【Source】

Quoted from Zhang Yuansu’s formula in Volume 1 of “This Matter is Difficult to Know.”

 【Ingredients】

Notopterygium, Saposhnikovia, Atractylodes, Asarum, Chuan Xiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong), Angelica Dahurica, Fresh Rehmannia, Scutellaria, Licorice, Ginger, Scallion
(11)

 【Categorization】

<Clearing Heat and Cooling Blood>: Fresh Rehmannia

<Tonifying the Spleen and Middle Jiao>: Licorice

<Clearing Heat and Drying Dampness>: Scutellaria

<Releasing the Exterior with Acrid and Warm Herbs>: Saposhnikovia, Scallion, Angelica Dahurica, Notopterygium, Ginger

<Warming the Interior>: Asarum

<Aromatically Transforming Dampness>: Atractylodes

<Activating Blood and Removing Blood Stasis>: Chuan Xiong

【Formula Analysis】

“Medical Formulas”: A representative formula for the Foot Taiyang Meridian. (1) This is a representative formula for the Foot Taiyang Meridian, used to replace Cinnamon Twig, Ephedra, and Qinglong, each being half the dosage of those formulas. (2) Acrid herbs belong to metal, representing righteousness in people, thus they can correct and eliminate evil. Qiang Huo, Fang Feng, Cang Zhu, Xi Xin, Chuan Xiong, and Bai Zhi are all acrid herbs. (3) Qiang Huo: Enters the Foot Taiyang, serving as the main herb to restore order and correct wrongdoings. (4) Cang Zhu: Enters the Foot Taiyin, dispelling evil and removing dampness. (5) Bai Zhi: Enters the Foot Yangming, treating headaches on the forehead. (6) Chuan Xiong: Enters the Foot Jueyin, treating headaches in the brain. (7) Xi Xin: Enters the Foot Shaoyin, treating headaches related to this meridian, all capable of dispelling wind, scattering cold, promoting Qi, and activating blood. (8) Furthermore, Huang Qin is added: entering the Hand Taiyin, treating headaches in the brain. (9) Sheng Di: Enters the Hand Taiyin, to drain heat from the blood. (10) Fang Feng: Acts as a messenger for wind herbs, reaching wherever it’s directed, treating pain throughout the body and serving as the guiding herb. (11) Gan Cao: Sweet and neutral, used to harmonize all the herbs. (12) The formula covers all six meridians and treats all four seasons. Practitioners should modify it according to the symptoms and not adhere to a fixed formula. “Shan Bu”: In this formula, Qiang Huo disperses wind-cold, expels wind and overcomes dampness, and alleviates pain as the main herb. Fang Feng and Cang Zhu assist Qiang Huo in dispelling cold, overcoming dampness, and relieving pain as adjuvant herbs. Xi Xin, Chuan Xiong, and Bai Zhi scatter cold and dispel wind, while also promoting blood circulation and alleviating pain in the head and body. Ginger and Scallion assist the main herb in dispersing wind pathogens. Fresh Rehmannia and Huang Qin clear and drain interior heat, while also preventing the warming and drying herbs from damaging fluids. Gan Cao harmonizes all the herbs as an envoy. The combination of herbs together creates a formula that releases the exterior, expels dampness, and clears interior heat.

 【Functions】

Releases the exterior, induces sweating and expels dampness, while also clearing interior heat.

 【Indications】

External contraction of wind-cold-dampness with underlying heat, characterized by aversion to cold with fever, absence of sweating on the skin surface, headache and stiff neck, soreness and pain in the limbs, bitter taste in the mouth with mild thirst, thin white or slightly yellow tongue coating, and floating or tight pulse. Diagnosis is based on aversion to cold with fever, more cold than heat, headache, and pain in the limbs. “Medical Formulas”: Treats cold damage due to wind, characterized by aversion to cold with high fever, headache and body pain, stiff neck and back, vomiting, thirst, and absence of sweating in the Taiyang. Also treats seasonal epidemics, warm diseases, and heat diseases. “Shan Bu”: A universal formula for dispersing pathogens in all four seasons.

 【Suitable Conditions】

Common cold, influenza, headache with fever, rheumatic neuralgia caused by cold.

 【Contraindications】

Use with caution in those with yin deficiency and qi weakness.

 【Mnemonic】

Working diligently in the field only prevents poverty, carefully discarding the scallions (Cang Di Xin Qin Gan Huo Zhi Fang Xiong, Xi Xin Jiang Cong)#

 【Modifications】

(1) If cold evil is more severe, add Aconite to warm yang and dispel cold. (2) If there is constipation, add Rhubarb to promote bowel movement. (3) If the pain is severe, increase the dosage of Qiang Huo to strengthen its pain-relieving effect. (4) If dampness is heavy with chest fullness, remove the cloying Sheng Di and add Zhi Ke to promote Qi circulation, transform dampness, and widen the chest. (5) If dampness is mild and the limbs are not very sore, remove Cang Zhu and Xi Xin to reduce the warming and drying properties. (6) If dampness stagnates in the middle jiao, with a thick, greasy white tongue coating, remove Huang Qin and Sheng Di, and add Agastache and Magnolia Bark to aromatically transform dampness. (7) If there is cough with phlegm, add Apricot Kernel and Peucedanum to resolve phlegm and stop cough.

 【Pharmacology】

Possesses analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, sedative, antibacterial, antiviral, and immunomodulatory effects.