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Lian Zi Xin莲子心

Nelumbinis Plumula · Lotus Plumule · Lotus Seed Heart

Herbs that Clear Heat 清热药Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing 《神农本草经》

Overview

  • · — of Lian Zi.*

The green embryo picked out of the middle of a lotus seed — the bitter thread that is discarded when lotus seeds are cooked. It is the exact opposite of the seed that surrounds it: Lian Zi is sweet, astringent and tonifying, while Lian Zi Xin is bitter and cold, and the two are prescribed for different things entirely.

Its one talent is drawing Heart fire downward. It quiets the agitated, sleepless, dream-troubled mind of Heart heat, brings the Heart and Kidney back into contact when the fire above and the water below have lost touch with each other, and holds the essence in the seminal emissions that follow from that split. Its most distinguished appearance is in Qing Gong Tang 清宫汤 from the Wen Bing Tiao Bian, a prescription made almost entirely of the hearts and cores of things, for heat that has entered the pericardium with delirium.

Nature & Flavor

Bitter · Cold

Channels

Heart · Kidney

Typical Dosage

1.5–3 g in decoction
莲子心Photography for this entry is on its way.

Actions

4 core actions

  • Clears Heart fire, calms the spiritRestlessness, irritability, a hot flustered feeling in the chest, insomnia with vivid dreams, and a red tongue tip. The tongue tip is the sign that matters — it maps to the Heart, and it is what points to this herb rather than a general calming one.
  • Reconnects Heart and KidneyThe pattern where fire flares above while water fails below: insomnia with night sweats and a hot, dry, restless feeling, together with seminal emission or a weak, sore low back. Lian Zi Xin draws the fire back down to meet the water.
  • Holds the essence, cools the bloodSeminal emission from Heart fire disturbing the Kidney below, and bleeding from heat in the blood — vomiting of blood, nosebleed — in the classical record.
  • Heat in the pericardiumIn Qing Gong Tang 清宫汤 it sits with the cores of Xuan Shen, Mai Dong, Lian Qiao and bamboo leaf for warm-disease heat that has entered the pericardium with high fever and clouded speech. That is hospital-level illness, and the formula is named here to place the herb, not to suggest it.

In Formulas

Formulas containing Lian Zi Xin

Indications & Clinical Uses

  • Restlessness and insomnia from Heart fire, with a red tongue tip
    - Vivid dreaming and a hot, flustered chest
    - Seminal emission with insomnia, where Heart and Kidney have lost their connection
    - Bleeding from heat in the blood, in the classical record
    - High fever with delirium, as part of a pericardium-clearing prescription

Western Medical Keywords

Searchable condition terms

InsomniaAnxietyPalpitationsHypertensionNocturnal emission

Contraindications

Cautions

  • Bitter and cold, and taken as a daily tea by many people who should not. Lian Zi Xin is widely brewed as a household infusion for 'clearing heat', and long daily use in someone with Spleen and Stomach cold-deficiency causes exactly what a cold, bitter herb causes: poor appetite, bloating, loose stools and cold limbs. It is a herb for a heat pattern, not a health drink.
    - Not for cold patterns or for the depleted. Avoid where the tongue is pale, the stools are loose, or the person feels cold. Avoid it in someone already weak from long illness unless it is paired with warming, supporting herbs.
    - Keep the dose small and the course purposeful. 2–5 g. Reassess rather than continuing indefinitely.
    - Insomnia and palpitations deserve a proper look. Persistent insomnia, a racing heart or a rising blood pressure need medical assessment; this herb is used within care, not as a way of avoiding it.

Contraindicated in pregnancy: No specific prohibition, and it is not a blood-mover, but it is bitter and cold and unsuitable for a pregnant woman with weak digestion or loose stools. Use it only for a clear Heart-heat pattern, in a small dose and briefly, with the treating practitioner's involvement.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only

References

  1. Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》(classical source, public domain) — the parent drug 莲; the plumule is treated as a separate item in the later 本草 literature.
    2. Wen Bing Tiao Bian《温病条辨》— Qing Gong Tang (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》— 2–5 g.

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.