Huang tu tang
fu long gan 24 fu zi 9 sheng di huang 9 ejiao 9 bai zhu 9 huang qin 9 zhi gan cao 9
Loss of blood, with first stool and then blood, this is called distant bleeding, huang tu tang governs.
This formula stops bleeding due to jue yin blood deficiency. The blood is stagnating and heat is rising due to the stagnation. The tai yin and shao yin levels are also deficient. Yang qi fails to hold the yin.
Use for excessive menstrual bleeding, bloody stool, vomiting of blood or nose bleeds.
Distant bleeding produces blood that is not bright in color, but rather dark red
or even brownish. Other associated signs and symptoms include abdominal pain, a
preference for warmth and pressure, a pale white facial complexion, fatigue, and a pale
tongue with weak, thin and deep pulse.
Fu long gan, Terra flava usta is burnt yellow clay from within the hearth. Use chi zhi zi instead of fu long gan, both are clay.
It warms the spleen, stabilizes and binds and controls bleeding. It restores the spleen’s control over blood.
Chi shi zhi, Halloysitum rubrum is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the stomach domian, spleen, liver, and heart. It is sour and astringing collecting of fluids into the stomach domain, spleen, liver, and heart.
Sour, sweet and astringent, it collects fluids and so prevents fluid loss. Used to stop diarrhea.
Fu zi, Aconiti radix lateralis praeparata is pungent dispersing of liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is pungent dispersing of the heart and kidneys. It is pungent dispersing of the tai yang channels. It is pungent dispersing of excess water.
It warms the original qi of the kidneys and the gathering qi of the lungs and heart. Fu zi infuses the body with fire and promotes water metabolism through the descent of fire into the water reservoirs of the body to draw qi from the body.
Frees yang qi and warms and disperses cold and breaks through yin allowing the warming of the kidneys to govern defecation.
Sheng di huang, Rehmanniae radix recens is bitter draining of heat in the liver blood and the ministerial fire, heart and kidney. It is sweet nourishing and tonifying of the liver blood and kidney. It enters the heart and kidney channel and nourishes nutritive of blood while clearing heat from the yin layers. Used fresh it is cooling and nourishes yin.
Cold, sweet, and bitter sheng di huang nourishes through the shao yin kidney true Water to infuse blood with nutritive to fill the jue yin Wood which increases yang by nourishing yin.
It clears blood layer heat and clears the shao yin heart and jue yin pericardium yin and blood deficient heat.
Ejiao, Asini corii colla is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the stomach and spleen. It directly nourishes the liver, kidney and heart blood. It is salty softening of yin and blood.
It strongly replenishes the water element through its animal nature and kidney and heart affinity. Ejiao also controls bleeding during movement of blood. Combined with sheng di huang it strongly replenishes the nutritive fluids stored in the jue yin liver blood storage.
Bai zhu, Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizome is sweet tonifying of the stomach domain and spleen. Bai zhu is bitter draining of excess fluids in the stomach domain, spleen, lungs and bladder.
It tonifies the spleen qi along with the promotion of the spleen’s transforming and transporting actions.
The movement of fluids is the start of movement for blood. By moving water we move blood. Dampness is a form of yin and we move the yin with the bai zhu to restore the transformation and transport aspect of tai yin.
Tai yin is also the post heaven source of clear qi and yin and blood.
Bai zhi also promotes the absorption of water from the large intestine.
Huang qin, Scutellaria radix is bitter draining and cooling of heat in the san jiao, stomach domain, lungs, liver, gall bladder, and bladder.
Cold and bitter it is the great cleaner. It clears heat and dampness, in all three burners, and in yang ming, tai yin, shao yang, and jue yin.
In clearing heat it cools blood which when hot gives way to excessive bleeding or flaring of ministerial fire.
It is drying excess dampness and cooling the blood heat due to stagnation.
We see the combination of bai zhu and huang qin in the formula dang gui san. In dang gui san they are also being used in the same way.
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.
The sweet taste of zhi gan cao moderates and so adds balance to other herbs such as pungent fu zi and bitter huang qin.