Scutellaria Root (Huang Qin)
黄芩 · Huángqín
Scutellaria baicalensis
Family: Lamiaceae · Part used: Root · Origin: Chengde, Hebei, China
Nature
Cold
Flavor
Bitter
Meridian
Lung, Gallbladder, Stomach, Large Intestine
Huang Qin — 'yellow golden root' — is the great clearer of upper-burner heat: lung infections, bitter taste, and the restless heat of pregnancy tradition. Its golden roots concentrate baicalin, one of the most-published flavonoids in modern herbal research. The old saying pairs it with huang lian and huang bai as the 'three yellows'.
🌿 Functions & Actions
- •Clears heat and dries dampness
- •Clears lung heat
- •Cools blood and stops bleeding
- •Calms the fetus (traditional)
- •Resolves toxicity
📋 Traditional Indications
- •Cough with yellow sticky phlegm
- •High fever and thirst
- •Bitter mouth and jaundice
- •Bloody stools and nosebleed from heat
- •Restless fetus with heat (traditional)
📖 Usage & Dosage
3–10 g in decoction; wine-fried for upper-burner focus, charcoal-fried for bleeding.
🍵 Classic Recipes
Huang Qin Tea
Scutellaria 5 g + chrysanthemum 5 g, steeped for lung-heat dry cough.
San Huang Decoction Base
Scutellaria + coptis + phellodendron — the classical three-yellows heat purge.
🔬 Modern Research
Baicalin and wogonin are intensively studied for antiviral, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective effects.
⚠️ Contraindications
Avoid with spleen-cold diarrhea and deficiency-cold patterns.
