Donkey Hide Gelatin

Traditional Use

Primary Actions

• Tonifies blood and enriches deficiency - E Jiao is a major blood tonic used for pallor, dizziness, palpitations, and chronic weakness when blood depletion is central.
• Stops bleeding while also nourishing - it is classically used for uterine bleeding, spotting, hemoptysis, and other bleeding patterns where deficiency and dryness are involved rather than blazing excess heat alone.
• Nourishes Yin and moistens the Lung - traditional use extends to dry cough, dry throat, irritative cough, and blood-streaked sputum from dryness or deficiency heat.
• Calms irritability from deficiency - by enriching blood and Yin, E Jiao is also used when restlessness or insomnia reflects depletion rather than excess obstruction.

Secondary Actions

• Because E Jiao is rich and cloying, it is often dissolved into strained decoctions near the end rather than boiled hard with the rest of the herbs.
• High-quality sourcing and authentication matter greatly because commercial E Jiao quality varies and counterfeit or adulterated products are a long-standing concern.

Classic Formulas

• Jiao Ai Tang - classic formula for uterine bleeding and threatened fetal instability in which E Jiao nourishes blood while helping stop bleeding.
• Huang Lian E Jiao Tang - from Shang Han Lun, using E Jiao to nourish Yin and blood while clearing Heart-Kidney irritability with insomnia and restlessness.
• Qing Zao Jiu Fei Tang - includes E Jiao to moisten the Lung and relieve dry cough from autumn dryness or chronic fluid damage.

Classical References

• Traditional materia medica consistently class E Jiao as sweet and neutral, entering the Lung, Liver, and Kidney to tonify blood, stop bleeding, nourish Yin, and moisten dryness.
• Its dual role of stopping bleeding without strongly drying and enriching blood without being sharply moving explains why E Jiao is so prominent in gynecologic and deficiency-dryness formulas.