Niu Huang牛黄
Bovis Calculus · Ox Gallstone · Bezoar · Calculus Bovis
Overview
A gallstone taken from cattle — a yellow, layered concretion that is one of the wind-extinguishing medicinals and, at the same time, one of the great emergency substances of Chinese medicine. Sweet and cool, entering the Heart and Liver, it does three things at once: it clears heat that has clouded the mind, dissolves the phlegm blocking the orifices, and settles the wind behind convulsion. It is the herb at the centre of An Gong Niu Huang Wan and Liu Shen Wan. Natural bezoar is scarce and extremely expensive, so most of what is dispensed today is cultured or artificial bezoar, and knowing which is in the bottle matters.
Nature & Flavor
Sweet · CoolChannels
Heart · LiverTypical Dosage
0.15–0.35 gActions
4 core actions
- Clears the Heart, opens the orificesClouded consciousness, delirium and coma in a severe febrile illness where heat has entered the Pericardium — the An Gong Niu Huang Wan pattern, used as part of emergency care.
- Dissolves phlegm, settles convulsionConvulsion and rigidity with fever, childhood fright wind, epilepsy, and wind-stroke where phlegm obstructs speech and consciousness.
- Clears heat, resolves toxinSore swollen throat, mouth and tongue ulcers, boils and abscesses — the role it plays in Liu Shen Wan and the throat powders.
- Natural, cultured and artificialNatural bezoar is the classical material and is now very rare. is grown in vitro from bile and is treated as the closest equivalent. is compounded from bile acids, bilirubin, cholesterol and mineral salts; it is much cheaper, weaker, and belongs to milder indications rather than to emergency use. Product labels should state which one is present.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Niu Huang
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Clouded consciousness, delirium and coma in a severe febrile illness (with emergency care)
- Convulsion, rigidity and childhood fright wind
- Epilepsy and wind-stroke with obstructing phlegm
- Sore swollen throat, mouth ulcers, boils and abscesses
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Prescription material with a very small dose window, and the patent medicines built on it carry hazards of their own.
- It is dosed in fractions of a gram (0.15–0.35 g a day), is taken in pills or powder and never decocted, and belongs to short courses in an acute illness rather than to ongoing use.
- It is cool and draining. It is not for cold or deficiency patterns, and it is used cautiously — or avoided — in Spleen deficiency with loose stools.
- Check what else is in the pill. Several of the famous bezoar preparations contain other restricted minerals: An Gong Niu Huang Wan traditionally contains both cinnabar (mercury) and realgar (arsenic sulfide), and Niu Huang Jie Du Pian contains realgar. Repeated or prolonged courses of these have caused heavy-metal poisoning. They are for short, supervised, acute use only, never as a household remedy or a routine sore-throat tablet.
- Adulteration is rife: natural bezoar is among the most valuable and most counterfeited materials in the trade, and a cheap product labelled Niu Huang will normally be artificial bezoar.
- It is bovine-derived, and some countries restrict the import of bovine tissue products; check before carrying any across a border.
- Loss of consciousness, a first seizure and suspected stroke are emergencies requiring immediate conventional care. This medicine has a place alongside that care, not instead of it.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Used with caution in pregnancy and generally avoided — Chinese pharmacopoeia marks it, and the patent medicines built around it commonly also contain cinnabar and realgar, which are not appropriate in pregnancy at all. Emergency use is a hospital decision.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing《神农本草经》(classical source, public domain).
2. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
3. 《中华人民共和国药典》(natural, in-vitro cultured and artificial bezoar are listed separately).
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.