Author:
Tai Yi Ju (Imperial Medical Bureau), 太醫局
Year: 1107
Source: Formulary of the Pharmacy Service for Benefiting the People of the Taiping Era (Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang, 太平惠民和劑局方)
Category: Formulas that Warm Interior Cold
Pattern: Middle Jiao severely deficient and Cold
Key Symptoms: Abdominal and epigastric fullness, pain and distention, diarrhoea and vomiting, inability to keep food down, cold body with very cold extremities, mild sweating
Secondary Symptoms: Chronic or recurrent mouth ulcers
Tongue: Pale with white coating
Pulse: Faint
Abdomen: Hard focal distention in the epigastrium, weak and cold abdomen
Ingredients
Fu Zi
| 9g | |
|
Pinyin: Fu Zi
Chinese: 附子
Pharmaceutical: Radix Aconiti Lateralis Praeparata
Taxonomy: Aconitum carmichaeli
English: Aconite Root / Monkshood Root
| |
Tastes: Pungent, sweet, hot, toxic
Meridians Entered: Heart, Kidney and Spleen
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Actions & Indications:
- Restores Devastated Yang and rescues from rebellion
Devastated Yang with diarrhoea containing undigested food, chills, cold extremities and a faint almost imperceptible pulse (often as a result of severe vomiting, diarrhoea or sweating)
- Warms Ming Men Fire and assists Heart, Kidney and Spleen Yang
Heart Yang Deficiency
Spleen Yang Deficiency
Kidney Yang Deficiency
- Disperses Cold and Dampness, warms the channels and stops pain
Wind-Damp-Cold Bi
Cold blocking the organs, channels, bones and Blood vessels
Yin flat abscesses
Gu Parasites /
chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
|
Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for heat syndrome, yin-deficiency leading to hyperactivity of yang and the pregnant because of its pungent, hot, dry and drastic properties. It must be soaked and decocted for about half and hour to one hour until numbing taste disappears for oral use. Over-dosage and incorrect processing must be avoided.
This herb is prohibited from use in the UK under the banned and restricted herbal ingredients list issued by the MHRA. It is generally substituted with various Yang tonics depending on the presentation although none can imitate its powerful cardiovascular effects making them ineffective substitutes for rescuing devastated Yang. External use is permitted at 1.3% or below. |
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Gan Jiang
| 9g | |
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Pinyin: Gan Jiang
Chinese: 干姜
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Zingiberis
Taxonomy: Zingiber officinale
English: Dried Ginger
| |
Tastes: Pungent, hot
Meridians Entered: Spleen, Stomach, Kidney, Heart and Lung
|
Actions & Indications:
- Warms the Middle and expels Cold
External Cold affecting the Spleen and Stomach Spleen and Stomach Yang Deficiencies
- Dispels Wind-Dampness seeping into the Lower Jiao
Lower Jiao Wind-Cold-Damp Bi
- Rescues Devastated Yang and expels Interior Cold
Devastated Yang with a very weak pulse and cold limbs
- Warms the Lungs and transforms thin mucus
Lung Cold with expectoration of thin, watery or white sputum
- Warms the channels (unblocks the pulse) and stops bleeding
Hemorrhage due to Deficiency Cold, especially uterine bleeding (only if the bleeding is chronic and pale in color with cold limbs, ashen white face and a soggy thin pulse)
|
Standard Dosage: 3-10g in decoction.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for yin deficiency with internal heat and haemorrhage due to blood heat. |
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Ren Shen
| 9g | |
|
Pinyin: Ren Shen
Chinese: 人參
Pharmaceutical: Radix Panax ginseng
Taxonomy: Panax ginseng
English: Ginseng Root
| |
Tastes: Sweet, slightly warm
Meridians Entered: Spleen, Lung and Heart
|
Actions & Indications:
- Powerfully tonifies Yuan Qi
Extreme collapse of Qi or abandoned conditions that manifest in shallow breathing, shortness of breath, cold limbs, profuse sweating and an almost imperceptible pulse (after blood loss, overly profuse sweating or other problems related to severe fluid loss - it can be used alone in these emergencies)
Collapse of Yang
Collapse of Yin
- Tonifies Spleen and Stomach Qi
Lethargy, anorexia, chest and abdominal distention, chronic diarrhoea and, in severe cases, prolapse of the Stomach, uterus or rectum
- Tonifies Lung Qi
Lung Qi Deficiency with wheezing, shortness of breath and labored breathing on exertion
- Generates Body Fluids and stops thirst
Wasting and thirsting disorder (Xiao Ke) and high fevers with profuse sweating which injures Qi and fluids
- Tonifies Heart Qi and calms the Spirit
Heart Qi and Blood Deficiency with palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, forgetfulness and restlessness
- Treats impotence
With Kidney Yang tonics for impotence
- Tonifies Qi in Deficiency patients with Exterior conditions
Exterior disorder with Interior Deficiency
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Standard Dosage: 5-10g in decoction, 10-30g for exhaustion syndrome due to Qi deficiency.
Cautions: Antagonizing to Li Lu; the warm nature of sun-dried raw Ren Shen is weaker than that of Hong Shen. |
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Bai Zhu
| 9g | |
|
Pinyin: Bai Zhu
Chinese: 白朮
Pharmaceutical: Rhizoma Atractylodes macrocephalae
Taxonomy: Atractylodes macrocephala
English: Largehead Atracylodes Rhizome
| |
Tastes: Sweet, bitter, warm
Meridians Entered: Spleen and Stomach
|
Actions & Indications:
- Tonifies the Spleen and augments Qi
Spleen and Stomach Deficiency with diarrhoea, fatigue, a sallow complexion and lack of appetite
Spleen Yang failure to rise
- Dries Dampness and promotes water metabolism
Spleen Damp or accumulation of fluids affecting the digestion
Edema and reduced urination due to Spleen Deficiency (failure to transform and transport)
Tan Yin, masses, swelling
Auxiliary for Damp painful obstruction
- Stabilizes the Exterior and stops sweating
Qi Deficiency with spontaneous sweating (Wei Qi Deficiency)
With appropriate herbs, other types of sweating
- Calms the fetus
Restless fetus disorder due to Spleen Qi Deficiency
With appropriate herbs, other types of Restless Fetus Disorder
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Standard Dosage: 6-12g in decoction.
Cautions: Use with cautions in cases of yin deficiency with fluid injury by dryness-heat pathogen. |
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Zhi Gan Cao
| 9g | | |
Pinyin: Gan Cao
Chinese: 甘草
Pharmaceutical: Radix Glycyrrhizae
Taxonomy: Glycyrrhiza uralensis seu glabra seu inflata
English: Liquorice Root
| |
Tastes: Sweet, slightly cold
Meridians Entered: Heart, Lung and Spleen (and all 12 meridians)
|
Actions & Indications:
- Tonifies the Spleen and augments Qi
Spleen Qi Deficiency with shortness of breath, lassitude and loose stools
Qi and Blood Deficiency with an irregular pulse and/or palpitations
Heart Qi Deficiency or Heart Yang Deficiency
- Moistens the Lungs, resolves Phlegm and stops coughing
Lung Heat or Cold
Productive or non-productive coughing
- Moderates spasms and alleviates pain
Painful muscle spasms of the abdomen and legs
- Clears Heat and relieves Fire toxicity
Raw for Toxic Heat with sore throat or carbuncles and sores (Chuang Yung)
- Antidote for many toxic substances (internal and topical)
Poisoning
- Moderates and harmonizes the harsh properties of other herbs and guides the herbs to all twelve channels
Often added in small doses to harmonise formulas
- Tonifies the Qi while suppressing Parasites
Gu Sydnrome (Fruehauf, 1998)
Chronic inflammatory disease (Fruehauf, 2015)
|
Standard Dosage: Typically 1.5-9g in decoction. Large doses can be up 30g.
Cautions: It is contraindicated for combining with Hai Zao, Da Ji, Gan Sui and Yuan Hua because of "eighteen antagonisms". It is also contraindicated in cases of dampness obstruction in middle energizer and edema because it can help dampness obstruct qi, and it is prohibited from long-term usage in large dosage (more than 20g/day) and should be avoided or used with extreme caution in patients with high blood pressure because it may raise aldosterone levels in the blood causing retention of sodium. |
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Subsitutions:
In the UK Fu Zi must be substituted making this formula effectively redundant. At best some alternative Yang tonics or internal cold dispelling replacements such as Yi Zhi Ren, Bu Gu Zhi, Ding Xiang or Rou Dou Kou could be used.
Preparation: Ground into powder and formed into 3g pills with honey to be dissolved in a draft and taken warm on an empty stomach.
Actions: Warms the Yang, dispels Cold, augments the Qi, strengthens the Spleen
Contraindications: Externally contracted disorders with fever, Yin deficiency, excess conditions
Research Links:
Reference Notes: (click to display)
Most formulas are found in Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet (2009): Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies and Chen & Chen (2015) Chinese Herbal Formulas and Applications. Others are from translations of primary sources. It is recommended that the original material is cross-referenced for mistakes and additional information.
Substitutions have been taken from Ken Lloyd & Prof. Leung (2004): Mayway UK Substitution List or the above publications and are intended as suggestions to help navigate the tight restrictions in the UK quickly. More applicable substitutions may be appropriate in specific situations.
Individual herb information has initially been sourced from TCM Wiki and American Dragon for basic data and then updated manually with my own notes.
These pages are intended to assist clinicians and are not intended for self-diagnosis or treatment for which a qualified professional should be consulted.