Tianhuafen, also known as Gualougen, is a traditional Chinese medicine. It is the root of the Trichosanthes kirilowii, a plant in the Cucurbitaceae family. Tianhuafen is classified as a heat-clearing and fire-purging medicine. Its specific effects include clearing heat and fire, generating body fluids, relieving thirst, and reducing swelling caused by abscesses. It is used to treat conditions such as thirst due to fever, excessive thirst, jaundice, lung dryness with coughing of blood, boils, and hemorrhoids. It is often used in combination with nourishing Yin herbs for the treatment of diabetes, aiming to address both the symptoms and the root cause of the disease.
【Different Opinions on Tianhuafen】
1. Cheng Wujie: Gualougen can moisten dryness. When added to a formula, it promotes the circulation of body fluids and relieves thirst. Thirst caused by insufficient body fluids can be alleviated by the bitterness of Gualougen, which helps to generate body fluids.
2. "Gangmu": Gualougen has a slightly sweet, bitter, and sour taste. Sourness can generate body fluids, which makes it effective in relieving thirst and moistening dryness. Its slight bitterness can also reduce internal heat. The belief that it is cold and bitter might not have been thoroughly examined.
3. "Bencao Huiyan": Tianhuafen can resolve excessive heat in various organs, such as heart heat causing dryness in the tongue and mouth, lung heat causing throat swelling and obstruction, spleen heat causing swelling in the mouth, tongue, and teeth, and phlegm heat causing persistent coughing. It can also address conditions such as liver heat causing flank distension and urinary urgency, and kidney heat causing restless bones and heat. It is effective in cases where abscesses have not yet burst or have already burst but the heat toxins have not dispersed, as well as in cases of jaundice and urine abnormalities. It can effectively resolve heat and stagnation. Additionally, its sweet and cold nature makes it effective in treating thirst. It can be combined with tonifying herbs to treat deficiency thirst, with cooling herbs to treat heat thirst, with qi-regulating herbs to treat stagnation thirst, and with blood-invigorating herbs to treat restlessness and thirst. It is an essential medicine for treating thirst.
4. "Benjing Fengyuan": Gualougen can reduce phlegm heat in the diaphragm, relieve restlessness and thirst in the heart, and treat various conditions such as feverish delirium, damp-heat jaundice, and sores. "Benjing" states that it can tonify deficiency, harmonize the middle, and continue the interrupted pulse. Its ability to clear stomach heat brings peace to the middle, restores normal Qi when the fire is gone, and replenishes body fluids, thereby allowing blood and Qi to be restored and the injury to be continued. Its cold nature can cause harm when used incorrectly in cases of stomach deficiency vomiting and Yin deficiency cough. In such cases, it can lead to chronic diarrhea, wheezing, and coughing, making the root of the disease more stubborn.
5. "Bencao Qiuzhen": Tianhuafen has a slightly milder nature compared to Gualougen, which is more urgent in its actions. It can also resolve stagnation and relieve symptoms of discomfort. The mention of tonifying deficiency and harmonizing the middle in the classics seems to be an inaccurate statement, but it likely means that the heat is eliminated, resulting in peace.
6. "Yaozheng Xubian": For thirst with two different presentations, Shigao is the main herb for restlessness and thirst, while Gualougen is the main herb for just thirst alone.
7. "Yixuezongzhong Canxi Lu": Tianhuafen can generate body fluids and relieve thirst, moisturize the lungs, transform phlegm-dryness in the lungs, calm the lungs and relieve cough, and treat pulmonary tuberculosis. It is also effective in promoting blood circulation and resolving heat toxins, as well as treating early-stage carbuncles and boils when used in combination with Lianqiao and Shanjia. When treating already ulcerated sores, it can be used in combination with Huangqi and Gancao (both must be used in their raw form) to promote tissue regeneration and discharge of pus. Even in cases of deep ulcers that cannot be treated with topical medications, it can promote the growth of muscle tissue and gradually discharge the pus.
8. "Benjing": It is primarily used to relieve thirst, heat in the body, restlessness and fullness, and excessive heat. It can also tonify deficiency, harmonize the middle, continue the interrupted pulse, and treat injuries.
9. "Bielu": It can relieve chronic heat in the intestines and stomach, jaundice with yellowing of the face and body, dry lips, dry mouth, and shortness of breath. It can also regulate menstrual flow and stop frequent urination.
10. "Rihuazi Bencao": It can clear the small intestine, discharge pus, reduce swelling and toxins, promote tissue regeneration, and resolve bruises and stagnant blood. It can treat feverish delirium, breast abscesses, back boils, and hemorrhoids.
11. "Diannan Bencao": It can treat abscesses, swelling, and toxins, as well as coughing with blood.
12. "Bencao Mengquan": It can treat hernia.
13. "Bencao Zheng": It cools the heart and lungs, relieves heat and thirst, resolves phlegm and heat in the diaphragm, and treats breast abscesses and swelling.
14. "Yilin Zuan Yao": It tonifies the lungs, regulates Qi, reduces fire, calms the mind, resolves liver stagnation, relieves liver urgency, clears bladder heat, stops hot dysuria, and eliminates Yangming damp-heat.
15. "Practical Traditional Chinese Medicine": It can be used as a topical application to treat skin eczema, sweat stains, and abrasions.
