Qin Pi – Ash Bark – Cortex Fraxini

Qin Pi

English Name: fraxinus, ash bark

Pharmaceutical Name: Cortex Fraxini

Medica Category: Heat-Clearing and Toxin-Eliminating Herbs

Properties: Qin Pi enters the Gallbladder, Liver, and Large Intestine channels; it is bitter in nature and cold in temperature.

What is Qin Pi?:

The Chinese Herb Qin Pi is the dried inner bark of four different species of Ash trees (of the genus Fraxinus) that grow in Jilin, Liaoning and Henan provinces in China. The trees are harvested twice per year (spring and autumn). The bark is peeled off the trunk, dried in the sun, and used raw as medicine.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Therapeutic Actions of Qin Pi:

Qin Pi clears heat-toxins and eliminates dampness without drying body fluids. This makes it an herb of choice for treating damp-heat dysentery accompanied with incomplete bowel movements/tenesmus and abdominal pain (with Bai Tou Weng in the formula Bai Tou Weng Tang). Qin Pi also effective addresses damp-heat leukorrhea (w/yellow, foul-smelling discharge).

Qin Pi clears Liver fire and brightens the eyes to address eye redness, swelling, floaters (and other superficial visual obstructions), and photophobia.

Qin Pi clears Lung heat and redirects Lung qi downward to treat cough with wheezing/dyspnea.