It is a silicate mineral ore of actinolite or actinolite asbestos. After mining, the soil and impurities are removed. It is mainly produced in Hubei, Henan, and other places.

In some areas of Sichuan, Hubei, Shandong, Henan, and Beijing, yinqishi is still used as actinolite.

bubble_chart Morphological Characteristics

It is elongated or flattened in shape, varying in size. The entire body is milky white, bluish-white to bluish-gray, or forms longitudinal patterns of bluish-white and bluish-gray, sometimes with yellowish-brown hues, and has a luster. It is heavy and has a soft texture, easily peeled, with a fibrous cross-section, prone to longitudinal splitting, and turns into silk-like strands when crushed, which are soft and smooth. It is highly elastic, sticks to the skin causing itchiness, and is difficult to remove. It has no odor. The best quality is needle-like, grayish-white with luster, and easily crushed. When placed in a flame, it turns red without melting, and the burned part slightly turns yellow after being removed from the flame. It is difficult to melt when burned with a blowpipe, does not conduct heat, and is insoluble in acid.

1. Actinolite Monoclinic system: Crystals are long columnar, needle-like, or hair-like. However, they usually form fine radial, rod-like, or fibrous aggregates. The color ranges from light greenish-gray to dark green. It has a glassy luster. Transparent to opaque. It has one-directional perfect cleavage. The fracture is multi-sheeted. Hardness is 5.5 to 6, specific gravity is 3.1 to 3.3, and it is brittle. Commonly found in various metamorphic rocks.
2. Actinolite Asbestos: It is fibrous actinolite, characterized by an excellent parallel fibrous structure, with fibers of varying lengths. Colors include white, light green, and light brown. It has a silky luster. It possesses elasticity and toughness, as well as fire resistance and acid resistance.

bubble_chart Properties and Meridians

Salty, warm.

1. Benjing: salty, slightly warm.
2. Yaoxing Lun: sweet, neutral.
3. Yilin Zuanyao Tanyuan: salty and acrid, warm.

1. Gangmu: Right act on kidney channel Mingmen Qi points.
2. Leigong Paozhi Yaoxing Jie: act on kidney channel.

bubble_chart Efficacy

bubble_chart Indications

Treats lower energizer deficiency cold, cold and numbness of the waist and knees, male impotence, female uterine cold, abdominal mass, menorrhagia, and metrostaxis.

1. Benjing: Mainly treats metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, breaks up blood stasis in the uterus, abdominal mass and stagnant qi, cold and heat abdominal pain, impotence, and supplements deficiencies.
2. Bielu: Treats coldness of the male glans, damp itching under the scrotum, eliminates foul sweat, and reduces edema.
3. Yaoxing Lun: Supplements kidney qi and essence deficiency, treats lower back pain and knee coldness, fixed arthralgia, warms the female uterus for long-term coldness, cold masses and cold lumps, and stops irregular menstruation.
4. Rihuazi Bencao: Treats leukorrhea, pestilence, cold qi, and supplements five strains and seven injuries.
5. Wang Hao-gu: Supplements life gate deficiency.
6. Yixue Rumen: Assists yang qi, mainly treats male lower deficiency and yang decline.
7. Gangmu: Dissipates various heat and swelling.
8. Yuqiu Yaojie: Treats cold abdominal colic.

bubble_chart Usage and Dosage

For internal use: Take 1 to 1.5 qian in pills or powder.

bubble_chart Cautions and Contraindications

Those with yin deficiency and effulgent fire should avoid taking it.

1. Bencao Jing Jizhu: Mantis egg-case is used as a guide. It is averse to Alisma, cinnamon, Thunder Ball, and snake slough skin. It fears dodder.
2. Yaoxing Lun: It is averse to Shi Kui. Avoid sheep blood.
3. Bencao Jingshu: Those with yin deficiency and effulgent fire should avoid it. Impotence is a mental disease, resulting from blocked fire qi that cannot be released, and menorrhagia and leukorrhea due to excessive fire rather than deficiency and cold should also not be taken.
4. Bencao Huiyan: Those with deficient camp and blood heat should not take it.

bubble_chart Processing and Storage

For medicinal use, it is calcined until red and then ground into fine powder.

Actinolite: Wash clean and crush.

Calcined Actinolite: Take clean pieces of actinolite, place them in a crucible, and calcine until thoroughly red in a smokeless fire. Then quench in yellow wine, remove, dry, and grind into fine powder. (For every 100 catties of actinolite, use 20 catties of yellow wine)

1. Rihuazi Bencao: When combining actinolite with medicine, it is calcined and then quenched in water; the white, solidified form is considered superior.
2. Gangmu: When using actinolite, it is calcined until red in fire, quenched in wine seven times, ground finely with water, and dried in the sun. There is also a method where it is soaked in distilled liquor and then refined in a jar with camphor to extract the powder.

TCM can effectively treat dry eye syndrome, floaters, retinopathy, and various chronic eye diseases

bubble_chart Selected Prescriptions

1. To treat original qi deficiency and cold, involuntary seminal emission, sloppy diarrhea, and reversal cold of hands and feet: Actinolite (calcined, ground extremely fine) and stalactite powder in equal parts. Grind together into a fine powder, cook with wine and Aconite Lateral Root powder to form a paste, and make into pills the size of phoenix tree seeds. Take 50 pills each time, swallowed with rice water on an empty stomach. (Jisheng Fang White Pill)
2. To treat impotence and genital sweating: Actinolite (calcined, ground into powder), take 2 qian each time, with salt and wine. (Puji Fang)
3. To treat the failure of the Chong and Ren meridians to connect; extreme deficiency and cold, menorrhagia that does not stop, leading to other symptoms: Actinolite (calcined until red, separately ground extremely fine) 2 liang, Pilose Antler (hair removed, vinegar-roasted) 1 liang. Grind into a fine powder, cook with vinegar and decocted mugwort juice, mix with sticky rice to form pills the size of phoenix tree seeds. Take 100 pills each time, swallowed with rice water before meals on an empty stomach. (Jisheng Fang Actinolite Pill)
4. To treat erysipelas: Actinolite (burned, ground into powder), mix with fresh water and apply to the swollen area. (Rumen Shiqin Actinolite Powder)