Witnessed by: TCM · Ayurveda
Red lead (Minium), of the oxide mineral (lead oxide) family. A heavy, bright scarlet to orange-red amorphous powder; native range: a furnace product — lead or litharge roasted long in air until it reddens; minium occurs naturally only as a rare alteration crust on oxidised lead ore. Globally recognized as 鉛丹 qian dan, 黃丹 huang dan in Chinese, sindura, nagasindura in Sanskrit, and red lead, minium in English. The part used is the levigated oxide, purified before use. A vivid scarlet-orange powder, very heavy, soft and impalpable, odourless, blackening when rubbed with sulphur.
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.
RED LEAD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- red lead
- Scientific name
- Minium (lead tetroxide, Pb₃O₄)
- Family
- oxide mineral (lead oxide)
Form
- Part used
- the levigated oxide, purified before use
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- pungent · salty
- Ayurveda
- astringent (kashaya) · bitter (tikta)
Temperature
- TCM
- cold
- Ayurveda
- cooling (shita)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Heart · Liver · Spleen
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- dries dampness and kills parasites, resolves toxicity and closes sores, and draws out corruption — external use; classically also said to settle fright and dispel phlegm, but that internal use is abandoned
- Ayurveda
- vranashodhana and vranaropana (cleans and heals wounds), kushthaghna (heals skin disease), krimighna (antiparasitic) — external use
Cautions
- Contraindications
- internal use; application over large raw or burnt surfaces, pregnancy, and children
- Toxicity
- a lead oxide and a cumulative poison — absorbed through broken skin and by ingestion, causing colic, anaemia, and nerve and kidney damage; the plaster base is a known source of lead poisoning in long use
- Sourcing status
- legally-restricted
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