Baical Skullcap Root

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Clears Damp-Heat from the upper, middle, and lower burners - used for fever with chest oppression, bitter taste, jaundice, dysenteric diarrhea, and painful urinary or intestinal disorders when Heat and Dampness combine.
• Drains Lung and Gallbladder Fire - treats cough with thick yellow sputum, irritability, rib-side fullness, red eyes, and Shaoyang or phlegm-heat presentations in which constrained Heat rises upward.
• Cools the Blood and stops bleeding - used for epistaxis, hematemesis, blood in the stool, and uterine bleeding when reckless Heat drives Blood out of the vessels.
• Calms the fetus in Heat patterns - classically paired when threatened miscarriage, restlessness of the fetus, or pregnancy agitation reflects Heat rather than Cold or deficiency collapse.

Secondary Actions

• Resolves fire toxin and hot swellings, especially when damp-heat or epidemic heat lodges in the respiratory or gastrointestinal tract.
• Pairs especially well with Chai Hu in Shaoyang disorders, where it clears the interior Heat component while companion herbs release the constrained exterior aspect.

Classic Formulas

• Xiao Chai Hu Tang (小柴胡汤) - from Shang Han Lun, where Huang Qin pairs with Chai Hu to harmonize Shaoyang, clear constrained Heat, and treat alternating fever, rib-side fullness, and bitter taste.
• Huang Qin Tang (黄芩汤) - from Shang Han Lun, combining Huang Qin with Bai Shao, Gan Cao, and Da Zao for Damp-Heat dysentery or diarrhea with abdominal pain and tenesmus.
• Long Dan Xie Gan Tang (龙胆泻肝汤) - from Yi Fang Ji Jie, using Huang Qin to help clear Liver-Gallbladder Fire and Damp-Heat with jaundice, genital itching, red eyes, and hypochondriac pain.

Classical References

• IMPORT NOTE: The source XLSX imported this record as the isolated compound name 'Baicalin' with the Latin 'Baicalinum' and pinyin 'Huang Qin Dai'. TCM primary sources identify the classical drug as Huang Qin (黄芩), the dried root of Scutellaria baicalensis. Baicalin is a major flavone glycoside within that herb, not the pharmacopoeia herb name itself. This file is therefore retained as an import-variant record that shares its therapeutic identity with herb #798 (root-of-baikal-skullcap).
• Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing classically records Huang Qin for Heat diseases, jaundice, intestinal disorders, and various inflammatory presentations, establishing its role as a bitter-cold Heat-clearing root.
• Ben Cao Gang Mu distinguishes the root's use for clearing upper burner Fire, drying Dampness, and treating different grades of Heat depending on the quality and age of the root, while Zhang Zhongjing's formulas anchor its use for Shaoyang disease and Damp-Heat diarrhea.