Witnessed by: TCM
Pig bile (Sus scrofa domesticus), of the Suidae (Mammalia) family. The domestic pig; the drug is the bile drawn from its gall bladder; native range: gathered wherever pigs are slaughtered; the commonest and cheapest of the animal biles. Globally recognized as zhu dan zhi (豬膽汁) in Chinese, varaha pitta in Sanskrit, and pig bile, hog gall in English. The part used is the bile (fresh, or dried to a paste or powder). A dark olive-green to brown viscid fluid, slippery between the fingers, with a rank smell and a bitterness so intense and lingering that the tongue keeps it long after.
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.
PIG BILE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- pig bile
- Scientific name
- Sus scrofa domesticus Erxleben, 1777
- Family
- Suidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the bile (fresh, or dried to a paste or powder)
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- TCM
- bitter (苦)
Temperature
- TCM
- cold (寒)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- TCM
- Liver · Gallbladder · Lung · Large Intestine
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears heat and drains fire, resolves toxicity, moistens dryness and frees the stool, and transforms phlegm and stops cough
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold and deficient patterns of the spleen and stomach, and loose stools
- Toxicity
- low toxicity; nauseating in any quantity, and the raw bile is a source of infection unless properly handled
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