Shui Niu Jiao水牛角
Bubali Cornu · Water Buffalo Horn
Overview
- ·.*
The horn of the domestic water buffalo, bitter and cold, entering the Heart and Liver. It clears blazing heat, cools the blood, resolves toxin and settles the tremor and convulsion that come with a very high fever — the classic picture of heat that has burned into the blood level, with a scarlet tongue, skin bleeding and a clouded mind.
Its real significance is that it is the legal and universal replacement for rhinoceros horn . Rhinoceros horn was the herb these actions were originally described for, and it is now prohibited: every rhinoceros species is listed on Appendix I of CITES, international commercial trade is banned, China removed from the Pharmacopoeia and outlawed its trade in 1993, and the great blood-cooling prescriptions were rewritten around buffalo horn instead. What used to be Xi Jiao Di Huang Tang is dispensed today as Shui Niu Jiao Di Huang Tang, and An Gong Niu Huang Wan, Zi Xue Dan and Zhi Bao Dan are all made with buffalo horn. Buffalo horn is an ordinary livestock by-product, so the substitution costs nothing except a much larger dose and a much longer decoction.
Nature & Flavor
Bitter · ColdChannels
Heart · LiverTypical Dosage
15–30 g in decoctionActions
4 core actions
- Clears heat, cools the bloodWarm-disease heat that has entered the nutritive and blood levels: high fever, a deep crimson tongue, restlessness, blotchy skin rash, nosebleed, vomiting or coughing of blood. This is the action the whole method is built on.
- Resolves toxinFever with rash, sore throat and toxic swellings, and the heat-toxin sores of an acute febrile illness.
- Settles fright and tremorDelirium, convulsions and clouded consciousness in a high fever, particularly in children — the reason it sits inside the classical orifice-opening pills.
- Substitutes for rhinoceros hornPractice replaces with roughly ten times its weight of Shui Niu Jiao — a working convention carried over when the prescriptions were reformulated, not a measured equivalence, and the reason buffalo horn doses look so large next to the old texts. ** itself is prohibited.** Do not source it, do not accept an old preparation containing it, and do not treat a claim that a product is 'genuine ' as anything other than a reason to refuse it.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Shui Niu Jiao
No published formula lists this herb yet — the library is growing.
Indications & Clinical Uses
- High fever with a deep crimson tongue, agitation and clouded consciousness
- Skin blotches and rash from heat in the blood; nosebleed, haematemesis, coughing blood
- Febrile convulsions and delirium, especially in children
- Heat-toxin sore throat and toxic swellings
- Any prescription whose classical text names
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
Shui Niu Jiao itself is not a toxic herb, but three things need saying.
- Rhinoceros horn is prohibited. All rhinoceros species are on CITES Appendix I, which bans international commercial trade; China prohibited the trade in rhinoceros horn and tiger bone in 1993 and removed from the Pharmacopoeia. Possession, purchase, sale and import are criminal offences in most countries. Shui Niu Jiao exists precisely so that no prescription needs it. If a supplier offers, refuse and report it.
- It is very cold. It is unsuitable for anyone with Spleen and Stomach cold-deficiency — poor appetite, loose stools, cold limbs — and it is a herb for genuine intense heat, not for a mild fever. Prolonged use in a depleted patient will damage the digestion.
- Preparation matters or the dose is wasted. Un-filed horn and a short decoction extract almost nothing. Use shavings or filings, decoct first for three hours or more, or use the concentrated powder at its own much smaller dose.
- Sourcing and import. Buffalo horn is a slaughterhouse by-product with no conservation issue, but it is still an animal-derived material: buy from a licensed supplier with documentation, and check your own country's rules on importing animal products before ordering from abroad. A high fever with a rash or altered consciousness is an emergency and belongs in front of a physician first; this herb is used within medical care, not instead of it.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: No specific prohibition in pregnancy, and it is used under supervision for genuine high-fever blood-heat patterns where the illness itself is the greater danger. It is very cold, however, so it is not used casually or for long, and the decision belongs to the treating practitioner.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Ming Yi Bie Lu《名医别录》(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》— 15–30 g 先煎; 水牛角浓缩粉 1.5–3 g twice daily.
4. All Rhinocerotidae are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES); commercial international trade is prohibited.
5. 《国务院关于禁止犀牛角和虎骨贸易的通知》(1993) — the notice that banned the trade in China and removed 犀角 from the Pharmacopoeia.
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.