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The Qi is cold, the taste is bitter and acrid, non-toxic. Bitterness can detoxify and reduce fever, and relieve pain in the throat; it is excellent when combined with Gancao (Licorice Root) and Jiegeng (Platycodon Root). Acridity can reach the exterior and moisten the skin, dispersing swelling from sores and ulcers; it is particularly good when used with detoxifying herbs. Combining its Qi and taste, it also treats stagnant blood in the waist and knees. If acne or smallpox eruptions are slow to appear, one should use Mahuang (Ephedra) and Jiegeng juice to decoct [the herb].

The Qi is cold, the taste is bitter and salty, non-toxic; it is the sovereign drug of the Foot-Shaoyin Kidney Meridian. It strengthens Yin, benefits essence, tonifies the kidney, and brightens the eyes. It treats warm malaria with alternating chills and fever, where the body frequently trembles. It drives out firm masses of blood stasis within the intestines and dissipates phlegm nodules and carbuncles under the neck. It commands the movement of all Qi above and below, keeping it orderly and not turbid. It universally treats swelling and pain of the throat, softening and relieving it immediately. It removes accumulated heat and reduces toxic swelling. It eliminates mental restlessness, vexation, thirst, and insomnia; mental confusion bordering on collapse; blood stasis causing difficult urination. It also treats limb fullness, manic delirium, and sudden loss of consciousness. Furthermore, it treats cases where pathogenic toxins cannot be dispersed after sweating, vomiting, or purging in Shanghan (Cold Damage) diseases. It is indeed a formula that regulates the pivot mechanism; by this alone, it can treat the misty Qi in the void and remove floating, rootless fire. Additionally, when used in phlegm-resolving prescriptions, it can eliminate phlegm. Why? Because when Qi regulation is restored, phlegm naturally clears. It is incompatible with Litu (Veratrum Rhizome).

The Qi is cold, the taste is bitter, non-toxic, purely Yin. It is an excellent agent for cooling blood. It expels wind pathogens from the skin and removes deficiency heat between bone joints. As the sovereign drug in Siwu Tang (Four Substances Decoction), assisted by Lujiaojiao (Deer Antler Glue) and supported by Danpi (Moutan Bark), it is most effective for treating bone-steaming in women. Assisting in Jiedu Tang (Detoxification Decoction), with Shengdihuang (Rehmannia Root) as the minister and Qianggen (Qian Cao Gen / Rubia Cordifolia Root) as the assistant, it is good for treating heat toxins in patients with acne/smallpox. It also treats bone-steaming with sweating involving the Foot-Shaoyin and Hand-Shaoyang meridians. It is contraindicated in exterior cold patterns.

The Qi is slightly cold, the taste is slightly bitter. It primarily treats hematemesis (vomiting blood), epistaxis (nosebleed), bloody dysentery, metrorrhagia, and hematuria. Long-term consumption lightens the body and boosts Qi, enabling one to endure cold and heat. It further treats joint pain caused by cold wind. This is an essential herb for tonifying Yin. Its nature is good at maintaining stability. Whenever harvested, one must select the direction corresponding to the lunar month, as it obtains the Qi of the seasonal command. However, its nature is often dry; it must be soaked in honey water, steamed over rice until cooked, dried in the shade, and then consumed. This greatly benefits the Spleen Earth, thereby nourishing the Lung.