Chinese herbal medicine every day: indigo naturalis, see how the ancients made blue dye.

Every day, Chinese herbal medicine 78: indigo naturalis is used blindly to see how the ancients made blue dyes.

Indigo Naturalis a blue-black powder made of blue grass. Pharmacopoeia stipulates three kinds of bluegrass: Isatis indigotica of Cruciferae, Polygonum cuspidatum of Polygonaceae and Isatis indigotica of Acanthaceae. Picking blue stems and leaves, soaking in tank water for several days for fermentation, adding lime after the water turns dark blue, and stirring for precipitation to obtain the ancient blue dye indigo. After stirring, a large amount of foam is produced, which is called indigo flower. Take out that foam and air drying to obtain indigo. Clearing away heat and toxic materials, cooling blood and removing spots, clearing liver and relieving spasm.

Indigo Naturalis a blue-black powder, which is processed from the stems and leaves of blue plants. In ancient times, there were five kinds of blue. Now the Pharmacopoeia stipulates that all three kinds of blue stem and leaf processed products can be called indigo naturalis as medicine. These three blues are Isatis indigotica, Polygonum cuspidatum and Malan.

Isatis indigotica is a cruciferous plant. Its root is Isatis indigotica and its leaf is Isatis indigotica.

Polygonum cuspidatum is a Polygonaceae plant whose leaves are called Polygonum cuspidatum leaves.

Evergreen is a plant of Acanthaceae, and its root medicine is called Isatis indigotica.

Make dyes in an ancient way

Blue, blue and indigo.

Knowing that blue is blue grass, you will naturally understand the meaning of "riverside green as blue". Blue should be interpreted as the blue after modern synthetic dyes come out. At least in Kangxi dictionary, blue still stands for blue grass. Dyes made of blue are called: indigo (diàn), indigo, indigo, indigo, which refers to the dyes formed by cyan precipitation. In ancient times, blue was called "cyan", so indigo, indigo and indigo are sometimes mixed, which is different from the current color.

Manufacturing method of indigo naturalis

The method of making indigo was recorded in Qi Shu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and it was also recorded in detail in Tiangong of the Ming and Song Dynasties (all attached): When making a lake, leaves and stems must go into pits, and a few of them will go into barrels and cans. After seven days of water immersion, the juice came. Add five liters of lime to one stone of each mud, stir it for dozens of times, and the sediment will settle down immediately ... The floating foam is swept out and dried, which is called indigo flower.

Principle of indigo production

The above process is explained by chemistry. Blue stems and leaves contain anthocyanins. Soaking in water for fermentation can hydrolyze the chemical bonds of anthocyanins and release indophenol. Indophenol is blue-purple, and it is rapidly oxidized into blue precipitate under alkaline conditions (lime water), which is indigo. This indigo character is fixed cyan.

Indigo and Beijing Indigo Factory

This traditional dye has gradually disappeared, and some ethnic minorities are still making indigo dyed cloth by ancient methods. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the court also specially recruited Yao craftsmen to make indigo to meet the needs of the royal family. This place is located in Haidian District, Beijing. Well-known indigo plants and indigo plants have long since disappeared, and the road of indigo plants still exists today.

Indigo and Indigo

Indigo Naturalis used as medicine, which was first recorded in Kaibao Materia Medica in Tang Dynasty, saying that Indigo Naturalis was introduced from Persia. Some scholars have verified that this kind of indigo naturalis imported from Persia may be "Tyre Purple", a dye extracted from shellfish purple snails in the Mediterranean and Caucasus. But later, because the Persian kingdom was far away and there was a great demand for indigo, people used indigo instead: "Those who dyed purple foam on the urn used the same indigo."

This kind of indigo used by the ancients was made by adding lime, stirring vigorously, fishing out the indigo contained in the foam floating on the water surface, drying in the sun, and the powder was blue-black, which is indigo. Dai means cyan and black. "Indigo is foam floating on the blue lake." The foam on the surface of indigo kiln is like a flower, so indigo also has a nice name "Indigo Flower". Good indigo naturalis particles are extremely fine and float in water. However, the yield of this method is very small. Nowadays, many indigo naturalis are actually indigo naturalis. When mixed with lime, it will sink when it meets water.

Medicinal value of indigo naturalis

Clearing away heat and toxic materials, cooling blood and removing spots, clearing liver and relieving spasm.

Clearing heat and detoxicating: The effect of indigo naturalis can be related to Radix Isatidis and Folium Isatidis. The medicine has similar effects, and can also be used to treat epidemic fire, sore throat, sore mouth and tongue, and purple spots on skin caused by erysipelas and heat entering the blood.

Clearing liver and relieving spasm: this is the unique effect of indigo naturalis. The ancients believed that indigo belonged to wood and could enter the liver. Therefore, indigo naturalis, Radix Isatidis and Folium Isatidis have the same heat-clearing and detoxicating effects as liver meridian, and have the effect of clearing liver. The most typical representative prescription is Daizhesan, which is used to treat cough and hemoptysis caused by liver-fire invading the lungs. Using indigo naturalis can clear liver and cool blood. Indigo Naturalis recorded in ancient Chinese materia medica in China, but taking Indigo Naturalis can turn insects into water, so it is often used to treat infantile malnutrition and infantile convulsion.

Isatis indigotica, Isatis indigotica and indigo naturalis are all related to Isatis indigotica. Like brothers, they all have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying, and the effect is not much different. Banlangen is more focused on Liang Yu's blood and relieving sore throat, and is suitable for sore throat. Folium Isatidis emphasizes that Liang Yu's blood can eliminate spots, which is suitable for warm-toxic spots; Indigo Naturalis has the function of clearing liver and relieving spasm.

Usage of indigo naturalis

Indigo Naturalis for external use

Indigo Naturalis has the functions of clearing away heat and toxic materials and cooling blood, which was often used by the ancients to treat sores, ulcers and swelling. Because indigo naturalis is insoluble in water, it is not widely used in decoction, and external use is the most commonly used method. Usually use purslane, mash purslane, add a little indigo naturalis and grind it evenly, and stick it on the sore surface, which can quickly relieve the pain on the sore surface and relieve local fever.

I sometimes use indigo naturalis externally to treat intractable acne. However, due to the heavy color of indigo naturalis, I am afraid it will leave pigment, so it is not recommended to use it on the face. If it is applied to the face, the dosage should be small, or it should be used for a short time. It's best to mix a lot of white powder to prevent your face from hanging.

Indigo Naturalis taken orally

Although indigo naturalis is not used as a decoction, it is often taken orally in loose pills or decocted. Jasper powder is the most common one, and indigo naturalis is added on the basis of talc and licorice in Liuyi powder. Liuyi Powder was originally yellow-white, and turned blue-green after adding cyan indigo, so it was named Jasper Powder, which was used to treat heatstroke, red eyes, swelling and pain, sores on the mouth and tongue, etc. There is also a prescription called raw ice, which grinds indigo naturalis and almond into powder and stews it in persimmon to treat hemoptysis.

In ancient times, indigo naturalis was often mixed into pills. After the pill was made, it rolled several times in the powder of indigo naturalis, so that the pill was covered with a layer of indigo naturalis, just like putting a layer of clothes on the pill. The technical term is indigo naturalis as clothes.

Qingdai and Huaqing

Indigo also has a special purpose, that is, it is used for painting. The "flower green" in Chinese painting is indigo. When there is a shortage of good cyanine, savvy painters will go to the drugstore to buy indigo for use. Huaqing is often mixed with some ink, called Huaqing ink, which can be used to dye stones and is an essential pigment for landscape painting.

Chinese herbal medicines related to Chinese painting, such as rouge made of safflower, will be discussed later. Traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese painting are still related, and ink painting and painting are both related to indigo naturalis. I didn't expect this.

The following passage is addressed to medical students. If you understand, you will naturally understand.

Qi Yao Min Shu: Cut the green upside down in the pit, put it into the water, and suppress it with wood and stone. Stay overnight when it is hot, stay overnight when it is cold, filter and put the juice in the urn. The price is ten stone pots and five liters of lime a barrel. If you are in a hurry, Peng will stop eating. Clarify, drain water, don't make a pit, and store it in blue lagoon. Waiting like porridge, also out of the urn, blue lake into the yi.

"Heavenly Creations": Where the lake is built, leaves and stems will go into the cellar, and a few will go into barrels and tanks. After seven days of water immersion, the juice came. Add five liters of lime to each stone, stir for dozens of times, and it will precipitate immediately. Water-based timing, precipitation at the bottom. Recently produced, all ethnic mountains in Fujian are dark blue, which is several times that of Zhu Lan. There are baskets in the mountains, so go aboard and sail. The person who sweeps out the floating foam to dry is called indigo flower. Where indigo is put in a vat, it must be mixed with rice ash water first, and bamboo sticks are stirred every day, which is countless. The best one is called standard VAT.

Materia Medica: Daqing, born in spring, with purplish stems, pink and purple flowers, Polygonum hydropiper, Daphne genkwa and yellow roots. In ancient times, there was Daqing decoction for treating typhoid fever, yellow sweat and jaundice, and Gegen decoction also treated typhoid fever with strong head and body, backache and backache. Generally speaking, it is used more. Tao Hongjing: Daqing, there are no classics. This is a shortcut out of the east gate, with long feet and purple stems. ..... This is often used to treat colds, and it is good to treat both heat and poison. Blue juice, detoxification. Coat five hearts with juice and stop being bored. It is very effective for bee stings.

Kaibao materia medica: salty, cold and non-toxic. It is mainly used to relieve children's fever, convulsion, epilepsy, fever, headache, cold fever and other drug poisoning, and to study the treatment of hot sores, nausea and swelling, golden sores, bleeding, snakes and dogs after taking it with water.

Materia Medica: indigo naturalis is blue. There was a woman with wet sores on her navel and two yin spots on her lower abdomen, like muggle sores, which were not found anywhere else. She felt itching and pain, accompanied by heat, astringent urine and stool, yellow juice, decreased food intake and slight swelling. She was treated with eels, turpentine and Huang Dan. When taking medicine, the hotter the sore, the worse the pain. There's no cure. That's it. When asked, this person is addicted to alcohol, gluttonous and loves to eat fish and crabs. Wash it with warm water and wipe off the plaster. Find purslane 42, grind it into powder, add indigo naturalis 12, grind it evenly, apply it on the sore, and immediately clear away heat and relieve pain. Or take Bazhengsan, three times a day, to reduce the fever, and it will take a long time to apply each time. When the medicine is dry, apply a new wet medicine. In this case, it will be reduced by one-third in two days and two-thirds in five days. The more you get, the more you ask: What is the reason for this sore? Yue: Wind-heat toxic gas is hidden in the lower jiao, but if it doesn't come out, it will be internal hemorrhoids of intestinal carbuncle. Prohibition of alcohol and wind is still often necessary. However, you can't ban alcohol, and then you really get internal hemorrhoids.

Compendium of Materia Medica: Qing dynasty, can relieve the heat and poison of the heart and stomach, and does not specialize in treating typhoid fever. Zhu Mian's Book of the Living has red spot pain in treating typhoid fever, including rhinoceros horn soup and Daqing Siwu soup. Therefore, Li Xiangxian pointed to the palm of his hand and said: Yang poison causes crazy spots, while Daqing and Cimicifuga can cause drowsiness. Although the shape of blue is different, its nature and taste are not far different, which can detoxify and clear away heat, but the leaves of Indigofera seem to be not so inferior, and the blue one is dedicated to Polygonum cuspidatum. As for the use of lake green cloth, it is the soaking of blue water and the clarification of lime. Nature and taste can not be different, nor can it be summarized by blue juice. Some people have nausea and vomiting, and taking Yuhuzhu pills is not effective. Made of blue juice, covered to kill insects and reduce fire. Wait, you have to know. ..... mainly toxic dysentery, jaundice, laryngitis and erysipelas. Blue leaf juice, mylabris detoxification, gentian, preserved chicken, cinnabar, poisonous sand.

Materia Medica: indigo naturalis, the hero of indigo naturalis. Because the soil and water are yin cold, it tastes salty, cold and non-toxic. Zhenquan called it Ganping. With its simplicity and massiness. Therefore, it can relieve the toxicity of various drugs and children's fever, headache, cold and fever, and take it with water. It can also grind away toxic substances such as hot sores, swollen poison, blood under golden sores, snakes and dogs.

Simple mistake: indigo naturalis was born in yin and cold, detoxifying and clearing heat to strengthen its strengths. Ancient prescriptions are mostly useful for patients with various blood syndromes. Because non-blood is divided into excess heat, and this disease is internal heat due to yin deficiency, yang is not attached, and internal heat is inflammation, such as vomiting, so it is not suitable for use. Blood will coagulate when it is cold, and blood coagulation will be hot and cold, and the chest and diaphragm will be painful, which will aggravate the condition. Doctors need to distinguish in detail.

Jian Yao: Cold gas, bitter taste and non-toxic. Headache caused by epidemic diseases and erythema caused by typhoid fever. It can close the five internal organs to suppress fire and eliminate heat phlegm on the diaphragm. Clearing liver, relieving spasm and epilepsy. Digest, kill all pests and turn them into water. It also treats infantile malnutrition, dysentery, emaciation, burning hair and troubles. The song says: tired hair, dry nose and mouth, dry skin and quadriplegia. The abdomen is always loose and yellow. My eyes are dry and my nostrils are red, so I don't want to see the opening of Gu Dao. It suddenly became malnutrition, thick and thick. Vomiting on the lips is not breast-feeding, but excessive heat and aversion to cold, and irritability. This convenience is indigo naturalis powder, which is as effective as taking the holy elixir.

Compendium of materia medica: purging liver and dispersing depressed fire. Salty cold, green color, liver diarrhea. Dispel the stagnation of fire in the five internal organs, relieve the stagnation of wind and heat in the middle jiao and the lower jiao, and …… do not use it to treat typhoid fever with spots, hemoptysis and dysentery, and excessive fire due to yin deficiency. The almond is ground into powder and simmered in persimmon, which is called sacred cake to cure hemoptysis. Children epilepsy, carbuncle fever, carbuncle, snake, dog poison.

Ben Feng Jingyuan: Indigo Naturalis a foam floating in the blue lake, which is swept out to dry after being stirred. Clearing liver, benefiting gallbladder and dispelling depressed fire. This product can be used in Qianjin Lan Qing Pill to treat postpartum fever and diarrhea. It was hot and cold in the sky, and the headache was overcome by water. It is almost the same as blue, but it seems to be better than blue in hemostasis, detoxification and insecticide. It can also treat suffocating diaphragm diseases and use its power to turn insects into insects. Blow-drying is the most effective method.

Materia Medica seeks truth: diarrhea of liver meridian and depression of fire. Indigo specializes in treating liver. It is made of indigo foam, stirred, swept out and dried. The taste is salty and cold, the color is blue, the liver meridian is full of fire and the liver meridian is depressed.

A well-deserved herbal medicine: salty cold. Blood is divided into Foot Jueyin and Taiyin Meridian. Eliminate depressed fire, clear heat and detoxify. Kill infantile scabies, dispel epidemic erythema, eliminate diaphragmatic phlegm, stop bleeding and dysentery. Keep company with Sichuan and wash your eyes. Auxiliary thin yellow, treat severe tongue swelling. Cold water is used to treat hematemesis due to internal heat; Treating postpartum madness with Siwu decoction; Into the purslane, don't wear it; Mix cortex Phellodendri powder, and mix with auricularia to obtain juice.

New edition of materia medica: indigo naturalis, that is, the dryer of indigo. Materia Medica is different from the Persian kingdom, and it is indeed wrong. Bitter taste, cold gas and no toxicity. Killing insects and clearing heat can eliminate redness, swelling and furuncle, and treat gold sores, but it has no effect. In his book, he called it unbelievable. But if it is a real fire, it can be treated both internally and externally, but it is not recorded in the book of materia medica. About this thing, it can only be used as an aid. However, you can use more pesticides, stop using them blindly, use one or two, grind them to the end, and add San Qian, a divine comedy, and San Qian, a gentleman, as pills. If you take them all in one day, the insects will die. He doesn't need to get sick often. Covering indigo naturalis with cold air will ruin the stomach, and the diet cannot be eliminated after long-term use.