individual herbs - categories and properties

Question 0

da huang (大黄）rhei radix et rhizoma

Answer 0

downward draining - purgative
bitter and cold

remember that 黄 is bitter and cold, except in the case of 麻黄

Question 1

jin yin hua (金银花） lonicerae flos

Answer 1

clear heat and relieve toxicity

sweet and cold (remember that gold is sweet and silver is cold)

Question 2

qing hao (青蒿）artemisiae annuae herba

Answer 2

clear heat from deficiency
bitter and cold

remember that this is wormwood … absinthe … so it is bitter and cold, just like the drink ….

Question 3

huanglian (黄连） (coptidis rhizoma)

Answer 3

clear heat - dry dampness
bitter and cold (remember it is 黄）

think about 黄脸婆 （huángliǎnpó） … an old dried up woman … of course this herb dries dampness!

Question 4

huang qin (黄芩） (scutellariae radix)

Answer 4

clear heat - dry dampness
bitter and cold

remember that it is a 黄！ so it’s gonna be bitter and cold, unless its 麻黄, which it ain’t!

Question 5

huang bai (黄柏） phellodendri cortex

Answer 5

clear heat - dry dampness
bitter and cold

once again, it is 黄, so it is bitter and cold, unless it’s 麻黄， which it ain’t!

Question 6

sheng di huang (生地黄） rehmanniae radix

Answer 6

clear heat - cool blood
bitter, sweet, and cold

remember, it is 黄！ so it’s bitter and cold, but it’s also sweet, because it is 生地。。。

Question 7

shui niu jiao （水牛角）(bubali cornu)

Answer 7

clear heat - cool blood
salty and cold

salty and cold because it’s a bloody animal product!
clear heat cool blood because it’s a bloody animal product!!

Question 8

lian qiao (连翘） (forsythiae fructus)

Answer 8

clear heat - resolve toxicity

bitter, slightly acrid, slightly cold

Question 9

huo ma ren （火麻仁） (cannabis semen)

Answer 9

downward draining - moist laxative

sweet and neutral

Question 10

gan sui (甘遂） （kansui radix)

Answer 10

downward draining - harsh expellant
bitter, sweet, toxic, cold

the sweet part is obvious (甘）

Question 11

gui zhi (桂枝）cinnamomi ramulus

Answer 11

warm acrid - release the exterior
acrid, sweet, and warm

sweet and warm, just like a cinnamon stick in hot apple ciderr … and a little acrid

Question 12

chai hu (柴胡） bupleuri radix

Answer 12

cool acrid - release the exterior

acrid, bitter, cool

Question 13

bohe (薄荷） (menthae haplocalycis herba)

Answer 13

cool acrid - release the exterior

acrid, aromatic, cool

Question 14

ma huang (麻黄）ephedrae herba

Answer 14

warm acrid - release the exterior
acrid, slightly bitter, warm

remember, this is the only 黄 that isn’t cold … but it is bitter …

Question 15

xi gua （

Answer 15

clear heat - drain fire
sweet and cold

this makes sense …. watermelon is sweet and cold …. watermelon is good in the summertime … clears heat, drains fire

Question 16

shi gao (石膏） gypsum fibrosum

Answer 16

clear heat - drain fire

acrid, sweet, very cold

Question 17

zhi mu (知母） anemarrhenae rhizoma

Answer 17

clear heat - drain fire

bitter, sweet , and cold