Ben tun tang
ge gen 15 sang bai pi 24 bai shao 6 chuan xiong 6 dang gui 6 huang qin 6 ban xia 12 sheng jiang 12 zhi gan cao 6
In running piglet qi surges upwards to strike the chest, with abdominal pain, and alternating hot and cold, ben tun tang governs.
This formula treats a jue yin liver blood deficiency and upward rushing due to heat. It also treats the shao yang flaring of the ministerial fire. It also clears heat, dampness and counter flow qi in the stomach and lungs.
It contains the formula xiao ban xia tang for the counter flow qi and dampness of the middle.
Ben tun tang is based on the trio of herbs that is used in the famous formulas dang gui san, dang gui shao yang san and jiao ai tang. Together they nourish, warm and move the jue yin liver blood storage and shao yang ministerial fire.
Dang gui, Angelicae sinensis radix is sweet tonifying and nourishing of liver blood and the ministerial fire. It is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and ministerial fire.
Dang gui is the core jue yin liver blood storage herb. Dang gui tonifies blood and nourishes the liver while moving blood and transforming stasis and so protects the jue yin liver blood from heat.
Bai shao, Paeoniae radix lactiflora is sour, bitter and cool. It is sour collecting of yin fluids and blood. It is bitter descending of heat. It nourishes dryness in yang ming and the jue yin. It descends Earth and Metal and calms Wood wind.
Bai shao softens the liver body and extinguishes internal wind to stop cramping pains. It replenishes nutritive fluids and pacifies the blood layer that is about to be moved. It is the core pain herb.
Chuan xiong, Ligustici radix is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao.
Chuan xiong is used to move the liver qi to move the liver blood. It moves blood by moving the propelling qi contained within blood but does not strongly eliminate stasis.
Huang qin and ban xia, this pair is seen in shao yang formulas. Huang qin frees the movement in the ministerial fire and ban xia descends the stomach domain.
This formula nourishes blood and sets it in motion while ensuring it stays moving. It is not a shao yang formula like xiao chai hu tang and it is more nourishing of jue yin blood than xiao yao san.
The addition of ge gen and sang bai pi make this formula even more nourishing of yin and fluids.
Ge gen is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the spleen and lungs. It is pungent dispersing and sweet nourishing of the tai yang and yang ming channels. In this formula it is used for the abdominal pain and it raises the clear grain qi and it opens the chest and stops the upward rushing.
Both ge gen and bai shao are treating the abdominal pain.
Sang bai pi is sweet tonifying, nourishing and cooling of the lungs.