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Ban Xia半夏

Pinelliae Rhizoma · Pinellia Tuber · Crow Dipper Rhizome

Herbs that Transform Phlegm and Stop Coughing 化痰止咳平喘药《神农本草经》

Overview

  • ·.*

The tuber of Pinellia ternata and the busiest phlegm herb in the whole materia medica: it dries dampness and breaks up phlegm, turns rebellious Stomach qi back downward, and loosens the tight, blocked feeling under the ribs. Acrid and warm, and carrying the pharmacopoeia mark.

The important practical fact is that raw Ban Xia is not the herb anyone dispenses. Untreated it is a violent irritant to every mucous membrane it touches, and it is essentially never taken internally in that state. What a pharmacy hands over is one of the cured forms — Qing Ban Xia, Jiang Ban Xia or Fa Ban Xia — each processed with alum, ginger or lime-and-liquorice both to strip out the irritancy and to tilt the herb toward one of its actions. Ban Xia is the chief of Er Chen Tang 二陈汤 and of the Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang family, and it carries one of the two incompatibilities every prescriber is expected to know by heart: it is not combined with aconite.

Nature & Flavor

Acrid · Warm · Toxic

Channels

Spleen · Stomach · Lung

Typical Dosage

3–10 g in decoction
半夏Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

4 core actions

  • Dries dampness, transforms phlegmThe core action, and the reason it appears in so many prescriptions. Damp-phlegm cough with copious white, easily-raised sputum and a full chest; phlegm-damp dizziness and palpitations, where it is paired with Bai Zhu and Tian Ma. Er Chen Tang 二陈汤 is built on it with Chen Pi.
  • Directs rebellious qi down, stops vomitingNausea and vomiting from a cold, damp or phlegm-laden Stomach, and — because the action is fairly general — vomiting from other causes when combined appropriately. Jiang Ban Xia is the form chosen for this, and Xiao Ban Xia Tang 小半夏汤 pairs it with fresh ginger, which is both a partner and the classical antidote to its toxicity.
  • Dissolves focal distension, disperses nodulesThe stuck, blocked, neither-painful-nor-empty epigastrium that Ban Xia Xie Xin Tang 半夏泻心汤 was written for; plum-pit qi, the sensation of something lodged in the throat, in Ban Xia Hou Po Tang 半夏厚朴汤; and phlegm nodules, goitre and scrofulous lumps.
  • Reduces swelling and pain, externallyRaw Ban Xia powdered and applied over an early abscess or a swollen, painful sore. This is the one place raw Ban Xia belongs — on intact skin, never swallowed.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Ban Xia

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Damp-phlegm cough with copious white sputum and chest oppression
    - Nausea and vomiting, particularly with Stomach cold or phlegm-fluid
    - Epigastric focal distension and blockage
    - Plum-pit qi — a lump-in-the-throat sensation with no physical obstruction
    - Phlegm-damp dizziness, headache and palpitations
    - Phlegm nodules, goitre, scrofula
    - Early abscesses and painful swellings, by external application of the raw herb

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

Chronic bronchitisNausea and vomitingFunctional dyspepsiaGlobus sensationVertigoGoitre

Contraindications

Cautions

Ban Xia is a toxic herb. Raw Ban Xia is not taken internally — this is not a conservative preference but the standard of practice.

  • What raw Ban Xia does. Chewing or swallowing the untreated tuber produces immediate burning and numbness of the tongue, lips and throat, heavy salivation, swelling of the mouth and pharynx, loss of voice, nausea and vomiting. Severe exposures have caused airway swelling and difficulty breathing. The irritancy comes from needle-shaped calcium oxalate raphides together with irritant proteins, and heat alone does not reliably remove it — this is why curing exists.
    - Processed forms only. Qing Ban Xia (cured with alum) is the driest and is chosen for damp-phlegm; Jiang Ban Xia (ginger and alum) is the anti-emetic form; Fa Ban Xia (liquorice and lime) is the gentlest, favoured for Spleen-Stomach work and for pill and powder preparations; (steeped in bamboo sap) is turned cold and is used for hot phlegm and wind-phlegm; Ban Xia Qu is the fermented preparation, which adds food-moving to phlegm-transforming. Never substitute the raw herb for any of these, and never attempt home processing.
    - Classical incompatibility —. Ban Xia is not combined with Chuan Wu, Cao Wu or Fu Zi (the mnemonic 「」). The Chinese Pharmacopoeia states this restriction explicitly for, Zhi Chuan Wu,, Zhi Cao Wu and, and it covers the processed aconites, not only the raw ones.
    - Dose ceiling. 3–9 g a day. Ban Xia is not a herb to push above its range, and the ceiling applies to the processed material.
    - Wrong patterns. Its dryness makes it unsuitable on its own for dry cough from yin deficiency, for dry phlegm, for thirst from fluid damage, and for bleeding conditions. Hot phlegm needs it modified or a different herb altogether.
    - Fresh ginger is the classical antidote to Ban Xia toxicity, and this is why so many Ban Xia prescriptions carry Sheng Jiang. It is a formulation principle, not a treatment for an overdose — suspected poisoning is a medical emergency.
    - If it has been swallowed raw, seek urgent medical attention: airway swelling is the danger, and it can progress.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: Use with caution in pregnancy (in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia). This is a genuinely qualified caution rather than a flat ban: the classics prescribed Ban Xia for severe pregnancy vomiting — Gan Jiang Ren Shen Ban Xia Wan 干姜人参半夏丸 in the Jin Gui Yao Lue is exactly that formula — and Jiang Ban Xia is still used for hyperemesis under supervision. The decision belongs to the treating practitioner, the processed form is mandatory, and the dose is kept low and the course short.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》(classical source, public domain).
    2. Jin Gui Yao Lue《金匮要略》— Xiao Ban Xia Tang and Gan Jiang Ren Shen Ban Xia Wan (classical source, public domain).
    3. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
    4. 《中华人民共和国药典》— 3–9 g, processed forms, and the stated incompatibility with 川乌／草乌／附子.

Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.