With today being the arrival of ‘Major Cold ‘(大寒 – the 24th solar term in the Chinese calendar lasting until Feb 3), what better day than today, to sit down with a cup of warm Wulong or Hongcha to translate passages from some of my favourite books.
The following is a direct translation from the Bǎi Hé section of Huáng Yuányù’s (1705-1758) excellent ‘Interpretation of Medicinals’ (黃元御藥解).

Huáng Yuányù discusses Bǎi Hé

– Translated from Huáng’s Interpretation of Medicinals (黃元御藥解)

百合　味甘、微苦，微寒，入手太陰肺經。涼金瀉熱，清肺除煩。

Bǎi Hé – Sweet flavour, slightly bitter and slightly cold. Enters the hand Taiyin lung channel. Cools metal, drains heat, clears the lungs and eliminates vexation.

金匱百合知母湯，百合七枚，知母二兩。治百合病，發汗後者。傷寒之後，邪氣傳變，百脈皆病，是為百合。其證眠食俱廢，吐利皆作，寒熱難分，坐臥不安，口苦便赤，心煩意亂，不能指其為何經何臟之病也。然百脈之氣，受之於肺，肺者，百脈之宗也，是宜清肺。其在發汗之後者，津枯而金燔。百合清肺而生津，知母涼金而瀉熱也。

The Jīn Guì’s Bǎi Hé Zhī Mǔ Tāng

Bǎi Hé 7 pieces
Zhī Mǔ 2 liǎng [listed as 3 liǎng in the Jīn Guì Yào Lüè]

Treats Bǎi Hé disease following the induction of sweat. Following cold damage, pathogenic qi shifts, and the hundred vessels are diseased. This is Bǎi Hé [disease]. Its symptoms present with disturbance to sleep and appetite, the occurrence of diarrhea and vomiting, difficulty differentiating between cold and heat, disquietude whether sitting or laying down, a bitter taste in the mouth, red urination, heart vexation, and a confused state of mind, with an inability to point to any specific channel or visceral disease. Now, the qi of the hundred vessels is received in the lungs, as the lungs are the ancestor of the hundred vessels. Thus, it is appropriate for the lungs to be clear. Following the promotion of sweat, the fluids [may be] desiccated and metal burned. Bǎi Hé clears the lungs and generates fluids. Zhī Mǔ cools metal and drains heat.

滑石代赭湯，百合七枚，滑石三兩，碎，代赭石如雞子大。治百合病，下之後者。下敗中脘之陽，土濕胃逆，肺熱鬱蒸。百合清肺而瀉熱，滑石、代赭，滲濕而降逆也。

Huá Shí Dài Zhě Tāng

Bǎi Hé 7 pieces
Huá Shí 3 liǎng (broken)
Dài Zhě Shí (a pellet sized piece)

Treats Bǎi Hé disease following purgation. Purgation damages the yang of the central stomach duct, [resulting in] earth-damp counterflow [of the] stomach and depressed steaming lung heat. Bǎi Hé clears the lungs and drains heat; Huá Shí and Dài Zhě percolate dampness and downbear counterflow.

百合雞子湯，百合七枚，煎湯，入雞子黃一枚，攪勻，煎。治百合病，吐之後者。吐傷肺胃之津，金土俱燥。百合清肺熱而生津，雞子黃補脾精而潤燥也。

Bǎi Hé Jī Zǐ Tāng

Bǎi Hé 7 pieces
Boil the decoction and add one egg yolk, blend until smooth, and boil. Treats Bǎi Hé disease following vomiting. Vomiting damages the fluids of the lungs and stomach, resulting in the dryness of both metal and earth. Bǎi Hé clears the lungs and generates fluids. Jī Zǐ Huáng [egg yolk] supplements spleen essence and moistens dryness.

百合地黃湯，百合七枚，生地黃汁一斤。入百合湯，煎服。大便當如漆。治百合病，不經發汗吐下，病形如初者。不經發汗吐下，而瘀熱淫蒸，敗濁未泄。百合清肺而瀉熱c生地黃汁涼瀉腸胃而下垢濁也。

Bǎi Hé Dì Huáng Tāng

Bǎi Hé 7 pieces
Shēng Dì Huáng juice 1 jīn [listed as 1 shēng in the Jīn Guì Yào Lüè]
Add to Bǎi Hé decoction, boil and take. The stools should be like lacquer. Treats Bǎi Hé disease when neither sweating, vomiting or purgation have been used, and the disease appears as in the beginning. [Here] sweating, vomiting or purging have not been used and there is excess steaming of stasis heat [as well as] turbidity [which] has not been drained. Bǎi Hé clears the lungs and drains heat, while the juice of Shēng Dì cools and drains the stomach-intestines, and purges foul turbidity.

百合洗方，百合一斤。水一斗，漬一宿，洗身。洗後食煮餅，勿以鹽。治百合病，一月不解，變成渴者。火炎金燥，則肺熱不解，變而為渴。肺主皮毛，百合洗皮毛，以清肺熱也。

Bǎi Hé Xǐ Fāng [Lily bulb wash]

Bǎi Hé 1 jīn [listed as 1 shēng in the Jīn Guì Yào Lüè]
Use 1 dǒu of water and soak overnight. Use [the liquid] to bathe the body. After bathing, eat boiled cake, and avoid salt. Treats Bǎi Hé disease, which has not resolved within a month, and has resulted in thirst. [Here] fire flares and dries metal, resulting in lung heat which fails to resolve, leading to thirst. The lungs govern the skin and hair, and the Bǎi Hé is used to wash the skin and hair, thereby clearing lung heat.

百合滑石散，百合一兩，滑石二兩。為散，飲服方寸匕，日三服。微利，止服，熱則除。治百合病，變發熱者。濕動胃逆，肺郁生熱。百合清金而瀉熱，滑石利水而除濕也。

Bǎi Hé Huá Shí Sǎn

Bǎi Hé 1 liǎng
Huá Shí 2 liǎng [listed as 3 liǎng in the Jīn Guì Yào Lüè]
Powder [the ingredients], and take a square-inch spoonful in liquid, three times per day. When there is slight diarrhea, stop taking, as [this indicates that] heat has been eliminated. Treats Bǎi Hé disease, which has transmitted into heat effusion. [When] dampness is stirred, the stomach runs counterflow, resulting in lung depression that generates heat. Bǎi Hé clears metal and drains heat; Huá Shí disinhibits water and eliminates dampness.

百合涼金潤燥，瀉熱消郁，清肅氣分之上品。其諸主治，收涕淚，止悲傷，開喉痹，通肺癰，清肺熱，療吐血，利小便，滑大腸，調耳聾耳痛，理脅癰乳癰、發背諸瘡。
水漬一宿，白沫出，去其水，更以泉水煎湯用。

Bǎi Hé is a superior medicinal, which cools metal, moistens dryness, drains heat, disperses depression, and depurates the qi layer. It’s various treatments include stopping tearing, stopping sadness, opening throat impediment, disinhibiting welling-abscess of the lung, clearing lung heat, treating vomiting of blood, disinhibiting urination, lubricating the large intestine, controlling deafness and ear pain, rectifying subcostal and breast welling-abscesses, and effusing the back of various sores. Steep Bǎi Hé in water overnight. [When] white foam appears, discard the water, and then decoct with spring water and use.

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