When Heat builds up and looks for a way out
A feeling of heat that does not subside, a face that reddens easily, a dry mouth, a craving for cool drinks, a temper quick to flare, discomfort that grows after spicy meals or in hot weather… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Heat that builds up inside and concentrates until it becomes what tradition calls Fire. Carried by Wind, it tends to rise to the upper body and settle at the surface.
Lian Qiao Bai Du Wan is a formula from the Chinese pharmacopoeia, part of the large family of formulas that clear Heat. It brings together the best-known herbs of that family: the honeysuckle and forsythia pair, also found in Yin Qiao Pian, and the three “yellows” of the pharmacopoeia, Baikal skullcap, coptis and phellodendron, which tradition assigns to the upper, middle and lower body.
Cool at the centre, open to the outside
The formula works in two directions. Chinese violet, the herb with the highest dose, and honeysuckle clear Heat, backed by the three “yellows”. A group of pungent, light herbs, schizonepeta, siler, Dahurian angelica, mint and bupleurum, opens the surface so that Heat disperses instead of staying locked in. Finally, Chinese angelica, red peony and trichosanthes root look after the Blood and the Fluids, which so much coolness could exhaust.
Clears Heat: Chinese violet, cold and bitter, and honeysuckle, cold and fragrant, together make up more than a third of the formula. Forsythia accompanies them towards the upper body.
Expels Wind: Schizonepeta and siler, pungent and slightly warm, open the surface; mint and bupleurum, cooler, help Heat disperse upwards and outwards.
Soothes sensations of heat: Baikal skullcap, coptis and phellodendron share out the upper, middle and lower body between them, for a coolness that reaches the whole body.
Cools the Blood: Red peony and Chinese violet cool the Blood, while Chinese angelica nourishes it and helps it circulate; trichosanthes root preserves the Fluids that Heat tends to dry up.
