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Aster tartaricus, Zi Wan 紫菀

Tartarian Aster, Purple Aster
Zi Wan (TCM)
Aster tartaricus
Addisonia, (M.E. Eaton) vol. 2 (1917)
Botanical name:
Aster tartaricus (syn. A. fauriei)

Parts used:
Root and rhizome

Temperature & Taste:
Slightly Warm, dry. Pungent, Bitter

Uses:
1. Clears Phlegm, Stops Cough:
-various types of Cough, Bronchitis, and difficult Breathing with copious sputum
-can be used for Cough from Cold, Heat or Deficiency
-Consumption


Dose:
Decoction: 5–9 grams
Powder: 1–3 grams

Preparation:
Honey-Fried Aster (Mi Zhi Zi Wan):
  Baked or stir-fried with Honey until no longer sticky, it is considered better for Lung weakness or Lung Yin deficiency. It is most used for chronic Coughs.

Substitute:
Coltsfoot flower

Main Combinations:
Often combined with Coltsfoot. The Divine Farmers Materia Medica said Coltsfoot is the 'Envoy' of Aster Zi Wan.

1. Cough:
i. Aster Zi Wan with Coltsfoot for Cough with excess sputum
ii. acute Wind-Cold cough, Aster Zi Wan with fresh Ginger, Perilla leaf (Zi Su Ye), Almond kernel
iii. cough from Wind-Cold, chronic Bronchitis Aster Zi Wan with copious Phlegm, with Orange peel (Ju Pi), Platycodon Jie Geng, Stemona Bai Bu, Schisandra Wu Wei Zi, Ginger, Licorice, Ammonium chloride (as in Zhi Ke Bao Pian of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
iv. acute Wind-Heat Cough, Aster Zi Wan with Houttuynia Yu Xing Cao, Licorice
v. Aster Zi Wan with Schizonepeta Jing Jie and Licorice for Cough in the aftermath of an external disease (Common Cold or Flu)
vi. Aster Zi Wan with Scutellaria Huang Qin and Fritillaria Bei Mu for Heat-type Cough
vii. Cough with sticky yellow mucus, Aster Zi Wan with Citrus Chen Pi, Pinellia Ban Xia, Poria Fu Ling, Licorice, Platycodon Jie Geng, Bitter Almond (Ku Xing Ren), Coltsfoot flower (Kuan Dong Hua)
viii. Cough with blood in the sputum, Aster Zi Wan with Stemona Bai Bu
ix. Cough and Wheezing with sputum, Aster Zi Wan with Schisandra Wu Wei Zi
x. stubborn Wind-Cold cough, Aster Zi Wan with Stemona Bai Bu, Platycodon Jie Geng
2. Chronic Cough:
i. Aster Zi Wan with Asparagus root (Tian Men Dong), Mulberry root-bark (Sang Bai Pi)
ii. Chronic Cough from Lung weakness, Aster Zi Wan with Anemarrhena Zhi Mu, Fritillaria Chuan Bei Mu
iii. chronic persistent Cough, Aster Zi Wan with Coltsfoot (Kuan Dong Hua) and Asarum Xi Xin
3. Consumptive Cough, shortness of Breath, Aster Zi Wan with Gecko (Ge Jie), Turtle Shell (Gui Ban), Ephedra Ma Huang, Almond kernel (Xing Ren), Ophiopogon Mai Men Dong, Licorice, Lily bulb (Bai He) (as in Ge Jie Ding Chuan Wan)

Major Formulas:
Bu Fei Tang
Ren Shen Bu Fei Tang
She Gan Ma Huang Tang
Zhi Sou San

Cautions:
None noted

Main Preparations used: