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Gancao (Guolao, "National Elder")

The flavor is sweet, the nature is neutral, and it is non-toxic. It primarily treats cold and heat pathogenic factors in the five zang organs and six fu organs, strengthens sinews and bones, promotes muscle growth, increases strength, treats traumatic injuries (Jinchuang) and detoxifies, warms the middle jiao and directs rebellious qi downward, relieves irritability and shortness of breath, treats coughs caused by injury to the zang organs, stops thirst, unblocks meridians, benefits blood and qi, and resolves the toxicity of a hundred medicines. It is the essence of the nine soils, capable of stabilizing and harmonizing seventy-two types of minerals and one thousand two hundred types of herbs. Long-term consumption lightens the body and prolongs life. Also known as Miguan, Meicao, Micai, and [missing character]cao. It grows in Jisha Mountain of Hexi Chuan Valley and Shangjun. The roots are harvested on the "Chu" days of the second and eighth lunar months and sun-dried for ten days. (Zhu, Ganqi, and Kushen serve as its assistants; it is incompatible with Yuanzhi; it is contrary to Daji, Yuanhua, Gansui, and Haizao.)

Tao Hongjing stated: Trade between Hexi and Shangjun no longer exists; currently, it is produced in Shu and Hanzhong, all coming from the Yi regions of Wenshan. Those with red skin, broken texture, and appearing solid are called Baohan Cao, which is of the best quality. Baohan is a Qiang place name. There are also those dried by fire-roasting, which have a loose texture. Some resemble carp intestines but are cut open, rendering them inferior. Qingzhou also produces it, but it is not as good. There is also Zigancao, which is thin and solid, usable when others are scarce. This herb is the master of all medicines; few classical formulas omit it, just as Chenxiang (Aquilaria wood) is essential among fragrances. Guolao refers to the Emperor's teacher; although not the sovereign, he is revered by the sovereign, thus able to stabilize and harmonize herbs and minerals and resolve various toxins. Ministers Yuxi and others carefully noted that according to *Erya*: [missing character], Da Ku. The annotation states: This is Gancao, growing creeping. Leaves resemble lotus leaves, greenish-yellow; stems are red with nodes, and branches at nodes are opposite. The commentary cites *Shijing · Tang Feng*: "Gathering Ling, gathering Ling, at the peak of Shouyang," referring to this. *Yaoxing Lun* states: Gancao is the Sovereign herb, contraindicated with pork, serving as the Sovereign among various medicines. It treats seventy-two types of Rushi (milk stone) toxins, resolves one thousand two hundred kinds of herbal toxins, harmonizes and assists other medicines, hence the title Guolao. It treats abdominal cold pain, manages Jingxian (startling epilepsy), eliminates abdominal distension, tonifies the five zang organs, restrains drug toxicities, nourishes kidney qi and internal injuries, and causes impotence. It treats women's blood stasis, lower back pain, deficiency with excess heat, and is added for use. Ri Huazi stated: It calms the soul and stabilizes the spirit, tonifies the five labors and seven injuries, addresses all deficiencies, palpitations, irritability, and forgetfulness, opens the orifices, benefits the hundred vessels, enriches essence and nourishes qi, strengthens sinews and bones, resolves cold and heat, and should be honey-fried (Zhi) for medicinal use.

*Tujing* stated: Gancao grows in Jisha Mountain of Hexi Chuan Valley and Shangjun; it is now found in Shaanxi and Hedong prefectures. Green shoots emerge in spring, one to two chi high. Leaves resemble locust leaves; purple flowers bloom in July resembling Na fruits; horn-like pods form in winter like broad beans. Roots can be three to four chi long, varying in thickness, with red skin, horizontal ridges above, and fine rootlets below. Harvested on the "Chu" days of the second and eighth lunar months, sun-dried for ten days, removing the rhizome head and red skin; currently, it is said to be air-dried. There are several types of Gancao; those that are solid with broken texture are preferred. Those that are light, hollow, longitudinally fibrous, or thin and tough are unsuitable, only sold for decoction use. Carefully noting *Erya*: [missing character], Da Ku. Explanation: [missing character], also named Da Ku. Guo Pu stated: It is Gancao, growing creeping, leaves resemble lotus leaves, greenish-yellow, stems red with nodes, branches opposite at nodes. Some say: [missing character] resembles Dihuang. *Shijing · Tang Feng* says: "Gathering Ling, gathering Ling, at the peak of Shouyang." [Missing character] and Ling are used interchangeably. Mount Shouyang is in Pu County, Hedong, close to current Gancao production areas, yet the seedlings and leaves described by ancient scholars differ completely from today's, suggesting different varieties? Zhang Zhongjing's *Shanghan Lun* contains formulas such as Yiwu Gancao Tang, Gancao Fuzi Tang, Gancao Jiangxin Tang, and Gancao Xiexin Tang, using it most frequently; it also resolves hundred toxins and is essential among medicines. Sun Simiao discussed: If one is poisoned by Wutou or Badou, Gancao settles the toxin upon entering the abdomen. Formulas claim Soybean resolves hundred drug toxins, but trials showed inefficacy; adding Gancao to make Gandou Tang proved faster. *Beiji Fang* stated: Cishi Bian, Prefect, once said: Lingnan locals' antidotes were substances they tasted; fearing others would learn the method, they called it "Three Hundred Oxen Medicine" or "Three Hundred Taels Silver Medicine." Bian lived there long, befriended them, and learned the truth. Before eating, take one cun of honey-fried Gancao, chew and swallow the juice; if poisoned, vomit immediately. Then use Duteng and Huangteng, decocted in wine and warmed for regular use; toxins exit via urination. Duteng grows in Lingnan, over three chi high, very thin and long. This is the so-called "Three Hundred Taels Silver Medicine." Carry ten-plus cun of Gancao for emergencies. If food is not vomited after holding Gancao in the mouth, it is not poison. Cui Yuanliang's *Haishang Fang*: Secret method for treating Fabei (back carbuncle). Li Beihai said this formula was divinely revealed and extremely secret. Use three liang of raw Gancao, pounded and sifted into powder; mix with nine liang of barley flour in a large plate until uniform. Add a little superior butter, knead into the medicine until uniform, then mix with boiling water to form dough cakes slightly larger than the wound. Apply hot compress to the swelling, separating with oil paper and old cloth for ventilation; change when cool. If pus has formed, it will drain naturally; if not, the swelling dissipates internally. While applying the medicine to the swelling, eating yellow millet porridge is excellent. Another method: Honey-fry one liang of Gancao slightly, pound, soak in one sheng of water overnight with a small knife placed across the vessel. At dawn, stir to create foam, blow the foam, and ingest. Applicable to all sores, swellings, and Fabei; very effective.

Lei Gong stated: When using, remove the head, tail, and tips, as these induce vomiting. Cut each piece to three cun length, chop into six or seven slices, place in porcelain, soak in wine and steam from Si hour to Wu hour, then sun-dry and finely chop. For every jin used, coat with seven liang of butter and roast until butter is absorbed. Alternatively, pan-fry until both inside and outside are reddish-yellow; this is good. *Waitai Miyao*: For emergency emaciation disease. Roast three liang of Gancao, boil in urine three to four times daily, consume at once; good. *Baiyi Fang*: For newborns, do not give Cinnabar or honey. Take a finger-joint length of roasted Gancao, crush, boil in two he of water to obtain one he, moisten cotton and apply to infant's mouth, stopping at the amount of a clam shell; the infant should quickly vomit evil fluids from the chest. Afterwards, wait until hungry/thirsty and administer again. If two doses do not induce vomiting, stop at one he total; if evil fluid is vomited, the infant's intelligence remains healthy. Another formula: For Gu poisoning, decoct and drink Gancao; phlegm will be expelled. For preventive Gu protection, use well-roasted Gancao decoction. All Gu toxins resolve internally without inducing phlegm vomiting; highly effective. Another formula: For beef or mutton poisoning, decoct Gancao juice and drink one to two sheng; recovery expected. Jingyan Fang: Cui Xuanzhou Yan transmitted a formula for dysentery (red and white): One chi of Gancao, roasted and broken, dipped lightly in dilute grain water three to four times, then slow-roasted. Add half liang of peeled fresh ginger; decoct both in one and a half sheng of grain water to obtain eight he; immediate effect. Mei Shi Fang: For initial dysentery, cold-heat red-white cholera. Roast one liang of Gancao, chop seven cardamoms; decoct in three sheng of water to obtain one sheng, divide and take. Sun Zhenren's Dietary Taboos: Treats all Shanghan. Gancao the length of a middle finger, roasted and finely chopped; mix with one sheng of boy's urine, decoct to obtain seven he; take on an empty stomach, twice daily. Guangli Fang: Treats Feiwei (lung atrophy) with chronic cough, excessive sputum, bone joint irritability, and chills/fever. Roast twelve fen of Gancao, pound to powder; daily mix one qianbi of Gancao powder with three he of urine, stir and ingest. Imperial Pharmacy treats sore throat of two to three days duration. Decoct Gancao Tang, strain, take three times daily. Gujin Luyian: Treats damp itching in the genital area. Cut one chi of Gancao, decoct in five sheng of water to obtain three sheng; soak and wash, three to five times daily; cured. *Jinkui Yuhan*: Water larkspur (Shui Langdang) in vegetables has round, smooth leaves and is toxic; accidental ingestion causes madness resembling wind-stroke or vomiting. Decoct Gancao juice and ingest; toxin resolved. Another formula: For accidental food poisoning where the specific toxin is unknown and no antidote is available. Decoct Gancao and Qicai soup and ingest; life saved upon entry. Another formula: For neonatal trismus (mouth closing) and lockjaw. Finely chop one fen of raw Gancao, decoct in one cup of water to reduce to six parts, strain, warm and give to infant; after vomiting phlegm-saliva, apply breast milk to mouth; cured. Another formula: For neonatal Gu poisoning near death. Chop half liang of Gancao, decoct in one cup of water to reduce to five parts, strain. Divide into two doses; Gu toxin will be vomited out. Another formula: For neonatal emaciation. Roast two liang of Gancao until charred, pound to powder, make honey pills the size of mung beans. Take five pills with warm water, twice daily. *Shanghan Leiyao*: Treats Shanghan with sore throat after two to three days. Roast two liang of Gancao, decoct in three sheng of water to obtain one and a half sheng; take five he, three times daily. Another formula: For Shanghan with knotted and intermittent pulse and palpitations. Two liang of Gancao, decoct in three sheng of water to obtain half volume; take seven he, twice daily. Yao Hezhong: Treats hematuria in children. Five fen of Gancao, decoct in six he of water to obtain two he, strain; one-year-old infant consumes all in one day. *Huainanzi*: Gancao promotes muscle growth.

*Yanyi* stated: Gancao branches and leaves resemble locust trees, five to six chi high, but leaf tips are slightly pointed and rough, resembling white hairs. Pods grow like acacia pods, single stem, seeds like small flat beans, unbreakable by teeth. Currently produced in the borders of Hedong; for medicinal use, slight roasting is required; otherwise, it is slightly cooling. Raw form tastes poor.