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Gan Jiang (乾薑), dried ginger, warms the middle burner and disperses cold, restores devastated yang (assisting Fu Zi), and warms the Lung to transform thin, watery phlegm.
Latin / Pharmaceutical Name
Zingiber officinale (Rhizoma Zingiberis)
Common English Name
Dried ginger
Taste
Acrid
Temperature
Hot
Channels Entered
Spleen, Stomach, Lung, Heart
Actions & Functions
- Warms the middle and disperses cold (abdominal cold and pain, vomiting, diarrhoea)
- Rescues devastated yang (with Fu Zi)
- Warms the Lung and transforms thin, watery phlegm
Indications
Spleen and Stomach cold with abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhoea; yang collapse with cold limbs; and cold Lung with cough and thin, watery sputum.
Dosage
3-9 g in decoction.
Common Combinations
With Fu Zi (Si Ni Tang) to rescue yang; with Ren Shen and Bai Zhu (Li Zhong Wan) for middle cold.
Cautions & Contraindications
Hot and drying; contraindicated in yin deficiency with heat and in bleeding from heat; caution in pregnancy.
