What is Qin Pi? Are Bai Tou Weng, Huang Bai and Chun Pi the same?
Official Qin Pi (秦皮) is the dried branch or trunk bark of Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Fraxinus chinensis, Fraxinus szaboana or Fraxinus stylosa. The pharmacopoeial name is Fraxini Cortex. Bai Tou Weng is bitter-cold: clears heat, resolves toxin, cools Blood and stops dysentery. Huang Bai is bitter-cold: clears heat, dries damp, drains fire, eliminates steaming and resolves toxin to treat sores. Chun Pi is bitter-astringent and cold: clears heat, dries damp, astringes to check vaginal discharge, stops diarrhea and stops bleeding. An aqueous infusion shows blue-green fluorescence in sunlight, a useful check. Write Qin Pi. Use caution in Spleen-Stomach vacuity cold.
What are the TCM properties and traditional uses of Qin Pi?
According to the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Qin Pi is bitter, astringent and cold, enters the Liver, Gallbladder and Large Intestine channels, and acts to clear heat, dry damp, astringe to stop dysentery, check vaginal discharge and brighten the eyes. It is used for damp-heat diarrhea and dysentery, red or white vaginal discharge, red swollen painful eyes and nebula. Bitter-astringent and cold, it suits damp-heat dysentery and Liver-heat red eyes—not Spleen-Stomach vacuity cold or poor appetite from Stomach vacuity.
Does Qin Pi need special processing? Can Bai Tou Weng replace it?
Remove foreign matter, wash, soften, cut into shreds and dry. Pulsatilla cools Blood and stops dysentery but does not astringe or brighten the eyes; it cannot replace Qin Pi by equal weight. External washes of the affected area need a separate instruction; do not put a homemade decoction in the eye.
What is the usual dosage? Can it be drunk daily as an antidysentery eye tea?
The pharmacopoeial decoction dose is 6–12 g. Externally, a suitable amount is decocted to wash the affected area. It is not a four-season “ash-bark eye tea.” Without damp-heat, astringing only injures Stomach qi. Dysentery and red eyes need a practitioner to name a short course; it does not replace ophthalmic examination and stool testing.
What are the contraindications? Can it be used in pregnancy?
Avoid in Spleen-Stomach vacuity cold and poor appetite from Stomach vacuity. Pregnancy needs a practitioner’s assessment. Stop if poor appetite and abdominal cold appear. High fever with pus and blood in the stool, and sudden vision loss, need medical care.
Can Qin Pi clear heat, dry damp, astringe dysentery, check discharge and brighten the eyes?
It can help damp-heat dysentery and Liver-heat red eyes. Dysentery with tenesmus joins Pulsatilla, Coptis and Phellodendron in Bai Tou Weng Tang. Red eyes with nebula may be washed after pattern differentiation. It clears heat, dries damp, astringes dysentery, checks discharge and brightens the eyes—not a specific for every diarrhea or every cataract.
Can Qin Pi be drunk daily as an antidysentery, discharge or eye tea?
Damp-heat dysentery and red or white discharge may enter a short formula; vacuity cold only stagnates further as it astringes. “Ash bark must brighten the eyes” does not replace ophthalmic assessment. Clearing heat, drying damp and astringing dysentery should name 6–12 g.
How do you choose among Qin Pi, Bai Tou Weng, Huang Bai, Chun Pi and Jue Ming Zi?
Ash bark is bitter-astringent and cold: clears heat, dries damp, astringes dysentery, checks discharge and brightens the eyes—damp-heat dysentery and red eyes with nebula. Pulsatilla is bitter-cold: clears heat, resolves toxin, cools Blood and stops dysentery—heat-toxin bloody dysentery. Phellodendron is bitter-cold: clears heat, dries damp, drains fire and eliminates steaming—lower-burner damp-heat. Ailanthus bark is bitter-astringent and cold: clears heat, dries damp, astringes discharge, stops diarrhea and stops bleeding. Cassia seed is sweet, bitter, salty and slightly cold: clears heat, brightens the eyes and moistens the intestines to free the stool. Dysentery with tenesmus favors Qin Pi with Bai Tou Weng (Bai Tou Weng Tang); cooling Blood to stop dysentery favors Bai Tou Weng; lower-burner damp-heat favors Huang Bai; astringing discharge favors Chun Pi; red eyes with constipation favor Jue Ming Zi. They may be paired; Spleen-Stomach vacuity cold forbids large Qin Pi and Huang Bai.
Which herbs is Qin Pi combined with? What are the representative formulas?
Dysentery with tenesmus joins Pulsatilla, Coptis and Phellodendron in Bai Tou Weng Tang. Red or white discharge may join Moutan bark and Chinese angelica after pattern differentiation. Write Qin Pi 6–12 g.
How do you choose and store Qin Pi?
Choose quilled or channelled branch bark, gray-brown outside, yellow-white inside, with blue-green fluorescence in water and a bitter taste. Moldy, moth-eaten, non-fluorescent or dirty lots are discarded. Store in a ventilated dry place. Buy pharmacopoeial Qin Pi; do not replace clearing heat, drying damp, astringing dysentery, checking discharge and brightening the eyes with Pulsatilla or Ailanthus bark by equal weight.
