Ge gen tang
ge gen 12 ma huang 9 gui zhi 6 bai shao 6 sheng jiang 9 da zao 9 zhi gan cao 6
If the wind cold tai yang pattern is unresolved, the pattern can change to yang ming and gives rise to diarrhea, dual tai yang and yang ming.
In tai yang disease with a stretched stiff nape and back, absence of sweating, and aversion to cold, ge gen tang governs.
In tai yang and yang ming combined disease, there will be spontaneous diarrhea, and therefore gegen tang governs.
In tai yang disease, there is no sweating and urination is adversely little, there is qi surging upward to the chest, with clenching of the mouth and inability to speak, there is a desire to develop hard convulsion, and ge gen tang governs.
This one of the most popular formulas for external patterns.
G. Young writes, The exterior is constrained due to pathogenic wind cold blocking the pores and affecting the proper flow of tai yang channel qi. The key points of diagnosis are absence of sweat and aversion to wind cold.
This formula is based on gui zhi tang with the addition of ma huang, and ge gen. It clears an exterior pattern of wind but both an excess pattern of wind cold and deficiency a pattern of wind strike.
In a tai yang wind cold pattern the surface is closed and there is no sweating. In a tai yang wind strike deficiency pattern there is also cold and sweating.
In this pattern the surface is half open and half closed, we know because there it contains ma huang, gui zhi and bai shao.
Ge gen, Puerariae radix is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the spleen and lungs. It is is pungent dispersing and sweet nourishing of the tai yang and yang ming channels. Ge gen connects the tai yin to the tai yang and yang ming channels.
Ge gen ascends the clear fluids of the sea of water and grain to moisten the hand yang ming channel pathway. This relaxes the muscles in the neck that have lost fluids and become stiff.
Ma huang, Ephedrae herba is bitter descending of the lung. It is pungent dispersing of the imperial and ministerial fire. It enters the lung and bladder channel, it opens the surface, and dispels the cold on the surface. Further it dissipates lung qi and pacifies panting through opening the closed lung qi.
Ma huang is not enough to promote sweating in ge gen tang and is therefore used with gui zhi and sheng jiang to free the congested nutritive and the flow of yang.
Ma huang is pungent and bitter and enters the lung and bladder channel, it opens the surface, promotes sweating and dispels the cold on the surface.
Gui zhi, Cinnamomi cassiae ramulus is pungent sweet and warm dispersing of the imperial and ministerial fire. It warms and tonifies the shao yin and jue yin. In doing so it warms and tonifies the whole body.
Gui zhi warms and moves the yang wei qi on the surface. Warm pungent to free the muscles and open the surface, warming and opening the channels allowing the cold evils at the surface to be dispersed.
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 nourishes nutritive ying qi and moderates excessive dispersing from the pungent gui zhi and sheng jiang. It also nourishes the muscles in the stiff neck.
Sheng jiang, Zingiberis rhizoma recens is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. Sheng jiang is pungent dispersing of dampness and cold in the stomach domain, spleen and lung. Sheng jiang is pungent connecting of the tai yin with the tai yang. It supports raising of the clear qi to the chest and the 100 vessels.
Sheng jiang helps in dispersing cold on the surface but also sends the clear qi up to the 100 vessels.
Da zao, Jujubae fructus is sweet tonifying and moderating. It tonifies and nourishes the stomach domain, spleen, lungs, and heart. It directly nourishes the shao yin heart.
Gui zhi, da zao and zhi gan cao tonify and nourish the heart. Da zao calms excessive movement of Wood wind. Da zao adds material to the blood and tonifies the tai yin.
Zhi gan cao, Glycyrrhizae radix prep is sweet tonifying and nourishing of all organs but especially the heart.
Zhi gan cao is sweet and mildly warm tonifying and nourishing of yin fluids. It nourishes yin fluids in the tai yin and shao yin. It calms wind in the jue yin. Zhi gan cao tonifies the tai yin fluids and yang ming stomach but also moistens fluids.
It balances the pungent gui zhi, ma huang and sheng jiang with its sweet moderation and nourishing. It regulates the qi descending of ma huang and further moderates the pungent nature of the ma huang and gui zhi and prevents the sweating from causing too great damage to the true qi.