Pinyin: Ejiao
Aliases
Penfu jiao, Lvpi jiao.
Source
Equidae family animal donkeyEquus asinusL. of dried or fresh bark that has been decocted, concentrated, and made into a solid glue.
Distribution
It is raised in northern China, with main production areas in Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin.
Harvesting and Processing
Soak the donkey hide, remove the hair, cut into pieces, and wash thoroughly. Decoct in water in separate batches, filter, combine the filtrates, and concentrate (adding appropriate amounts of yellow wine, rock sugar, and soybean oil respectively) until a thick paste forms. Allow to cool and solidify, cut into pieces, and air dry to obtain the finished product.
Medicinal Properties
This product appears as neat rectangular blocks, square blocks, or small cubes. The surface is brownish or blackish-brown with a luster. The texture is hard and brittle; the fractured surface is shiny, and fragments appear brown and semi-transparent when viewed against light. Odor: faint; Taste: slightly sweet.
Chemical Constituents
Ejiao is a gelatin that yields various amino acids upon hydrolysis and also contains multiple inorganic elements.
Pharmacology
It promotes hematopoietic function and has an anti-radiation damage effect, enhances tolerance to hypoxia, cold, and fatigue, and improves immunity; promotes blood coagulation, increases calcium intake, and has preventive and improving effects on muscle atrophy; has anti-shock and diuretic anti-edema effects; and has effects such as improving intelligence, accelerating growth and development, and delaying aging.
Properties and Channel Entry
Sweet, neutral. Enters the Lung, Liver, and Kidney channels.
Functions and Indications
Tonifies Blood, nourishes Yin, moistens Dryness, and stops bleeding. Used for Blood deficiency with sallow complexion, dizziness and palpitations, muscle atrophy and weakness, irritability and insomnia, internal stirring of Deficiency Wind, Lung Dryness with cough, consumptive cough with hemoptysis, hematemesis, hematuria, bloody stool, uterine bleeding, and threatened abortion during pregnancy.
Dosage and Administration
Internal use: Melt in liquid before taking, 5-10 g; stir-fried Donkey-Hide Gelatin can be added to decoctions or pills and powders. For nourishing Yin and enriching Blood, use raw; for clearing the Lungs and transforming Phlegm, stir-fry with clam powder; for stopping bleeding, stir-fry with cattail pollen.
Precautions and Contraindications
Use with caution in patients with Spleen and Stomach weakness and indigestion.
Prescriptions
1. For hemoptysis in adults and children: Ejiao (stir-fried) 30 g, clam powder 30 g, a small amount of cinnabar. Grind the above ingredients into powder, mix with lotus root juice and honey, and take after meals. (From "Chishui Xuanzhu" - Cinnabar Powder) 2. For epistaxis: Ejiao (crushed and stir-fried until yellow and dry) 30 g, Beimu (roasted until slightly yellow) 15 g. Grind the above ingredients into a coarse powder, sift. Take 3 g with warm water at any time, regardless of meals. (From "Shenghui Fang") 3. For typhoid fever lasting more than seven days, with unresolved sweating, vomiting, or purging, and persistent heat leading to skin eruptions: Ejiao (stir-fried until dry) 30 g, Daqing 60 g, Gancao (honey-fried) 30 g. Coarsely grind the three ingredients, sift. Take 15 g per dose, add one and a half cups of water and 100 black beans, decoct to one cup. Remove the residue and take warm. (From "Shengji Zonglu" - Ejiao Decoction) 4. For hematuria during pregnancy: Ejiao (crushed and stir-fried until yellow and dry) 60 g, Shudihuang 60 g. Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder, sift. Take 6 g with scallion decoction at any time, regardless of meals. (From "Shenghui Fang") 5. For postpartum deficiency and constipation: Ejiao (crushed and stir-fried) 60 g, Zhiqiao (soaked, pith removed, bran-fried) 60 g, Huashi (ground and sifted, coated) 15 g. Grind into powder, form into pills with honey, each pill the size of a Chinese parasol seed. Take 20 pills with warm water. If no bowel movement occurs within half a day, repeat the dose. (From "Jufang" - Ejiao Zhiqiao Pills) 6. For constipation in the elderly or debilitated: Ejiao (stir-fried) 6 g, three sections of scallion with roots, two spoonfuls of honey. Boil fresh water, remove the scallion. Add Ejiao and honey, dissolve, and take warm before meals. (From "Zhizhi Fang" - Jiao Mi Decoction)
