Cinnabar (Dan sha)
Modern sources record safety concerns for this herb. Reference information, not a diagnostic or treatment recommendation.
Modern sources record heavy-metal toxicity for cinnabar (dan sha; mercuric sulfide, HgS, a form of inorganic mercury). The U.S. ATSDR Toxicological Profile for Mercury reports that the nervous system is an important target of inorganic mercury and that the nephrotoxicity of inorganic mercury has long been established, with impaired renal function and damage reported in humans after acute inorganic mercury poisoning. This is reference information drawn from modern sources, not a diagnostic or treatment recommendation.
Recorded in Bencao Gangmu for quieting the spirit and the ethereal and corporeal souls, boosting qi and brightening the eyes, freeing the blood vessels, relieving vexation and wasting-thirst, settling the heart, and for fright epilepsy and resolving fetal and pox toxin. Cinnabar (dan sha) is mercuric sulfide.
Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu)卷九·石类上·丹砂·主治
- functions_en self-translated from 本草纲目 traditional_functions (public domain; the Chinese tf carries verbatim excerpt_hash citations). No modern work consulted.
- WHO IST-TCM terminology-aligned for the English rendering.
- public pharmacopoeia & physical facts (public-domain reference facts; no proprietary modern source).
Classical source text (Chinese) — English summary above.
传统中医记载：主身体五脏百病，养精神、安魂魄、益气明目，杀精魅邪恶鬼；古载通血脉、止烦满消渴，镇心，治惊痫、解胎毒痘毒。
Nature & flavor: 甘，微寒，无毒。
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷九·石类上·丹砂·释名Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its classification.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷九·石类上·丹砂·气味Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its nature & flavor.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷九·石类上·丹砂·主治Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its traditional functions.
- Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) · Li Shizhen · 卷九·石类上·丹砂·气味Cited from Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) for its safety notes.