What exactly is realgar and what are its effects

Since we were young, we have always heard the elders say that we should drink some realgar wine during the Dragon Boat Festival to drive away bad things. But many people still don’t know what realgar is? So what is realgar? What are the effects?

realgar. It is also called stone yellow, smoked yellow, etc. The mineral name is also called realgar. It is orange-red and has a peculiar smell. It is a detoxifying, healing and insecticidal medicine that has long been popular among the people. For thousands of years, our people have celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival. As midsummer approaches, the habit of drinking realgar wine is to utilize the detoxifying and insecticidal effects of realgar.

Other names: yellow food stone, smoked yellow, golden stone. Yellow stone, Tianyang stone, Yellow stone, Cockscomb stone

Nature and flavor: warm. Pungent; enters the liver, stomach, and large intestine meridians

Main production areas: Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei

Medicinal material source: ore of the sulfide mineral realgar

Morphology: The crystal structure belongs to monoclinic system. The crystals are small. Usually it is granular or dense block. Orange-red. The surface may have a dark black or grey tint. Prolonged exposure to sunlight will cause it to break down and turn into a light orange-red powder. Hammering has a pungent garlic smell.

Collection and preservation: can be collected at any time. Remove impurities after mining. Grind into fine powder or grind with water and use raw.

Textual research: Shennong's Herbal Classic

The efficacy and function of realgar

Drying dampness, removing phlegm, killing insects and detoxifying. It is mainly used to treat carbuncles, furuncles, throat wind and throat paralysis, scabies, damp and toxic sores, hemorrhoids, snake and insect bites, malaria, and asthma.