Qingjin Dan for Treating Cough with Blood
"Qingjin Dan" (Gold-Clearing Elixir) comes from The Systematic Treatise on the Causes and Symptoms of Diseases (Sanyin Jiyi Bingzheng Fang Lun). Its composition is: xingren (Semen Armeniacae; peeled, tip removed, then stir-fried yellow with oyster shell powder and the powder discarded) 1 liang (30 g), and qingdai (Indigo Naturalis) 1 liang (30 g). The two herbs are ground together into a fine powder. About one liang (30 g) of yellow wax is melted as a binder and kneaded with the herbal powder to form pills the size of a marble (about 6 g), flattened into cakes. Each time, take one persimmon, remove the pit, place the pill inside, wrap in moist paper, and bake until the medicine melts; then remove, allow to cool (to remove the "fire toxin"), chew finely, and take with rice-water decoction. In modern practice it may also be made into small water-honey pills about 6–8 mm in diameter, swallowed directly with water.
Qingjin Dan's action is to clear heat and resolve phlegm, stop cough and stop bleeding; it is indicated for lung heat injuring the collaterals, presenting as cough, wheezing and fullness, and sputum streaked with blood.
The formula is admirably concise, using only three ingredients. Xingren is a common herb for downbearing qi and stopping cough; oyster-shell powder astringes and retains yin and resolves phlegm to stop cough; qingdai clears heat and drains fire, cools the blood and resolves toxin. Used together they jointly produce the effect of clearing heat, resolving phlegm, stopping cough and arresting bleeding. Such small formulas are usually focused and effective, and have an advantage in addressing a single problem.
Modern pharmacological research shows that the xingren in this formula indeed expels phlegm, stops cough and relieves wheezing; the oyster has a certain hemostatic effect; and qingdai has broad-spectrum antimicrobial and anti-tumor activity.
If the patient's hemoptysis is severe, add an equal amount of baiji (Bletilla Rhizome); if the cough is severe, add one to three times the amount of jinqiaomai (Fagopyri Cymosi Rhizoma); if the sputum is foul and purulent, take the pill with a decoction of fresh lugen (Phragmitis Rhizoma); if prolonged cough with dry mouth and parched throat, add an equal amount of tianhuafen (Trichosanthes Root); if there is much phlegm, add equal amounts of chenpi (Citrus Reticulata Pericarpium) and fabanxia (processed Pinellia); if prolonged cough accompanied by spleen deficiency and qi stagnation, combine with Zhizhu Kuanzhong Capsules; if the cough is due to reflux esophagitis, add appropriate quantities of xuanfuhua (Inulae Flos) and shidi (Kaki Calyx).