Black Xian Dan 1
【Source】Quoted from the "Taiping Shenghui Heji Ju Fang" Volume 5, attributed to Master Sang.
【Alternate Names】Yi Men Black Xian Dan (from "Zhong Yao Cheng Fang Pei Ben").
【Composition】Agarwood (sliced), Aconite (roasted, skin and umbilicus removed), Tribulus terrestris (soaked in wine, stir-fried), Epimedium (ground fine, water-separated), Fennel (imported, stir-fried), Psoralea corylifolia (soaked in wine, stir-fried), Nutmeg (wrapped in flour, baked), Quisqualis indica (steamed, skin and kernel removed), Sandalwood, each 30 grams; Cinnamon (bark removed), 15 grams; Black tin (filtered), Sulfur (transparent, crystallized), each 60 grams.
【Usage】Mix all herbs in a black bowl or new iron pot, prepare black tin and sulfur crystals as usual, cool on ground to remove fire toxicity, grind into extremely fine powder. Crush remaining herbs, sieve into fine powder, mix thoroughly and grind continuously from morning until evening until the mixture turns black and glossy. Make pills with wine paste, size of tamarind seed. Dry in shade inside a cloth bag, rub until shiny. Take 30–40 pills empty stomach, wash down with ginger-salt water or jujube decoction; for women, use mugwort-vinegar water.
【Function】Warm and strengthen lower yuan, calm and anchor floating yang.
【Indications】Deficiency of true yang, kidney failing to receive qi, turbid yin rising upward, upper excess and lower deficiency, phlegm stagnating in chest, shortness of breath, cold extremities, continuous sweating, pale tongue with white coating, deep and weak pulse; rushing piglet (benign tumor), gas surging up from lower abdomen to chest, distension and pain in chest, hypochondrium, and abdomen, or cold hernia abdominal pain, intestinal rumbling and loose stools, or male impotence and cold sperm, female blood sea deficiency and cold, irregular menstruation, clear leukorrhea, infertility.
【Discussion】In this formula, black tin calms floating yang, descends rebellious qi, and relieves asthma—this is the sovereign herb; sulfur warms the life gate, warms the kidneys, and dispels cold—also a sovereign herb; aconite and cinnamon warm the kidneys and assist yang, guide fire back to its origin, enabling deficient yang to return to the kidney—these are minister herbs; fennel, agarwood, nutmeg warm the middle, regulate qi, descend rebellious qi, eliminate phlegm, and also warm the kidneys—these are auxiliary herbs; yet to prevent excessive warmth and dryness from other herbs, one bitter-cold herb, Quisqualis indica, is added to moderate the other herbs and also promote liver qi flow. Together, they achieve the effect of warming and strengthening original yang, calming and anchoring floating yang. |
