Wu Ling Zhi五灵脂
Trogopterori Faeces · Flying Squirrel Faeces · Trogopterus Dung
Overview
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The dried droppings of the complex-toothed flying squirrel, Trogopterus xanthipes, collected from beneath the rock ledges where the animals roost. Bitter, salty, sweet and warm, entering the Liver alone. It is one of the materia medica's most direct pain-stoppers for blood stasis — chest, flank and abdominal pain that is fixed and stabbing, period pain, and the cramping after childbirth — and it has the useful double quality of dispersing stasis while also stopping the bleeding that stasis causes.
Its constant partner is Pu Huang: the pair is Shi Xiao San 失笑散, one of the shortest and best-known formulas in the tradition, named for the smile that supposedly appears when the pain lets go. It also carries the most-cited of the restrictions — it is not combined with Ren Shen — and, being loose faecal pellets, it is wrapped before decocting.
Nature & Flavor
Bitter, salty, sweet · WarmChannels
LiverTypical Dosage
3–10 g in decoctionActions
3 core actions
- Invigorates blood, stops painFixed, stabbing pain from blood stasis wherever it sits — chest and flank, epigastrium and abdomen; dysmenorrhoea and amenorrhoea with dark clotted flow; the cramping abdominal pain of retained lochia after childbirth. With Pu Huang as Shi Xiao San, and with Yan Hu Suo and Dang Gui in the gynaecological prescriptions.
- Transforms stasis, stops bleedingThe less obvious action, and the more interesting one: bleeding that continues because stasis is obstructing the vessels — flooding and spotting with dark, clotted blood and pain that eases once the clots pass. Charring strengthens this side. It is not a herb for bleeding without stasis.
- Two market grades, the resinous mass of droppings fused with urine, is considered the better material;, the separate pellets, is the commoner grade. Both need sand, grit and bedding debris removed before processing.
In Formulas
Formulas containing Wu Ling Zhi
Indications & Clinical Uses
- Fixed, stabbing chest, flank, epigastric or abdominal pain from blood stasis
- Dysmenorrhoea and amenorrhoea with dark, clotted menstrual flow
- Postpartum abdominal pain from retained lochia
- Uterine bleeding with dark clots, where stasis is obstructing
- Traumatic injury with swelling and pain
Western Medical Keywords
Searchable condition terms
Contraindications
Cautions
- Classical incompatibility —:. Wu Ling Zhi is not combined with Ren Shen. This is the most frequently quoted line of the whole list, and pharmacies flag the pair. Modern clinical opinion is not unanimous — some practitioners do combine them deliberately in stasis-with-deficiency patterns — but a prescription that pairs them will be queried, and the safe course, unless you have a specific reason and are prepared to defend it, is to keep them apart. Practitioners generally extend the caution to Dang Shen and the other ginsengs.
- Not for bleeding without stasis, and not for blood deficiency. Its work is done by moving; where there is no stasis to move, it only depletes.
- Use with caution in pregnancy. It invigorates blood and moves stasis, and that action is a risk to a pregnancy. It is the herb for postpartum stasis pain, not for the antenatal period.
- Bleeding risk. As a strong blood-mover it should not be combined with warfarin or other anticoagulant and antiplatelet medication without the prescribing physician's involvement, and it is stopped before surgery.
- It is animal faeces. The material must be cleaned of sand, grit and nest debris and properly processed before use; buy from a licensed supplier who can document the source, not from an informal one. Raw, uncleaned material has no place in a dispensary.
- Sourcing. Trogopterus xanthipes is a wild animal protected under Chinese wildlife regulations. Collecting droppings does not harm the animal, but supply should come through licensed channels, and some countries restrict the import of animal-derived medicinal material — check before ordering from abroad.
- Taste and tolerance. It is strongly unpleasant and can upset a weak stomach; pair it with digestive herbs, or choose something else, in a patient with a delicate middle burner.
Contraindicated in pregnancy: Use with caution in pregnancy, and in practice avoid it — it invigorates blood and disperses stasis, which threatens a pregnancy directly. Its proper place in obstetrics is after delivery, for the stasis pain of retained lochia. Safety in breastfeeding has not been established.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only
References
- Kai Bao Ben Cao《开宝本草》(classical source, public domain).
2. Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang《太平惠民和剂局方》— Shi Xiao San (classical source, public domain).
3. Bensky, Clavey & Stöger. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd ed.
4. The 十九畏 list, in which 人参畏五灵脂 appears, is a classical formulation restriction carried into modern practice and dispensing checks.
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.