Baiyao Jian and Lifei Wan for Clearing Lung Heat, Resolving Phlegm, and Stopping Cough
The "Shiyi De Xiao Fang" records a prescription named "Lifei Wan." Its composition is: Hezi (Terminalia, pit removed), Baiyao Jian, Wuweizi (Schisandra, lightly stir-fried), Tiao Shen, Kuandonghua (Coltsfoot Flower), Xingren (Apricot Kernel), Zhimu (Anemarrhena), Beimu (Fritillaria), Tinglizi (Descurainia Seed), Ziwan (Aster), Baihe (Lily Bulb), and Gancao Jie (Licorice Joint), each 5 qian.
Grind the above into powder. Take 1.5 kg of Baimaogen (Imperata Root), press out its raw juice, simmer in an enamel or porcelain vessel into a paste, add 2 liang (60g) of good honey, simmer evenly, and allow to cool. Blend the paste with the above herb powder to make pills the size of a parasol seed. Take 3 qian (9g) each time with warm boiled water, twice daily. This formula clears lung heat and resolves phlegm. It treats internal accumulation of hot phlegm causing lung abscess (feiyong), with difficult coughing and spitting and oppression and fullness of the chest and diaphragm.
This formula contains an uncommon herb, Baiyao Jian. Baiyao Jian is a block made by fermenting Galla Chinensis (Wubeizi) together with tea powder and other ingredients; because many kinds of Chinese medicines are used in its processing, it is called "Hundred-Yao leaven." Physicians through the ages have continually improved its processing method, and its efficacy has grown correspondingly.
The "Bencao Mengquan" records its processing as follows: ten jin of fresh Wubeiizi, crushed, placed in a fine porcelain jar, covered with rice straw and left to ferment for seven days and nights; taken out and crushed again, then added with 2 liang each of Jiegeng (Platycodon) and Gancao powder, and fermented another seven days, crushing and fermenting again. This must be repeated seven times; then knead into cakes and dry in the sun for use.
The "Yixue Rumen" records it as: ten jin of Wubeizi, one jin each of Wumei (Smoked Plum) and Baifan (Alum), and four liang of yeast. Decoct three jin of water-red knotweed, strain, add Wumei and decoct (do not use too much water); then add coarse Wubeizi powder, alum, and yeast, mix evenly like wine starter, and put in a porcelain vessel. Cover from the wind; when white mold appears, remove and dry in the sun for use.
The "Bencao Gangmu" records the processing of Baiyao Jian as: one jin of Wubeizi, one liang of raw glutinous rice soaked in boiling water, and one liang of fine tea stir-fried together; grind all to powder, seal in a jar for a month (one seven-day period before opening), then combine for use. Another method: one jin of Wubeizi ground to powder, half a jin of yeast, and a handful of fine tea ground to powder; blend with smartweed juice, press firmly into a bowl, seal the top with long rice straw, place another basket filled with straw, set the herb bowl in the straw, cover with straw, and keep in a clean place. After one seven-day period, when long frost-like growth rises on the medicine, it is done. Knead into pills or cakes; dry in the sun before storage.
Baiyao Jian was a very commonly used medicine for respiratory diseases in antiquity. The "Bencao Mengquan" records its effect as "treating lung distension with incessant panting and cough." The "Yixue Rumen" records it as: "Moistens the lung and treats cough, resolves phlegm, and stops thirst. Treats intestinal wind with bleeding; sprinkle powder on sores to dry exudate and close the wound."
The "Bencao Gangmu" records its effects as: "Clears lung heat and resolves phlegm, settles cough and dispels heat, generates fluids and stops thirst, dries dampness and relieves intoxication. Stops bleeding, chronic dysentery, and rectal prolapse; treats facial and nasal erosion, mouth and tongue ulcers, and wind-damp sores."
Baiyao Jian is a processed product of Wubeizi, with better efficacy and fewer side effects. The "Bencao Gangmu" says: "Baiyao Jian's function is no different from Wubeizi's. But after fermentation it is light and airy in nature, floating and astringent in action, and with a residual sweetness. For cough of the heart and lung in the upper burner, and for phlegm-rheum and heat-thirst, holding it in the mouth is especially suitable."
This method of preparing Baiyao Jian has been widely handed down among the people. In southern China today there is still "Eight-Immortals fruit" (baxian guo), made by imitating Baiyao Jian; its main effect is also to stop cough and calm wheezing. It is made by stuffing dried tangerine peel, Pinellia, Poria, Licorice, and borneol into the pulp of a pomelo and then fermenting it—a crystallization of the wisdom of ancient Chinese working people.
Lifei Wan adds many cough- and wheezing-stopping herbs to Baiyao Jian; it is essentially an upgraded version of Baiyao Jian. The Hezi, Wuweizi, Kuandonghua, Xingren, Beimu, Zhimu, Tinglizi, Ziwan, Baihe, and Gancao in this formula are all common cough medicines, while the Baimaogen used has a strong effect in clearing lung heat.
Lung abscess (feiyong) is a very difficult respiratory disease, marked mainly by fever, cough, chest pain, and coughing up foul-smelling purulent sputum, and in severe cases pus and blood. TCM holds that feiyong arises mainly from toxic heat accumulating in the lung and sores forming on the lung lobes. Its clinical symptoms resemble many modern respiratory diseases such as bronchitis, lung abscess, and lung cancer.
Lifei Wan is the representative formula for treating lung abscess; it relieves patients' symptoms and eases their suffering. The Wubeizi in the formula not only treats ordinary respiratory diseases but also has some therapeutic effect on lung cancer.