A practical guide to Xue Yu Tan: what it is, how Traditional Chinese Medicine uses it, the classical formulas it appears in, and who should be careful with it.
Last reviewed Oct 29, 2026| Latin Name | Carbonized Hair |
|---|---|
| Chinese Name & Pinyin | 血餘炭 · Xue Yu Tan |
| Medicinal Part | Zoological substances |
| The item | Xue Yu Tan is calcined charcoal of cleaned human hair. Raw hair is not used as medicine. It usually goes into decoctions, or is ground into powder and swallowed. |
| Nature and channels | Bitter, neutral. Enters the Liver and Stomach. Bitter neutral astringes, stops bleeding, resolves stasis, and promotes tissue repair. |
| Pharmacopoeia line | Stops bleeding, resolves stasis, and benefits urination. Used for hematemesis, nosebleed, bloody stool, flooding and spotting, and unsmooth urination. |
| Pattern cues | Bleeding with clots. Dark bleeding with lower-abdominal fixed pain. Gum bleeding with oral ulcers. Prolonged heavy menses. |
| In this article | Xue Yu Tan versus Pu Huang. Stopping bleeding versus freeing stasis. Why early hot sores are a no. Why heavy bleeding needs a clinic. Who should skip it. |
Xue Yu Tan (血余炭; Xuè Yú Tàn; Latin: Crinis Carbonisatus; English: carbonized human hair) in the current pharmacopoeia is the calcined charcoal of cleaned human hair — a processed drug, not a plant herb, made by a special calcination process. It is bitter and neutral, enters the Liver and Stomach channels, and its core actions are to stop bleeding without leaving stasis, and to astringe and promote tissue repair. It usually goes into decoctions, or is ground into a fine powder and swallowed. The usual amount is 5–10 g. It needs no special decocting order. External use is a suitable amount of fine powder or paste applied to the spot, for pattern-matched skin and mucosal damage.
It is not Pu Huang. Cattail pollen is neutral or slightly cold and sweet, and leans to freeing qi and blood and freeing strangury — it pushes the circulation harder, while Xue Yu Tan leans more to astringing and repairing skin and mucosa. Use caution in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Bleeding from obvious internal heat — bright red blood with fever and a red tongue — is a poor match on its own. Early-stage sores with red, hot swelling should not be astringed too early. Heavy or unexplained bleeding needs a clinic first. Do not apply it yourself for a long time.
It is used most often for three patterns:
Bitter and neutral, it is not a daily “blood tonic” to keep increasing. Astringing when there is no bleeding or damage, in a person with early hot sores, traps the pathogen inside.
When blood-heat moves recklessly, or stasis blocks the vessels so blood leaves its path, hematemesis, nosebleed, and flooding are common. Xue Yu Tan is bitter and neutral. It stops bleeding without trapping stasis, which is why it appears in Shi Hui San (Ten-Ash Powder)–type formulas, paired with Ce Bai Ye and Da Ji. It secures more than it disperses. Obvious heat bleeding, with bright red blood and fever, needs cooling first — a poor match if taken on its own.
Xue Yu Tan is not a catch-all blood or wound powder. In obvious heat bleeding, with early-stage hot sores, or in pregnancy, using it alone is a poor match. Powder or decoction, and whether it belongs in a formula, should be decided by a licensed Chinese medicine practitioner after pattern diagnosis.
Identification & Quality Standard
Carbonized Hair
Botanical Origin
The carbonized product of human hair (from fresh human hair, washed and calcined).
Production Regions
Produced nationwide.
Quality Requirements
Superior material is black, lustrous and light.
Irregular black lumps, 2~3 cm diameter; externally black, lustrous, porous and light; when broken, many fine fibers visible; texture light and brittle; charred odor; bitter taste.
Traditional materia medica and industry experience value the products of certain regions, but actual quality also depends on variety, harvest time, processing, and storage. As a processed drug, Xue Yu Tan has no clear plant producing region — its quality depends more on the standardization of the calcination process. In appearance, qualified Xue Yu Tan is mostly irregular lumps of various sizes, glossy jet-black in color, light and crisp, easy to break, with a honeycomb cross-section, a slight scorched smell, and a bitter taste. Raw hair, by contrast, is fine, long, dark-black or brown-black, with no special odor. The common look-alikes are made from the hair of other animals — slightly different in texture and odor from the genuine product — professionals need to identify them.
Bitter; NeutralLiverStomach
Views among physicians differ to a degree: the early physicians leaned to its stasis-resolving, urination-benefiting action, mostly for the problems of unsmooth urination and internal qi-blood stasis; later physicians gradually found its hemostatic effect and began using it for various bleeding patterns; some physicians stress its astringent action, holding it can help repair damaged skin and mucosa; but some remind — when there is an obvious heat pattern or uncleared stasis inside, Xue Yu Tan should not be used alone; it must be combined with other herbs, to avoid "closing the door and keeping the pathogen inside." This difference also reflects the physicians' continuous exploration through the ages — not treating it as a universal hemostatic herb.
Traditional Functions
Astringes and stops bleeding, and dissipates stasis.
The common pair is Xue Yu Tan with Pu Huang: Xue Yu Tan is good at stopping bleeding and resolving stasis; Pu Huang is good at invigorating blood, resolving stasis, freeing strangury, and stopping pain. Combined, they strengthen the hemostatic effect while avoiding the stasis stagnation from hemostasis, and regulate the internal qi-blood stasis as well. This pairing is mutually coordinating — fitting the patterns of internal stasis with bleeding — such as blood in the stool and blood in the urine — and the prolonged periods with heavy flow and clots. Note: this pairing needs the physician's pattern diagnosis — do not pair on your own; especially for those with a weak constitution or an obvious heat pattern, adjust the paired herbs and doses.
Modern research offers useful context, but Traditional Chinese Medicine prescribes on whole-pattern diagnosis rather than isolated compounds.
Public modern research data shows that human hair mainly contains keratin — up to over 90% — plus small amounts of trace elements such as zinc, copper, iron, and calcium, and small amounts of melanin and lipids. On these constituents, note the difference between research types: the description of "a constituent detected in a plant" does not apply to Xue Yu Tan, because it is human hair, not a plant. In in vitro experiments, some extracts of Xue Yu Tan may have a certain effect on the proliferation or repair of some cells; in animal experiments, the related constituents of Xue Yu Tan may have a certain hemostatic effect on mouse bleeding models; currently, no sufficient human clinical research defines its specific active constituents and mechanism.
Current research on Xue Yu Tan mainly focuses on its hemostatic mechanism and tissue-repairing action:
However, most of this research is at the basic stage — more human studies are still needed to verify its specific action and effective dose in humans.
Choosing Pu Huang as the similar herb, the two share three main points:
Simply put, Xue Yu Tan leans toward stopping bleeding while repairing the skin and mucosa, whereas Pu Huang leans toward stopping bleeding while freeing the qi and blood. Both can be used for the bleeding patterns with stasis, but they are not interchangeable.
Combination logic: In this formula, Xue Yu Tan is the minister, working with Da Ji, Xiao Ji, Ce Bai Ye, and other herbs — mainly solving the various bleeding problems of blood-heat moving recklessly inside, such as hematemesis and nosebleed. The herbs coordinate: both cooling the blood to stop bleeding and resolving stasis, avoiding the stasis from hemostasis; Xue Yu Tan's role strengthens the stasis-resolving effect while helping repair the damaged blood vessels. Xue Yu Tan alone cannot be used, because the overall pairing of Shi Hui San targets the pattern of blood-heat recklessness — many herbs must work together; Xue Yu Tan alone cannot reach the blood-cooling effect, nor attend to all the mechanisms.
Traditional use: traditionally for the vomiting of blood, hematemesis, hemoptysis, and nosebleed of blood-heat recklessness — shown as bright-red bleeding of rapid onset, with a red tongue and a yellow coating.
Modern note: modern clinical use of this formula requires the doctor's pattern diagnosis and standard care — do not self-apply just because the formula name relates to a certain disease; adjust the use to the specific pattern under a physician's guidance.
Combination logic: In this formula, Xue Yu Tan is the main herb — the lord; paired with Pu Huang and Sheng Di: mainly solving the bleeding problems of internal stasis, such as blood in the urine and blood in the stool. In the formula, Xue Yu Tan exerts the stasis-resolving hemostatic action, Pu Huang strengthens the stasis-resolving effect, and Sheng Di clears heat and cools blood — the three coordinate to attend to hemostasis, stasis-resolving, and heat-clearing at the same time. Xue Yu Tan alone cannot be used, because alone it cannot attend to the synergy of heat-clearing and stasis-resolving — for the stasis bleeding with a heat pattern, its effect is limited.
Traditional use: traditionally for bleeding from urination and defecation, and the prolonged periods with heavy flow and clots in women — shown as darker bleeding with clots and a dull pain in the lower abdomen.
Modern note: modern clinical use of this formula likewise requires the doctor's pattern diagnosis and standard care — adjust the herbs and doses to the patient's specific pattern; do not self-use.
A formula is many herbs acting together — different herbs exert different actions, reinforcing or restraining one another, forming an overall treatment effect; a single herb cannot simply replicate a full formula's effect, because the effects of a formula arise from the synergy of many herbs, while a single herb's effect is relatively single. The doses and combinations in a formula are holistic — each herb's dose and pairing are determined by the patient's specific state — adjusting any herb may affect the overall effect. The common misunderstanding: a herb that works in a formula does not mean taking it alone produces the same effect — taken alone, it lacks the synergy of the other herbs, cannot attend to all the mechanisms, and the effect is greatly reduced — it may even bring discomfort from single use.
Xue Yu Tan Honey Paste: Xue Yu Tan 3 g, honey 10 g. Grind the Xue Yu Tan into a fine powder, mix evenly with the honey, and take with warm water. Suited to gum bleeding with oral ulcers — helping stop the bleeding while promoting mucosal repair, easing the pain and the ulcer discomfort. Not for the bleeding of an obvious internal heat pattern (such as fever, a red tongue, and a thick yellow coating), or for diabetics — honey may affect blood sugar. Suggested: 1–2 times a week; do not take it long-term continuously. Xue Yu Tan is a medicinal slice — note its difference from ordinary food — do not eat it in large amounts as a daily food.
Xue Yu Tan is the calcined processed product; its difference from raw hair lies in the calcination having removed the impurities and changed the properties — fitting medicinal use better. For home decoction, Xue Yu Tan generally needs no pre-boiling, late addition, or bag-boiling — it can be decocted directly with the other herbs; for taking as a powder, grind it into a fine powder and take it with warm water or the medicinal liquid. Different forms cannot be converted directly — the slice dose in a prescription cannot be converted directly into the powder dose in a remedy — adjust per the purpose of use and the physician's advice.
The common dose in traditional prescriptions is 5–10 g, adjusted to the patient's age, constitution, and illness. The difference between the food-therapy and medicinal doses: the food-therapy dose is generally 1/3 to 1/2 of the medicinal dose — do not increase the dose casually. Long-term continuous use is not advised — the general use period should not exceed 1 week; if the symptoms do not improve or worsen, seek medical care promptly. Special groups need the physician's or pharmacist's advice — do not decide on your own.
Xue Yu Tan may affect the action of anticoagulants — such as warfarin — adjust the dose under a physician's guidance; the evidence on blood-pressure and glucose-lowering medications is currently unclear — those taking such drugs should consult a physician before use. There is no sufficient evidence of a general "food clash" between ordinary foods, but certain herbs can interact with specific drugs — those on medication should consult a doctor or pharmacist first, and do not self-use Xue Yu Tan.
The discomfort of using Xue Yu Tan may include mild gastrointestinal discomfort — such as nausea and bloating; an excessive dose may cause constipation — especially for those of a heat-leaning constitution. When marked discomfort, allergy signs, persistent vomiting, breathing difficulty, altered consciousness, or rapidly worsening symptoms appear, stop at once and seek medical care — do not self-handle.
Medical Disclaimer — This article is provided for educational purposes only and describes traditional Chinese medicine concepts. It is not medical advice, and it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Always consult a qualified practitioner before using any herb, particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a diagnosed condition.
