Tian Zhu Huang
StarBambusa textilis McClure
Traditionally used for
- Cough & breathing
- Colds & fever
- Mood & calm
- Nerves & recovery
☯ TCM Properties
Clears Heat and Transforms Phlegm; Settles Fright and Calms Convulsions; Calms the Spirit and Settles Fright; Expels Phlegm and Opens the Orifices
Traditional Chinese Uses
Tian Zhu Huang (tabasheer, bamboo silica) is a cold substance derived from the siliceous concretion found inside bamboo. In Chinese medicine, it clears Heat and transforms Phlegm, calms Wind, and revives consciousness — a combination making it important for febrile illnesses with convulsions, delirium, and Phlegm obstructing the orifices of the Heart. It is gentler than some Phlegm-clearing substances and appropriate for use in children and elderly patients with Phlegm-Heat disturbances.
Relationships
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Botanical Description
Tian Zhu Huang, known in English as tabasheer or bamboo silica, is a siliceous concretion that forms naturally inside the hollow internodes of certain bamboos, principally Bambusa textilis McClure and related species in the grass family Poaceae. As the bamboo culm grows, silica taken up from the soil precipitates from the internodal water into a translucent to opaque, milky white or pale bluish-white amorphous mass of hydrated silicon dioxide (opal-like SiO2·nH2O) with traces of plant organic matter. The concretion is liberated by splitting mature culms in winter, harvesting the lumps, and drying them; the substance is soft, light, sticks to the tongue when touched, and dissolves slowly in water. In traditional Chinese medicine the powdered concretion is sweet and cold, clearing heat from the heart and liver channels to relieve childhood febrile convulsions and high fever with delirium, and transforming hot phlegm to ease cough, wheezing, and stroke-related loss of speech.
Active Constituents
Silicon dioxide (biogenic amorphous silica)
Inorganic oxideConcentration: Bulk matrix of the drug; no percentage assay published in the peer-reviewed sources consulted
Tian Zhu Huang is not a plant extract but a siliceous concretion that forms in the culm internodes of Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle after injury or infection, so its composition is mineralogical rather than phytochemical. Amorphous silica is pharmacologically inert and is not absorbed to any meaningful extent from the gut; no constituent of this drug has been shown to account for the traditional phlegm-transforming and convulsion-settling actions.
Potassium
Inorganic elementConcentration: Highest mean content of the 13 elements quantified by ICP-MS across batches (rank order potassium, then iron, then sodium)
Potassium is the most abundant quantifiable element in the concretion, followed by iron and sodium. Element content varies substantially between production regions, and boron, sodium, aluminium, calcium, iron and barium differ measurably between batches, so elemental fingerprinting has been proposed as an authentication tool for a drug with no marker compound.
Arsenic, cadmium and lead
Inorganic elementsConcentration: Detected among 25 elements by ICP-MS; arsenic was one of three elements (with copper and manganese) that discriminated samples from different production regions
Because this is a mineral drug taken as a powder rather than a decoction, any toxic element present is swallowed in full. Arsenic, cadmium and lead were all detectable in commercial batches, which makes heavy-metal screening a more relevant quality question for Tian Zhu Huang than active-constituent assay.
Protein amino acids (aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, glycine, valine predominating)
Amino acidsConcentration: Total of 15 protein amino acids 0.61-12.25 mg/g across 21 batches
A small organic fraction is trapped in the silica matrix. Content ranges twentyfold between batches, with Guangdong material highest, and this variability is one of the few measurable bases proposed for quality grading of the drug.
⚠ Drug Interactions
Orally administered drugs with narrow therapeutic windows (digoxin, levothyroxine, tetracyclines, fluoroquinolones)
Tian Zhu Huang is a bulk siliceous solid given as an undecocted powder. Pharmaceutical silicates and clays (kaolin, attapulgite, magnesium trisilicate) reduce the absorption of several oral drugs by adsorption and by raising gastric pH, and no absorption study has been published for this drug either way. The concern is extrapolated from the class, not demonstrated for Bambusae Concretio Silicea.
Clinical note: Separate administration from critical oral medicines by two hours as a precaution. There is no evidence of a clinically significant interaction, and equally no study excluding one.
Zhu Ru (Caulis Bambusae in Taeniam, Phyllostachys nigra var. henonis)
Three distinct drugs come from bamboo and are not interchangeable. Tian Zhu Huang is the dried siliceous secretion inside the culm of Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle; Zhu Ru is the shaved inner culm of Phyllostachys nigra (Lodd.) Munro var. henonis, a different genus, and holds a separate record in this database; Zhu Li is the liquid sap driven from heated culms. Their compositions are unrelated, silica against plant tissue against sap, so pharmacological data on one cannot be read across to another.
Clinical note: Confirm which bamboo drug a prescription or a supplier label means. Do not accept Zhu Ru or Zhu Li material as Tian Zhu Huang, and do not apply Zhu Ru's phytochemistry to this drug.
Dosage
| Form | Amount | Frequency | Duration | Population | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| decoction | 3–9 g | Daily | — | — | 中国药典 2020 【用法与用量】3～9g。 【性味与归经】甘，寒。归心、肝经。 — Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2020, quoted verbatim; route and cautions preserved. Replaces a cleared category-filler value. |
Evidence Tier
Limited evidence · 1 studyRecorded studies by study design, strongest design at the top. This is a study-design tier only, not a GRADE rating: it does not weigh risk of bias, consistency or precision.
Systematic review / meta-analysis
0
Randomized controlled trial
0
Other clinical trial
0
Observational / case report
0
In vitro / animal
1
0 verified · 1 unverified
Other / unclassified
0
Verified: design read from PubMed for a DOI that resolves to the cited paper Unverified: taken from the study's recorded description
Clinical Studies
Chemical components with antibacterial properties found in sanchen powder from traditional Tibetan medicine
Network-pharmacology and in vitro study of Sanchen powder, a Tibetan three-ingredient formula in which Bambusae Concretio Silicea is combined with Carthami Flos and artificial bovine bezoar. The paper is useful here mainly because it states the pharmacopoeial botanical sources of the drug (Bambusa textilis McClure or Schizostachyum chinense Rendle), but the antibacterial activity it demonstrates was traced to bilirubin and the bile acids of the bezoar component, not to the bamboo concretion. It is not evidence for Tian Zhu Huang used alone.
Historical Texts
Ri Hua Zi Ben Cao (Ri Hua-zi's Materia Medica)
Five Dynasties to early Song, 10th centuryShu Ben Cao (Materia Medica of Sichuan)
Song dynasty, 10th centuryReferences
- Yu Chunxia; Kong Xianghe; Ren Guangxi; Xu Yubin; Jiang Dan; Liu Chunsheng. [Analysis of inorganic elements in Bambusae Concretio Silicea based on inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) (2024) [DOI]
- Kong Xianghe; Ren Guangxi; Xu Yubin; Jiang Dan; Liu Chunsheng. [Evaluation of nutritional value of Bambusae Concretio Silicea based on content of 15 amino acids]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) (2024) [DOI]
- Kong Xianghe; Ren Guangxi; Xu Yubin; Jiang Dan; Liu Chunsheng. [Textual research on Bambusae Concretio Silicea]. . Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi (China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica) (2023) [DOI]
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before using any herbal remedy, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, or taking medications.
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