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Gadfly is the female body of the Tabanidae insect, commonly found in various regions, especially in pastoral areas. In summer, gadflies prefer to inhabit pastures, feeding on the blood of animals such as cattle and horses. They often reside in grassy areas and sparse woods, enjoy sunlight, and are active during the day. They taste bitter and are slightly cold in nature, belonging to the liver meridian. Their efficacy includes breaking and expelling blood stasis. Clinical names include gadfly and gadfly.

bubble_chart Compendium of Materia Medica

Shennong Bencao Jing: Bitter in taste, slightly cold in nature. Mainly used to expel static blood, break down blood accumulation, hard masses, abdominal masses, cold and heat, and to promote blood circulation and the nine orifices.

Mingyi Bielu: Toxic. Mainly used for women with menstrual blockages, abdominal masses, to remove stagnant blood in the chest, abdomen, and five viscera, and for pharyngitis and blockages.

Rihuazi Bencao: Breaks down masses, dissolves pus accumulation, and causes early abortion.

Bencao Tujing: "Huainanzi" states: Gadflies break down blood accumulation, and cutting wood can cure tooth decay. This is an analogy.

Tangye Bencao: Slightly cold in qi, bitter and neutral in taste, toxic.

"Materia Medica" states: Mainly used for red and painful eyes, canthus injuries with tears, static blood and blood blockages, cold and heat with soreness, and infertility.

Bencao Gangmu: Liu Hejian: Gadflies consume blood and treat blood disorders, utilizing their nature for therapeutic purposes. Cheng Wu-ji: Bitter taste moves blood; for stagnant blood, use bitter substances to attack it. Therefore, gadflies are used to treat blood stasis, as they are blood-aspect herbs of the liver meridian. Ancient formulas often used them, but they are rarely used today.

Bencao Jingshu: Gadflies are generally similar to insects in use, but they are more bitter, and bitterness can expel blockages; they are adept at sucking the blood of cattle and horses, and their taste should be salty, as salt can move blood. Liu Wansu said: Gadflies drink blood and are used to treat blood disorders. Therefore, they are used for abdominal masses and all blood-related disorders, as mentioned in the classics. Their bitter and cold nature can also expel triple energizer fire pathogens, forcing blood upward and blocking the throat, hence they are used for pharyngitis and blockages. Today, due to their toxicity, they are rarely used. However, Zhang Zhongjing's Resistant and Withstanding Decoction and Rhubarb and Ground Beetle Pill both include them, as they are highly effective in dispersing stagnant blood in the zang-fu organs. All toxic medicines treat diseases like punishments treat thieves; without such measures, evil cannot be expelled and order restored. "The Book" says: If the medicine does not cause dizziness, the disease will not be cured. This is exactly what it means.

Contraindications: For cold-damage disease with jaundice, deep and knotted pulse, and hard lower abdomen, if there is no hemorrhagic syndrome, they should not be used. For unclear static blood, they should not be used. For women with menstrual blockages due to weak spleen and stomach, and liver blood exhaustion rather than blood blockages, they should not be used. Pregnant women with abdominal masses should not use them. Those with severe pestilent qi and blood deficiency, and emaciated constitution should avoid them.

Bencao Mengquan: Bitter in taste, neutral and slightly cold in qi. Toxic. Expels static blood and blood blockages, cold and heat; can stop red and painful eyes, canthus injuries with tears. Promotes blood circulation in the nine orifices and pharyngitis, breaks down blood accumulation and hard masses. Also expels cold and heat, and static blood.

Bencao Yanyi: They fly and suck the blood of cattle and horses, with mouths like sharp thorns, and are quite greedy, continuing to suck even when full. Used to expel static blood, break down blood stasis, hard masses, and masses causing cold and heat, fulfilling their nature to completely expel accumulated blood and achieve relief. When there is a disorder in the blood, it accumulates and stagnates; once the disorder is removed, blood flows freely. Promoting blood circulation refers to the 24 meridians in the hands and feet, with 12 running from the head to the feet and 12 from the feet to the head, seemingly unrelated, but all are sucked by gadflies. Thus, when meridians reverse and run from the head to the feet or vice versa, they accumulate and stagnate, each fulfilling their nature, and then flow freely. Therefore, when blood loses its path and stagnates, clear yang does not rise to the upper orifices and stagnates, while turbid yin does not descend to the lower orifices and accumulates, and then flows freely, no orifice remains blocked or obstructed.

Benjing Fengyuan: The gadfly feeds on blood and treats blood disorders, utilizing its nature for therapeutic purposes, making it a liver channel blood aspect herb. Benjing treats abdominal masses with cold and heat, as the masses cause cold and heat, similar to how the dung beetle treats abdominal distension and fullness with cold and heat. In Zhongjing's Resistant and Withstanding Decoction pills, leech and gadfly are used together, though the two substances differ greatly in their potency. For treating amenorrhea, the Four Substances Decoction combined with gadfly to make pills is very effective, as it breaks blood stasis without harming the blood. Bitter substances act on the blood, and for stagnant blood, bitter herbs are used to attack it. Although its nature is mild, it can also cause early abortion.

Bencao Chongyuan: The gadfly is a blood-sucking insect, and its nature is to fly and move, hence it is used to expel static blood and accumulated blood, to unblock blood vessels and the nine orifices. "Treatise on Cold Damage Diseases": In Taiyang disease, if the exterior is not resolved, and there is stagnant heat in the meridians internally, the Resistant and Withstanding Decoction is used. Internally, gadfly, leech, Rhubarb Rhizoma, and Peach Kernel are used. Recently, pediatricians have been adding gadfly to treat non-eruptive pox, but it is not used otherwise.

Bencao Qiuzhen: [Comment] Breaking blood stasis and early abortion.

Gadfly specifically enters the liver. It is slightly bitter and slightly salty, cold in nature, and toxic. It is good at biting the blood of cattle, horses, and pigs, and its nature is used to treat all blood stasis diseases. Therefore, for diseases with blood stasis manifesting as jaundice, knotted pulse, abdominal pain like madness, smooth urination, and hard masses like malaria with splenomegaly, and blocked nine orifices, taking it will be effective. This is because bitterness disperses knots and saltiness moves blood. Moreover, its green color enters the liver, and taking it will enter the liver's blood aspect and disperse it. Hejian said: The gadfly eats blood and treats blood, using its nature for treatment. Zhongjing combined it with leech to treat Taiyang blood stasis like madness, which is also this idea. However, its nature is vicious and toxic, and using it to treat diseases is like using punishment to treat thieves, which is not ideal.

Depei Bencao: Bitter, slightly cold. Toxic. Enters the foot Jueyin meridian's blood aspect. It travels through the meridians and collaterals, attacking blood that vital qi cannot reach. Treats red and painful eyes and injuries to the canthus causing tears.

Combined with Danpi, it treats static blood from falls. For old blood in the bones, these two ingredients treat it.

Bencao Fenjing: Bitter, cold, toxic. Attacks blood and travels through the meridians and collaterals. Its green color enters the liver and is extremely effective for early abortion.

bubble_chart Modern Pharmacology

1. Gadfly can significantly increase blood flow; enhance the contraction amplitude of isolated frog hearts; and has a protective effect on acute myocardial ischemia in rabbits caused by posterior pituitary extract.
2. Both gadfly water extract and crude protein solution can inhibit platelet adhesion, reduce blood viscosity ratio and plasma viscosity ratio, and slow down the erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
3. Gadfly has a protective effect on tissue ischemia and hypoxia, and has a significant anti-potassium cyanide poisoning effect.
4. Gadfly has the effect of invigorating blood and resolving stasis, inhibits tumors, and also has an immunosuppressive effect.