Witnessed by: TCM
Sheep bile (Ovis aries), of the Bovidae (Mammalia) family. The domestic sheep; the drug is the bile drawn from its gall bladder; native range: gathered wherever sheep are slaughtered, chiefly in the herding north and northwest of China. Globally recognized as yang dan (羊膽), jie yang dan (羯羊膽) in Chinese, and sheep bile, wether gall in English. The part used is the bile (fresh, or dried). A clear dark green viscid fluid, thinner than an ox's, staining what it touches, with a faint rank smell and a clean piercing bitterness.
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.
SHEEP BILE
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- sheep bile
- Scientific name
- Ovis aries Linnaeus, 1758
- Family
- Bovidae (Mammalia)
Form
- Part used
- the bile (fresh, or dried)
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
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- TCM
- clears fire and resolves toxicity, brightens the eyes and disperses superficial visual obstruction, and moistens dryness
Cautions
- Contraindications
- cold and deficient patterns of the spleen and stomach, and loose stools
- Toxicity
- low toxicity; nauseating in quantity, and the raw bile dripped into an eye is a source of infection unless properly handled
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