Xiao qing long tang
ma huang 9 gui zhi 9 bai shao 9 wu wei zi 12 gan jiang 9 xi xin 9 ban xia 12 zhi gan cao 9
In cold damage when the surface is not resolving, and under the heart there is water qi, with dry retching, fever and coughing, possibly with thirst, or loose stool, or hiccups, or difficult urination, fullness in the lower abdomen, or with asthmatic breathing, xiao qing long tang governs.
When in cold damage, there is water qi below the heart, cough, mild panting, and heat effusion without thirst. Thirst after taking the decoction means the cold is going and the disease is about to resolve, xiao qing long tang governs.
For the disease of overflow rheum, sweat should be promoted, and da qing long tang governs. Xiao qing long tang also governs.
For cough with leaning for breathing, and inability to lie down, xiao qing long tang governs.
It treats an exterior tai yang wind cold and wind strike with dampness in tai yin pattern. The surface is half open and half closed.
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.
Pungent and bitter and enters the lung and bladder channel, it opens the surface, promotes sweating and dispels the cold on the surface. It dissipates lung qi and stops panting through opening the closed lung qi.
Ma huang is not pungent enough to promote sweating in and is therefore used with gui zhi and xi xin to free the congested nutritive and the flow of yang.
Ma huang clears cold on the surface and corrects the counter flow qi in the lungs by dispersing and descending the lung qi.
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.
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 the nutritive on the surface. Together with gui zhi it nourishes yin and yang on the surface as wei and ying qi.
Wu wei zi, Schisandrae fructus is sour tonifying and collecting of the lungs. It is astringing of the lungs and stomach domain. It is sweet tonifying of the lungs.
Always in combination with gan jiang to stop coughing due to cold dampness accumulation on the tai yin domain of the lungs and spleen. It eliminates phlegm and moistens and tonifies the lung qi. This balances the effect of the strongly drying and dispersing action of pungent herbs like ma huang, gui zhi, xi xin and gan jiang.
Wu wei zi corrects the counter flow of the lung causing coughing.
Gan jiang, Zingiberis rhizoma, dried is warm (or hot) pungent and astringent. Gan jiang is the main herb to warm the tai yin level and treat excessive dampness by introducing yang ming dryness in tai yin dampness.
Warms the interior and especially tai yin. It warms the fluids in the lungs and spleen, while assisting in dispersing cold from the body surface. Together with xi xin they form the core pair to treat internal stagnant fluids.
Xi xin, Asari herba is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and the ministerial fire. It is pungent dispersing of the heart, kidneys and lungs. It is pungent dispersing of the tai yang channel.
Works together with gan jiang to treat fluid accumulation in the lungs.
Ban xia, Pinelliae rhizoma is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is pungent dispersing of the cold and dampness in the stomach domain, spleen and lung. It transforms tai yin damp phlegm generated from excessive and stagnant cold dampness and counteracts nausea and adverse flow.
Combined with xi xin and gan jiang it dries and transforms excessive internal dampness.
The spleen is considered the source of phlegm and the lung the storage of phlegm. Ban xia dries tai yin spleen dampness which is the source of lung phlegm. Transforms and dries tai yin damp phlegm generated from excessive and stagnant cold dampness and counteracts nausea and adverse flow.
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.