Ginger, spicy and pungent in taste, warm and hot in nature is a  common ingredient at home and can be applied externally. So ginger  has been recommended by YSD medicine as one of the widely used  Heat Sources. This chapter introduces the process of making several  common ginger products and their applications.

First of all, two conceptual issues should be clarified:

First, it is said that “Ginger with its skin on is cool in nature; ginger with  its skin peeled is hot in nature,” it is believed that the flesh and the skin  of ginger have different hot and cold properties. This is incorrect because  ginger skin is spicy and pungent in taste, so it is also warm and hot in nature.

Second, there is a saying that “The consumption of ginger in the  morning has greater benefits than taking ginseng; however, taking  ginger in the evening is as poisonous as taking arsenic.” Because the  medicinal properties of ginger do not vary from morning to evening,  this is also a fallacy. Besides, if Symptoms and Signs occur after  consuming concentrated ginger soup, it is because Symptoms and Signs  are all caused by Tishang and Heat Energy Deficiency. Thus, one can  still continue to consume ginger; as long as the External treatment of  the Hands-on Technique and the External and Internal Heat Sources are  properly applied, the Symptoms and Signs can be resolved. However,  if the patient has tried his best and refuses to consume ginger because  its taste is too spicy or pungent, one can add licorice, dried longan, or  unrened cane sugar, etc. (only add one item) to the ginger, or switch  directly to concentrated ginseng soup or ginger pills instead.