Iron Powder … Classic Formulas
Tie Xie · Pulvis Ferri
Primary Actions
- Calms the spirit and settles fright - Tie Xie is a powdered or filing-like medicinal iron material used for agitation, mania, insomnia, and fright from excess disturbance.
- Relieves convulsion and anchors rising disturbance - later references place it in the same settling family as Sheng Tie Luo for epilepsy and convulsive excess patterns.
- Can be powdered for external use - sores and toxic swellings appear in older indication lists, especially when the material is applied rather than simply decocted.
Classic Formulas
- Sheng Tie Luo Yin - even when the formula is cited under Sheng Tie Luo, the underlying iron filing family includes Tie Xie in later usage.
- Powdered external application for sores or boils - the more form-specific traditional use where filings and powder matter.
- Heavy mineral settling combinations with phlegm-transforming and orifice-clearing herbs - the same core logic used for agitation and epilepsy.
Classical Text References
- Later materia medica sources commonly list Tie Xie and Sheng Tie Luo together as medicinal iron filings or scales.
- The traditional emphasis is on calming the spirit, suppressing convulsion, and treating fright or mania rather than on tonifying blood.
- This near-synonym relationship is exactly why the page is written conservatively and transparently.