Bark of Largeleaf Chinese Ash

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Clears damp-heat from the intestines - a classic bark for diarrhea, dysentery, abdominal urgency, and foul stools when heat and dampness lodge in the Large Intestine.
• Astringes and contains damp-heat discharge - used for leukorrhea and chronic damp-heat seepage where the herb's bitter, cooling, and mildly restraining qualities help dry and hold at the same time.
• Clears Liver heat and improves vision - classically valued for red, swollen, painful eyes or hot eye discharge, especially when intestinal damp-heat and liver heat coexist.
• Resolves toxic-heat irritation without the harshness of more drastic purgatives - useful when heat must be dried and cleared but the patient still needs some containment rather than strong downward draining.

Secondary Actions

• Often decocted as an external wash for hot, irritated eyes, extending its use beyond internal gastrointestinal patterns.
• Because it is both cold and somewhat astringent, Qin Pi is frequently chosen in lingering intestinal or genital damp-heat rather than in very acute excess that needs a stronger purgative strategy.

Classic Formulas

• Bai Tou Weng Tang (白头翁汤) - from Shang Han Lun, where Qin Pi assists in clearing toxic-heat dysentery with abdominal pain, tenesmus, and blood or pus in the stool.
• Qin Pi Tang (秦皮汤) - later traditional decoction variants built around Qin Pi for either damp-heat dysentery or red painful eye disease, reflecting the herb's dual intestinal and ophthalmic roles.
• Classical eye-wash preparations frequently combine Qin Pi with Ju Hua and other cooling herbs when damp-heat or Liver heat inflames the eyes.

Classical References

• Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing lists Qin Pi among the bitter-cold heat-clearing barks, a foundation for its later use in dysentery and hot eye disease.
• TCM Wiki and Me & Qi both preserve the standard profile of Qin Pi as bitter and cold, entering the intestines and liver-related channels to clear damp-heat while also addressing ocular inflammation.
• Later clinical traditions emphasize that Qin Pi is especially useful when damp-heat diarrhea and lower-burner discharge persist long enough to require both clearing and a light restraining quality.