https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/A4PeQB2Vq1CW8xtc-5KQOA
You are welcome to share your own experiences with the herbal medicines in the replies, to facilitate other students’ reference and learning.
30. Gypsum
It feels cold in the mouth, one grade milder than Cimicifuga (Shengma), so from the perspective of medicinal properties, it should be classified as “cold” level 2 (review: 9 levels in total - extreme cold, cold, cool, slightly cool, neutral, slightly warm, warm, hot, extreme hot).
It crumbles into residue with slight chewing, but it is not recommended to swallow because the residue of gypsum is needle-like and can easily injure the mucosa or even embed. It is advised to carefully spit it out and rinse the mouth immediately.
The decoction water falls between “cold” and “cool,” which might be the historical source of the debate whether gypsum is extremely cold or not. It is inherently quite cold, but the properties are not fully extracted by decoction, so many consider it only “slightly cold (cool).”
Confirmed effects: clearing heat, cooling blood, and relieving restlessness. To fully utilize its effects, it should be ground into fine powder and made into pills or powders.
Here is a brief explanation of the source of efficacy. Most Chinese medicines containing CaCO3 are heavy sedatives, acid suppressants, and stomach regulators; similarly, CaSO4 (gypsum), having similar chemical bonds, also has astringent properties, so this is not surprising. The difference is that calcium sulfate’s chemical bonds are more stable, so its astringent nature is stronger, manifesting macroscopically as “cold.” Calcium carbonate medicines have less stable bonds and interact somewhat with the human body, so their astringency is milder, making them less cold and showing sedative characteristics.
Actually, gypsum can also be used as a heavy sedative, so it can treat high fever with delirium, but it is usually unnecessary to use gypsum for sedation because it is too cold.
Regarding gypsum’s thirst-quenching effect, part of it comes from its moistening the lung and stomach and generating body fluids, and another part is secondary to its heat-clearing and restlessness-relieving effect. Its relief of headaches, toothache, and sore throat are secondary effects of clearing heat and cooling blood.
31. Han Shui Shi (Cold Water Stone)
Provided here is Northern Cold Water Stone, which is pink gypsum.
Its main chemical components are basically the same as gypsum, but it is pink because it contains iron and aluminum impurities.
Its medicinal property is basically the same as gypsum. Ancient texts say it enters the heart and kidney channels, possibly related to its reddish coloration; I have not personally experienced this yet.
32. Anemarrhena (Zhimu)
Belonging to the Liliaceae family like Polygonatum (Yuzhu), it at first smell resembles Yuzhu, but in taste and after drinking, it is more bitter and has a slightly astringent aftertaste.
It has a somewhat viscous mouthfeel, and its tonifying strength is also somewhat present.
Confirmed effects: clearing turbid toxins from the heart, lung, stomach, liver, and kidney; nourishing yin, enriching blood, and moistening dryness. Secondary effects: treating febrile diseases with yin injury and cough; blood deficiency with tidal fever (the tidal fever is not a fixed-time fever but waves of heat rising from below accompanied by sweating); moistening intestines and relieving constipation.
This herb is very useful; remember this sensation, it will be mentioned multiple times later.