Witnessed by: TCM
Oyster shell, of the Ostreidae (Bivalvia) family. The marine oyster, cemented by its left valve to rock and to its own kind in dense intertidal beds; native range: the oyster beds and rocky tidal shores of the Chinese coasts, from Liaoning to Guangdong. Globally recognized as mu li (牡蠣) in Chinese, and oyster shell in English. The part used is the shell (raw, or calcined). Thick, heavy, irregular valves, layered and flaky, chalk-white to greyish and roughly ridged without, smooth and porcelain-like within; salty, faintly of the sea, gritty when crushed.
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.
OYSTER SHELL
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- oyster shell
- Family
- Ostreidae (Bivalvia)
Form
- Part used
- the shell (raw, or calcined)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- salty (咸) · astringent (澀)
Temperature
- TCM
- cool (微寒)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Gallbladder · Kidney
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- settles the spirit and calms fright, benefits yin and anchors the floating yang, softens hardness and dissipates nodules, and — calcined — restrains leakage and absorbs acid
Cautions
- Contraindications
- fevers with heat still on the exterior, where the anchoring weight traps the pathogen in
- Toxicity
- low toxicity; long use may bind the bowels
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