Clear Heat / Resolve Toxicity: Lian Qiao

Lian Qiao (meaning: lian = link, qiao = raise) has been used for more than 4,000 years in China and is considered to be "one of the fifty fundamental herbs" used in Chinese medicine, according to one website. I did some searching around to find a list of these fifty herbs, but found nothing except for a lot of different herbs being named "one of the fifty fundamental." Does anyone know if there is indeed such a list?

So, back to Lian Qiao, in use for four thousand years. Four thousand years is a long time. This herb is the dried fruit of the Forsythia plant. In the herbs bag what you see is the dried fruit split in two. Kind of like a cracked open walnut, but much smaller. It has a chamber inside. Dennis suggests the fact that it has a chamber will help us to remember it goes to the heart channel. He also suggests that it looks like a gallstone, which I've never seen, but I'll trust him on that. Oh, and that helps to remember that it goes to the gallbladder. It also goes to the lung. Do you think it looks like a lung? I suppose it sort of does.

Here's a picture of some gallstones. It's actually kind of interesting that you can grow a "stone" in your body. Probably not that interesting if you have one, because I've heard they hurt like hell, but interesting.
Kind of looks like a bowl of cereal if you ask me. But that's off topic.

Back to Lian Qiao. These little dried fruits of the forsythia plant are bitter and spicy. Seems like a good combination for something that chases toxicity and heat away. Most of sources I reviewed drew attention to Lian Qiao's usefulness as an herb that can reduce abscesses and dissipate "clumps" such as sores, infections, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.

According to Bensky, Lian Qiao's heat clearing is good for externally-contracted wind-heat with a high fever, slight chills, a sore throat and a headache. The herb is "slightly cold" or cool. Bensky also notes the de-clumping action of Lian Qiao. He says that the herb drains heat stuck in the heart channel and clears heat from the upper burner.

Lian Qiao is one herb to help someone heal from a very infectious disease (like mumps), or very red acne with no head, or a UTI. One website said it has a "broad spectrum antibiotic effect."

Where it is grown and a story about its name
Lian Qiao requires good soil, but is easy to grow because it's not fussy about sunlight. It will grow in full or part shade, or even no shade. It grows in East Asia and through Eastern China in thickets, moors, or on cliffs. It's been described as "a tall ground cover."

As I was trying to find out what the words Lian Qiao translate into English as, I found this story which, if I am understanding it correctly, states that the name Lian Qiao is actually a mistranslation of the herb's original name. It was heard by the Japanese and translated back into Chinese as "concocted banana" but was supposed to mean "yellow rattan." The flowers of the plant are hermaphrodites, and actually very pretty. The herb is the little fruit that hangs from the plant.