If you go to the herb study group with Emily you will have heard the story of Tina, the prostitute from Beijing. This was their name for Tian Hua Fen, the "Heavenly Flower."
Tina's a heavy smoker. She's hot. She's irritable. And she has a cough with thick sputum. She has sores that are oozing pus, and she has an abscess on her breast. On top of that, Tina is in the early stages of pregnancy and doesn't want the child.
Tina's a mess.
The madame at the brothel pays for a Chinese doctor to treat Tina. He has the perfect solution: Tian Hua Fen. This herb is bitter and sweet. Just like Tina. It is also cold. It will cool her down. It travels to the lung and stomach. In the lung, it will moisten her lung dryness, and transform her phlegm. The heat will be drained away, and fluids will be generated. Her thirst won't be so extreme, and her irritability will die down.
The toxicity of her sores and breast abscess will be relieved. The pus will stop oozing.
And her pregnancy might terminate through this herb. If she wanted to keep the baby, the doctor would have to prescribe something different -- maybe Lu Gen, which also generates fluids, clears heat, vents rashes, and travels the lung and stomach channels. Lu Gen might be more effective at ridding her of irritability. But, Tina doesn't want the baby and Tian Hua Fen has been used in some parts of the world to promote miscarriage.
The next week the doctor returns. Tina has been good at drinking her herbs, and she's had some time off of her job to think. When the doctor comes back she tells him that she would like to apprentice with him. He asks her some questions and realizes that Tina is smart. She has just had an unlucky life. For some reason, he doesn't really know why, he agrees. Tina's life has been changed forever.
The end.
Sorry. I just had to put a happy ending on that one.
According to Dennis, Tian Hua Fen is very cold and very helpful in the Lung and Stomach channels. It can help with the symptoms of diabetes, particularly the damage to blood vessels due to excessive insulin. However, in the blur of my memory of class, I'm not exactly sure which function of the herb is helpful for this problem. If you, or someone you know, can help with this question, please post the explanation.
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