Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda · Unani
Cinnabar, of the sulfide mineral family. A heavy, soft, scarlet to brownish-red mineral in granular masses, crusts and rhombohedral crystals; native range: low-temperature hydrothermal veins and hot-spring deposits about young volcanic ground — classically the mines of Hunan and Guizhou, of Spain and of Persia; the artificial vermilion is made by subliming mercury with sulfur. Globally recognized as 朱砂 zhu sha, 丹砂 dan sha in Chinese, hingula, darada in Sanskrit, shingraf, zanjafr in Arabic/Urdu, and cinnabar, vermilion in English. The part used is the purified (levigated or shodhita) mineral. Vermilion to brownish-red with an adamantine lustre where crystalline, very heavy in the hand, soft enough to mark, giving a bright scarlet streak; odourless until heated, when it gives off mercury and a sulfurous reek.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
CINNABAR
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- cinnabar
- Scientific name
- Cinnabar (mercuric sulfide, HgS)
- Family
- sulfide mineral
Form
- Part used
- the purified (levigated or shodhita) mineral
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
Temperature
- TCM
- cold (slightly; toxic)
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Unani
- hot & dry (2nd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart
- Unani
- skin
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- sedates the Heart and calms the spirit, clears heat and resolves toxicity; anchors what floats and drifts
- Ayurveda
- rasayana, kushthaghna, krimighna, jwaraghna (relieves fever), vishaghna; the classical source of purified parada
- Unani
- akkal (escharotic), jali (detergent), qatil-e-kirm (kills parasites), muhallil — used chiefly on the surface and in fumigation
Cautions
- Contraindications
- pregnancy, lactation, children, and any impairment of the kidneys or liver; never heated or decocted; never in prolonged courses
- Toxicity
- a mercurial. Though far less soluble than the free metal or its chlorides, cinnabar releases mercury on heating and to a degree in the gut — long or repeated use has produced salivation, stomatitis, tremor, neurological injury and renal damage. Many pharmacopoeias have withdrawn it; where it is retained the dose is small and the course short.
- Sourcing status
- legally-restricted
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