirring until uniform.

Pine Joint (Songjie)
Taste and Aroma: Bitter, Warm. Indications: Chronic wind-dampness in all joints, wind-deficiency, bi-syndrome pain in the feet. When charred, it treats diseases between sinews and bones, can dry dampness in blood, and treat toothache caused by wind decay. (Decoct for gargling, or burn to ash and rub daily; effective.) For joint pain due to wind rheumatism, where limbs feel detached, use Pine Joint Wine. Take twenty pine joints and five dou of wine, simmer slowly.

[General Discussion on Pine Resin and Pine Joint] The pine tree possesses the quality of True Yang, remaining evergreen in winter. Pine resin is like human blood. Its indications for carbuncles, sores, alopecia, scabies, and wind-rheumatism are due to its ability to eliminate latent dampness and wind.

Pine Flower (Songhua)
Taste and Aroma: Sweet, Warm. Actions: Moistens heart and lungs, tonifies qi, dispels wind, stops bleeding. Treats persistent hematemesis. There is a Pine Flower Powder (*Zhunsheng*). Pine flower is also called pine pollen, resembling cattail pollen when brushed off. Taken with wine, it lightens the body and treats diseases more effectively than bark, leaves, or resin. (From *Gong*) It cannot be stored for long, hence rarely used fresh for distant transport. (From *Song*)

Guilin Guiling derives its name from cassia trees. From the south of the ridge to the sea, there are abundant cassia trees. (From *Zangqi*) Transplanted north of the ridge, the aroma lacks pungency.

There are three types. Jun Gui (Cinnamomum burmannii) and Mu Gui (Cinnamomum cassia) have only warm properties and cannot treat wind-cold diseases. Only one type, Rou Gui (Cinnamon Bark), is distinct. (*Benjing* only lists Jun Gui and Mu Gui; *Bielu* repeats words Rou Gui, Guixin, Guizhi, Baogui all belong to cinnamon bark. If the flesh is thick and half-curling, with an extremely pungent taste, it is Rou Gui. Removing the rough bark from Rou Gui and taking the skin close to the wood that is pungent and beautiful, it is called Guixin. Guizhi refers to the thin twigs of Rou Gui, not the main branch. Taking the tender, fine, and extremely thin bark, it is called Baogui. All are sought based on their pungent, sweet taste and mature qi. Specifically, their qi varies in density, and each is suitable for different uses.

Taste: Sweet, Pungent. Temperature: Very Hot. Slight toxicity. The one with thinner qi is Guizhi; the one with denser qi is Rou Gui. Thinner qi leads to dispersal; Guizhi moves upward... Rou Gui enters... points. (From *Hao*) Yin Jueyin channel blood... Chun... Ephedra permeates... and wind pathogen is expelled. (...urgently eat pungent to moisten... Ministerial Fire and Mingmen... cold as root, as... failing to return to origin while flaming outward... person with cold heart and will. (From *Zhiyi*) *Bielu* says, what harm does slight toxicity do? Used with Wuzhuyu, Aconite, Ginseng, Ophiopogon, Licorice, then... Ying Gan Dihuang treats vomiting and regurgitation. Avoid Gypsum, Anemarrhena, Ginseng, Ophiopogon, Bamboo Leaf. Red Peony, Silkworm Chrysalis treat traumatic injuries complicated by wind-cold. Achyranthes, Rehmannia, Angelica treat postpartum deficiency. For deficient persons with cold abdominal pain unbearable, it is good for flesh regeneration. With Turmeric and Curcuma, it treats... Rehmannia, Frankincense, Myrrh, Peach Kernel treat falls and injuries, blood stasis... sleep, no abdominal pain, no constipation, red urine, also unable to eat. Liver pulse strong, Spleen pulse weak, use cooling medicines to treat middle, add double amount of Rou Gui to suppress liver and benefit spleen, achieving two benefits with one treatment. *Bielu* thus says it benefits liver and lung qi, and with Mu Gui treats hypochondriac pain. Regarding abortion, Pang Anshi said, if fried, it does not damage the fetus.

Rou Gui (Cinnamon Bark)
Dense like fat, texture loose, purple color, extremely pungent taste, and sweetness exceeds it. Temperature: Hot. Taste: Extremely Pungent. Pure Yang. Tonifies deficiency of Mingmen, benefits fire to dissipate yin, warms spleen and stomach deficiency-cold, cures undigested food in stool, promotes lung qi to descend... heat... this... yang... Guixin
Remove the rough, tasteless outer bark, leaving only the layer close to the wood, which is extremely sweet and pungent, hence named "Heart". Treats nine types of heart pain. (The nine types relate to qi stagnation and blood disharmony) Middle jiao deficiency-cold, accumulation causing pain, unblocks vessels and opens orifices, treats all internal wind obstruction and numbness in hands and feet, treats phlegm retention, loss of voice, throat obstruction, resolves blood stasis, breaks masses and accumulations, internally supports carbuncles and smallpox. (For external covering cold, it can dissipate floating frozen qi.) Guides blood to transform into sweat and pus, regulates amenorrhea, retained placenta, and postpartum evil blood rushing to the heart, suffocation about to perish. Add 2-3 fen of Guixin to yin-tonifying formulas, it can move blood-stagnating herbs and tonify kidney, because pungent taste belongs to lung and generates water to move blood. (From *Danxi*) Swelling and pain of external kidneys is also verified.

Nature
Qi
Regulate
Guizhi (Cinnamon Twig)
Refers to the tender, thin branches of the cassia tree. Baogui is the extremely thin bark of these tender branches. Its nature is light and ascending, can travel to upper jiao head and eyes, unblock arms and limbs, regulate nutritive blood, harmonize muscle surface, relieve wind-cold headache, joint gout, remove wind-dampness from skin, disperse lower jiao blood stasis, moves directly as the precursor of Ben Tun (Roving Tumor, which is Kidney Qi emerging from Bladder). Moves horizontally as a guiding herb for arms. Physicians of later generations do not understand the meaning of Guizhi consolidating the exterior, almost using this herb to tonify Wei Qi and tighten pores. If so, why not use Ginseng? Wind of four seasons arises from qi of four seasons. Winter cold wind, Wei Qi is attacked, unable to secure Ying Qi and harmonize with it, thus sweating occurs. Only Guizhi, pungent and sweet, can disperse wind-cold on muscle surface, and unblock blood vessels, thus combining with White [Peony] to secure Wei Qi to reach Ying Qi, making them harmonious so muscles relax and sweat stops. Peony is sour and astringent, representing wind-wood emerging from earth. Wind-wood is yang within yin. Yin emerges from earth, True Yang hides in earth. Cassia can guide True Yang and unblock blood vessels, thus combining with Peony to harmonize Ying and Wei, can remove lower jiao blood stasis. Lower jiao blood stasis often results from heat qi reversing upward, blood not following meridians. However, if lower jiao blood stasis, it is due to cold congealing like ice, blood not flowing and accumulating, thus dispersing with Guizhi's pungent-hot qi. Zhongjing uses it in Tao Ren Cheng Qi Tang. (From *Leiming*) Baogui's power to harmonize Ying seems inferior to Guizhi. Baogui floats lightly, moves horizontally in arms, can guide Arisaema, Atractylodes etc. to treat gout. (From *Leiming*)

Mu Gui (Mother Cinnamon)
Flat, broad, thin, another type. Taste is bland, aroma is not pungent. Used to warm upper jiao deficiency-cold, can harmonize qi and blood stagnation and reversal. Also not generally placed, unlike Jun Gui which was only used as food by ancients.

Taste: Pungent, Warm. Indications: Upper qi cough and reversal, stagnant qi, throat obstruction, difficulty inhaling/exhaling, benefits joints, treats hypochondriac wind-pain, tonifies middle and benefits qi. Does not treat deep-seated chronic cold... harmony. How? Regulate qi. Qi temperature harmony, then wood... [Discussion] Cassia inherits heaven and earth's Yang. Jieguo called it Pure Yang, Dongyuan regarded it as Yang within Yang. Thus take it for use in floating qi, and essence specializes in qi having reverse specific taste dense and trending to yin, enters Foot Shaoyin blood level, dissipates yin shadows to emit sunlight. (This is Yin within Yang) Its essence light and trending to yang, enters... formula pure jueyang exterior wind... then harmonizes blood and returns to regulate qi, is Ying-Wei formula, not wind-cold medicine. Also tonifies primal yang deficiency-cold, can expel externally contracted condensed cold, also not exclusively treating external cold medicine. But regarding qi dense, travels interior and enters yin level, then凡是 in interior yin stagnation and yang insufficient, all can be treated. Qi thin, travels exterior and enters yang level, then凡是 in exterior yang congestion and yin disharmony, all can be treated. Examine this principle, regarding so-called entering channels to scatter cold, exiting exterior to dispel wind, users should interpret with mind. Cassia nature uniquely hot biased yang, interior and exterior both reach, harmonize Ying Qi, scatter exterior pathogen, induce sweat solidify pores, then Guizhi is longest. Rou Gui Guixin travel interior move blood, remove cold break blood, calm liver enter right kidney Mingmen, tonify ministerial fire insufficiency, its function. However using cassia strictly contraindicated in yin deficiency summer-heat warm disease, and all interior heat latent heat yang jue yin collapse etc. syndromes. If mistakenly administered, disaster follows immediately. Carefully observe etiology, absolutely no doubt in action. Be cautious, be cautious. (From *Zhongchun*) Avoid raw green onion, avoid fire.

[Processing] Harvest avoiding fire and sun. When using, scrape off rough bark, slice immediately. Surplus wrap heavily in paper to prevent leaking pungent qi. Pregnancy