This kind of restoratives are mostly sweet and cold or salty and cold, can aid in nourishing the yin, regenerate the body fluids and moisten dryness. They are indicated for dry cough with less sputum, dry mouth and tongue; a red tongue with less coating, dry throat and thirst due to insufficiency of stomach-yin; dry eyes, blurred vision, dizziness and tinnitus due to deficiency of liver-yin; sore and weak waist and knees, seminal emission and night sweat due to deficiency of kidney-yin.

Beishashen  Radix Glehniae

The source is from the root of Glehnia littoralis Ft. Schmidt ex Miq., family Umbelliferae. The medicinal material is mainly produced in the areas of Shandong, Hebei, Liaoning, and Jiangsu, etc., dug and collected in summer and autumn, and then cleaned, the fibrous root being got rid of, scalded by boiling water, surface with cork being removed and then cut into segments, dried in the sun, or after being cleaned, it can be directly dried in the sun.

Medicinal Properties  Sweat in flavor, slightly cold in nature and attributive to the lung and stomach meridians.

Actions   Nourish yin, clear away lung-heat, replenish the stomach and regenerate the body fluids.

Application

For dry cough due to lung-heat or chronic cough due to asthenia of viscera with dry throat and hoarse voice, it is usually combined with Maimendong (Radix Ophiopogonis ) , Yuzhu (Rhizoma Polygonati Odorati ) , and Sangye (Folium Mori), etc., to treat the former, such as Shashen Maidong Tang (Decoction), and with Zhimu (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae), Maimendong (Radix Ophiopogonis ), and Tianhuafen ( Radix Trichosanthis), etc., to treat the latter.

For deficiency of stomach-yin or consumption of the body fluids due to heat with dry tongue and thirst, poor appetite, or dull pain in epigastric region, epigastric upset, and retching, etc., it is usually combined with Shengdihuang ( Radix Rehmanniae ),  Maimendong (Radix Ophiopogonis ), etc., such as Yiwei Tang (Decoction); if the body fluids are consumed seriously with dark red tongue and less fluid, it can be used together with Shengdihuang ( Radix Rehmanniae ),  Xianshihu ( Herba Dendrobii , fresh), etc..

Usage and Dosage  10 -15 g is used in decoction for oral use.

Notes  It is incompatible with Lilu (Rhizoma et Radix Veratri ) .

Explanation  In addition, there is another medicinal herb, Nanshashen (Radix Adenophorae) that consists of the root of Adenophora tetraphylla (Thunb.) Fisch. and Adenophora stricta Miq. Shashen, family Campanulaceae. Its action is similar to that of Beishashen (Radix Glehniae), the action of nourishing yin being weaker, but is companied with that of resolving phlegm, so it can be used for cough due to dry phlegm or cough with sputum due to deficiency of lung-yin.

Maimendong Radix Ophiopogonis

The source is from the root tuber of Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker. Gawl., family Liliaceae. The medicinal material is produced in all parts of China. It is dug and collected in summer, the fibrous roots being removed, cleaned, dried and used crudely.

Medicinal Properties  Sweet and slightly bitter in flavor, slightly cold in nature and attributive to the heart, lung and stomach meridians.

Actions  Nourish yin and moisten the lung, benefit the stomach and regenerate the body fluids, clear away the heart-heat and relieve vexation.

Application

The medicinal herb is indicated for dry cough and sticky sputum due to lung-dryness and cough and hemoptysis due to asthenia of viscera. In treating pathogenic warm-dry invading the lung resulting in dry cough with less sputum that is difficult to be coughed out, dry nose and throat, it is usually combined with Sangye (Folium Mori ), Xingren ( Semen Armeniacae Amarum ) and Shengshigao (Gypsum Fibrosum), such as Qingzhao Jiufei Tang (Decoction); in treating insufficiency of lung-yin manifested as cough and hemoptysis due to asthenia of viscera, usually combined with Tianmendong (Radix Asparagi), such as Erdong Gao (Soft extract).

It is used for yin-syndromes of the stomach and intestine.  For insufficiency of stomach-yin with dry tongue and thirst, it is usually combined with Shashen ( Radix Adenophorae), Shengdihuang ( Radix Rehmanniae ) , Yuzhu  Rhizoma Polygonati Odorati ), etc., such as Yiwei Tang (Decoction); for constipation due to dryness of the intestine, may be combined with Shengdihuang (Radix Rehmannia) and Xuanshen (Radix Scrophulariae) to compose a formula, that is Zengye Tang (Decoction).

For vexation and palpitation caused by heat invading the heart, combined with Huanglian (Rhizoma Coptidis ) , Danshen ( Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae ), and Zhuye (Folium Phyllostachydis Henonis), etc., such as Qingying Tang (Decoction); for that caused by yin-deficiency and interior heat, usually combined with Xuanshen (Radix Scrophulariae ), Shengdihuang ( Radix Rehmanniae ) , and Suanzaoren ( Semen Ziziphi Spinosae ), etc., such as Tianwang Buxin Dan (Bolus).

Usage and Dosage  6 -12 g is used in decoction for oral use.

Notes  It is not suitable for cough due to exogenous wind and cold, and obstruction of phlegm-dampness in the lung.

Tianmendong  Radix Asparagi

The source is from the root tuber of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr., family Liliaceae. The medicinal material is mainly produced in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, etc., dug and collected in autumn and winter and cleaned, the fibrous roots being got rid of. Then it is boiled or steamed, after which the surface is removed, cleaned and dried. It is cut into thin slices and used crudely.

Medicinal Properties  Sweet and bitter in flavor, cold in nature and attributive to the lung and kidney meridians.

Actions  Nourish yin and moisten the lung, clear away fire and regenerate the body fluids.

Application

It is indicated for dry cough due to yin-deficiency and lung-heat or cough and hemoptysis due to asthenia of viscera. In treating cough due to dryness-heat, it is usually combined with Maimendong ( Radix Ophiopogonis ), Shashen (Radix Adenophorae ), and