{ "slug": "liver-fire", "name": "Liver Fire", "pinyin": "Gan Huo Shang Yan", "chinese": "θ‚η«δΈŠη‚Ž", "organ": "Liver", "nature": "excess", "family": "heat", "summary": "Full, blazing heat in the Liver going straight to the head. A splitting headache, red sore eyes, rage, a bitter mouth, ringing ears or sudden deafness, nosebleeds, and a thick yellow coat. Loud, hot, and forceful, with nothing empty underneath.", "picture": "The Liver channel ends in the eyes and the top of the head. When it fills with fire, the eyes and head are the chimney. This is the pattern that makes a person see red.", "signs": { "key": [ "Splitting headache, often one-sided or at the top of the head", "Red, sore, or swollen eyes", "Rage, outbursts, a feeling of pressure in the chest", "Bitter taste, dry mouth, thirst", "Sudden ringing ears or hearing loss" ], "common": [ "Nosebleeds, vomiting blood", "Red face", "Insomnia, vivid violent dreams", "Constipation, dark urine", "Pain under the ribs" ], "tongue": "Red with a thick yellow coat.", "pulse": "Wiry, rapid, and forceful." }, "causes": [ "Long anger and frustration that finally ignited", "Alcohol, spirits in particular", "Spicy, fried, and greasy food", "Stagnation that was never released", "A hot constitution under stress" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "liver-yang-rising", "how": "Yang rising has an empty root: a sore back, a thin pulse at the rear, little coat. Fire is full all the way down with a thick coat and a forceful pulse." }, { "slug": "liver-qi-stagnation-with-heat", "how": "Stagnation with heat is warm and irritable. Fire is burning and raging, with red eyes and a splitting head." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "long-dan-xie-gan-tang", "role": "primary", "when": "The classic fire-draining formula. Short course.", "pinyin": "Long Dan Xie Gan Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/long-dan-xie-gan-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/long-dan-xie-gan-tang" } }, { "slug": "huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "role": "with fire everywhere", "when": "When the fire has spread beyond the Liver into 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" } }, { "slug": "jia-wei-xiao-yao-san", "role": "after", "when": "Once the fire is out, to treat the stress that lit it.", "pinyin": "Jia Wei Xiao Yao San", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/jia-wei-xiao-yao-san", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/jia-wei-xiao-yao-san" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Long Dan Cao", "role": "Gentian drains Liver fire. The bitterest herb in the pharmacy.", "herb_slug": "root-of-przewalsk-gentian", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-przewalsk-gentian", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-przewalsk-gentian" } }, { "pinyin": "Xia Ku Cao", "role": "Selfheal clears Liver fire from the eyes and head.", "herb_slug": "fruit-spike-of-common-selfheal", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-spike-of-common-selfheal", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-spike-of-common-selfheal" } }, { "pinyin": "Ju Hua", "role": "Chrysanthemum cools the Liver and eyes.", "herb_slug": "chrysanthemum-flower", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/chrysanthemum-flower", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/chrysanthemum-flower" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Zi", "role": "Gardenia clears heat and drains it through the urine.", "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" } }, { "pinyin": "Huang Qin", "role": "Scutellaria clears heat from the upper body.", "herb_slug": "baicalin", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/baicalin", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/baicalin" } }, { "pinyin": "Jue Ming Zi", "role": "Cassia seed cools the Liver and eyes and moves the bowels.", "herb_slug": "cassia-seed-2", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/cassia-seed-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/cassia-seed-2" } } ], "conditions": [ "headache", "migraine", "conjunctivitis", "tinnitus", "hypertension", "insomnia", "hypochondriac-pain" ], "habits": [ "No alcohol. This pattern and alcohol are the same thing wearing different clothes.", "Cooling food: bitter greens, celery, cucumber, mung beans, chrysanthemum tea.", "Move the anger out of the body: hard walking, not sitting with it.", "Sleep, dark room, early. Fire feeds on exhaustion." ], "watch": [ "The headache, red eyes, and bitter taste ease within days of draining.", "Stop the cold formula as soon as they do; days, not weeks.", "If the pattern keeps returning, the root is stagnation or yin deficiency and needs its own treatment." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Liver fire blazing upward." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Long Dan Xie Gan Tang." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-fire", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-fire", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }