What it is:
This herb is therhizome of Zingiberofficinale (Willd.)Rosc. (family Zingi-beraceae), which is produced mainly in Sichuan, Hubei, Guangdong and Guangxiprovinces. It isharvested in winter, washed clean, dried in sunlight or baked dry with mild heat, and sliced for use.

Property:
Pungent in flavour, hot in property, act-ing on the stomach, heart and lung channels.

Effects:
Warmingthe middle-jiao, dis-pelling cold, warming the lung and resolvingphlegm retention.

Used for:
1. Cold syndrome of deficiency typeof the spleen andstomach characterized by gastric andabdominal cold pain, nausea, vomiting,diarrhea, anorexia,etc. It is oftenused with ginseng, white atractylodesrhizome and liquorice, as in Pill for Regu-lating the Function ofMiddle-jiao (Lizhong Wan). For vomiting and diarrhea due to the direct attack ofpathogenic cold onthe stomach, it isused alone,by mixing its powder with warm water for an oral dose,or used together with pinellia, as inPowder of Pinelliaand Dried Ginger(Banxia Ganjiang San).

2. Retention ofcold phlegm in thelung manifested ascough, dyspnea, cold appearance, chilly sensation in the back, and profuse thin clearsputum. It is often used with ephedra,asarum and schisandra fruit, as in Minor Decoction of Green Dragon (Xiao Qinglong Tang). In addition, when this herb is used together with preparedthe lateral root ofaconite, it can rein-force aconite's ef-fects of recuperatingdepleted yang torescue patient fromcollapse, and canreduce the toxicity of aconite. If dried ginger is stir-baked to slightly black on the surface but brownish yellowinside, it is called baked ginger, which is less effective forwarming the interior but more effective for warming the channels and stopping bleedingthan dried ginger.Baked ginger is indi-cated for bleeding due to cold ofinsufficiency type,such as hematemesis, hemafecia, metrorrha-gia and metrostaxis,accompanied with cold hands and feet, pale tongue, and hready and faint pulse. This herb is also used in the treatment ofabdominal pain anddiarrhea due to cold of deficiency type in the stomach and spleen.

Dosage and admi-nistrations: 3-10g, decocted in water for an oral dose.

Precautions:
Dried ginger should be used cautiously in cases of heat syndromes, yindeficiency syndromes and for pregnant women.