Bai Shiyi, first mentioned in the "Shennong Materia Medica", is classified as a top-grade mineral quartz ore. It can be collected at any time. After collection, select pure white quartz, wash it, dry it, and crush it for medicinal use, known as raw white quartz; after calcination in a crucible, it is called calcined white quartz. It is warm in nature and sweet in taste, entering the lungs, kidneys, and heart meridians. The main component is silicon dioxide, which has the effects of warming the lungs and kidneys, calming the mind, and promoting urination. It is used to treat symptoms such as cold cough, impotence, polydipsia, restlessness, palpitations, forgetfulness, difficult urination, jaundice, wind-cold dampness arthralgia, etc. There are fake white stones on the market posing as white quartz, so be careful when using them.
Genuine white quartz is irregular in shape, often angular, and varies in size. It is white or milky white, sometimes with a slight yellow tinge. The surface is uneven but smooth, transparent to opaque, with a glassy or greasy luster. The texture is extremely hard and heavy. After being crushed, the fracture is not neat, the edges are sharp, and it can scratch glass. There is no odor when smelled, and it tastes light and flavorless.
Fake white stones belong to the trigonal crystal system carbonate minerals. They have a curved saddle-shaped or rhombic dense block shape, with a grayish-white color or a slight red or brown hue, and a glassy luster. The texture is hard, but the edges cannot scratch glass when broken. There is no odor when smelled, and it tastes light. It bubbles when exposed to cold dilute hydrochloric acid.
White quartz is a rarely used Chinese medicine. It is recorded in the "Qing Nang Secret Recipe" that drinking a decoction of white quartz alone can treat cold and cold, lung qi counterflow, cough, and asthma. When combined with Schisandra, Poria, Ginseng, Aconite, and Licorice, it can tonify deficiency, nourish the lungs, and stop coughing, and is effective in treating symptoms such as lung deficiency and cough. When used with Chinese wolfberry, it can treat weakened kidney yang, inability of the fluid source to nourish the upper body, and frequent thirst. When treating the five overworks and seven injuries, it can be used with Rehmannia, Poria, Ginseng, Ophiopogon, and Cornus officinalis to make honey pills for consumption. Fake white stones are only used in construction, ceramics, glass and refractory materials, chemical industry, agriculture, environmental protection, energy saving, and other fields, and are not used as medicinal materials. When using them, it is important to recognize the characteristics of genuine products to avoid the misuse of fake products, which may delay treatment.
