Dan Nan Xing

Dan Nan Xing (膽南星) is a processed compound substance prepared by combining the powdered, prepared rhizome of Arisaema (Tian Nan Xing, typically Arisaema erubescens, A. heterophyllum, or A. amurense, family Araceae) with bovine, porcine, or caprine bile and aging the mixture for an extended period. The bile-processing transforms the warm, drying, and toxic Tian Nan Xing into a cool-natured drug suitable for clearing phlegm-heat. The finished product is dark brown to black, has a characteristic bitter-fishy odor, and is shaped into bricks or pieces. In TCM, Dan Nan Xing is bitter and cool, entering the Liver, Lung, and Spleen channels, and is used to clear phlegm-heat, calm wind, and arrest convulsions, particularly in childhood convulsions, stroke with phlegm, epilepsy, and phlegm-heat cough. Because it combines plant and animal components, plant_type and parts_used are left null.