Herbs that Clear Heat and Dry Dampness
Huang Lian 黄连
Rhizoma Coptidis Coptis Rhizome
✓ CALE Exam ✓ National Exam
Materia Medica Data
- Temperature
- Cold
- Nature & Flavour
- Bitter, Cold
- Channels Entered
- HT, LI, LIV, ST
- Latin (pharmaceutical)
- Rhizoma Coptidis
- Chinese
- 黄连
- Tone Marks
- huáng lián
- Translation
- Yellow Links
Chinese Herb Actions
- Drains Fire and Relieves Toxins For fire symptoms such as high fever, irritability, delirium, red tongue, and full and rapid pulse. Also for heat with toxicity causing painful red eyes, sore throat, and for toxic skin lesions.
- Drains Dampness and Clears Heat For Damp-Heat in the stomach with vomiting or acid regurgitation, or stomach fire with bad breath and belching with a foul smell, and for Damp-Heat in the intestines with diarrhea or dysentery.
- Calms Heart Fire For insomnia due to the Heart and Kidneys miscommunication.
- Clears Heat, Stops Bleeding For epistaxis, Blood in the stool, urine, or vomit. Used topically to clear heat in the eyes, tongue, and mouth.
Chinese Herb Dosage
- 1.5-9 grams.
Chinese Herb Contraindications & Cautions
- Caution in cases of Yin or blood deficiency, stomach cold, or diarrhea from spleen and kidney deficiency. Long term use may injure the spleen and stomach. Some traditional sources say this herb should not be taken with pork, and may antagonize Radix Scrophulariae Ningpoensis (xuan shen), Flos Chrysanthemi Morifolii (ju hua), Bombyx Batryticatus (jiang can), Cortex Dictamni Dasycarpi Radicis (bai xian pi), and Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae, (niu xi).
Chinese Herb Notes
- Dry-fried to enhance the cooling properties and to allow entrance into the blood, use with ginger to treat stomach heat, use with salt to clear heat in the large intestine and bladder, and can be used topically as a powder.
Sources & References
Compiled and edited by Thomas Dehli, Founder & Editor, Sacred Lotus
The information here is referenced from numerous sources — teachers, practitioners, class notes from Five Branches University, the books below, and the published research literature, with citations given as resolvable PubMed identifiers. Where sources disagree, I have flagged the discrepancies directly. If facts couldn't be verified, I have left them out. How we source our content.
Reference information for students and practitioners — not medical advice. Consult a qualified practitioner. Terms of use.
Chinese Herbs Books & References
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