{
    "slug": "heart-fire",
    "name": "Heart Fire",
    "pinyin": "Xin Huo Kang Sheng",
    "chinese": "心火亢盛",
    "organ": "Heart",
    "nature": "excess",
    "family": "heat",
    "summary": "Full heat in the Heart. Mouth and tongue ulcers that burn, a red face, agitation and insomnia, a bitter mouth, thirst, and dark burning urine, because the Heart's heat drains through the Small Intestine into the bladder. A red tongue tip is the flag.",
    "picture": "The Heart opens into the tongue and drains into the bladder. When it burns, the tongue blisters at the tip and the urine scalds at the other end.",
    "signs": {
        "key": [
            "Mouth and tongue ulcers that burn",
            "Agitation, restlessness, insomnia",
            "Red face, a feeling of heat in the chest",
            "Dark, scanty, burning urine",
            "A red tongue tip"
        ],
        "common": [
            "Bitter taste, thirst",
            "Palpitations",
            "Nosebleeds",
            "Manic or pressured talk in the extreme"
        ],
        "tongue": "Red, especially the tip, with a yellow coat.",
        "pulse": "Rapid and forceful."
    },
    "causes": [
        "Emotional strain, especially long worry that turned hot",
        "Spicy food, alcohol, coffee",
        "Heat from another organ reaching the Heart",
        "A hot constitution under stress"
    ],
    "tell_apart": [
        {
            "slug": "heart-yin-deficiency",
            "how": "Yin deficiency is empty heat: quiet, worse at night, a thin pulse, little coat. Fire is full and loud with a forceful pulse and a yellow coat."
        },
        {
            "slug": "stomach-fire",
            "how": "Stomach fire goes to the gums and the appetite. Heart fire goes to the tongue tip, the mind, and the urine."
        }
    ],
    "formulas": [
        {
            "slug": "dao-chi-san",
            "role": "primary",
            "when": "Mouth ulcers, agitation, and burning urine. Drains Heart fire through the urine.",
            "pinyin": "Dao Chi San",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/dao-chi-san",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/dao-chi-san"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "huang-lian-jie-du-tang",
            "role": "stronger",
            "when": "Heat everywhere with fever and sores.",
            "pinyin": "Huang Lian Jie Du Tang",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/huang-lian-jie-du-tang",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/huang-lian-jie-du-tang"
            }
        }
    ],
    "herbs": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Huang Lian",
            "role": "Coptis drains Heart fire.",
            "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Sheng Di Huang",
            "role": "Raw rehmannia cools the blood and protects the yin.",
            "herb_slug": "fresh-rehmannia-root",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Mu Tong",
            "role": "Clematis stem drains the heat through the urine; buy the clematis kind, never aristolochia.",
            "herb_slug": "akebia-clematis-stem",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/akebia-clematis-stem",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/akebia-clematis-stem"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Dan Zhu Ye",
            "role": "Lophatherum clears Heart heat and irritability.",
            "herb_slug": "lophatherum-herb",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/lophatherum-herb",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/lophatherum-herb"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Lian Zi",
            "role": "Lotus seed, especially its green heart, cools the Heart.",
            "herb_slug": "lotus-seed",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/lotus-seed",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/lotus-seed"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Zhi Zi",
            "role": "Gardenia clears heat and agitation.",
            "herb_slug": "fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2"
            }
        }
    ],
    "conditions": [
        "mouth-sores",
        "oral-ulcers",
        "insomnia",
        "anxiety",
        "urinary-tract-infection",
        "palpitations"
    ],
    "habits": [
        "No coffee, alcohol, or spicy food while the tongue tip is red.",
        "Lotus seed heart tea, or lophatherum tea, in the afternoon.",
        "Cool the mind: less screen, less noise, less arguing, more sleep.",
        "Mung bean soup and bitter greens."
    ],
    "watch": [
        "Mouth ulcers and the burning urine settle within days.",
        "Sleep follows within a week or two.",
        "Stop the cold formula once the tongue tip cools."
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition",
            "note": "Heart fire blazing."
        },
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Dao Chi San."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/heart-fire",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/heart-fire",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns"
    }
}