Witnessed by: TCM
Lard (Sus scrofa domesticus), of the Suidae (Mammalia) family. The domestic pig — an omnivorous even-toed ungulate of the Suidae; native range: the domestic pig, kept across China and east Asia. Globally recognized as zhu zhi (豬脂), tun zhi (豚脂), zhu gao (豬膏) in Chinese, ton'yu in Japanese, and lard, rendered pig fat in English. The part used is the fat, rendered. A soft white fat, near odourless when well rendered, melting to a clear pale oil at little above blood heat, bland and faintly sweet.
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.
LARD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- lard
- Scientific name
- Sus scrofa domesticus Erxleben
- Family
- Suidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the fat, rendered
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- sweet (甘)
Temperature
- TCM
- cool (涼)
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- moistens dryness and lubricates the Intestines, resolves toxicity, and — its commonest office — carries and holds other drugs on the skin as the body of an ointment
Cautions
- Contraindications
- damp-phlegm patterns, diarrhoea, and loose stool from Spleen deficiency — a fat given to a wet body
- Toxicity
- no toxicity; rancid fat is to be discarded rather than dosed
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