Chaiping Tang for Treating Digestive Tract Diseases
Chaiping Tang (Bupleurum-Cnidium Decoction) comes from the Jingyue Quanshu and is an experienced formula of the Ming-dynasty physician Zhang Jingyue. Its composition: Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix), Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix), Renshen (Ginseng), Banxia (Pinelliae Rhizoma), Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma), Chenpi (Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium), Cangzhu (Atractylodis Rhizoma), Houpo (Magnoliae Cortex), Shengjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma recens), and Dazao (Jujubae Fructus), each in appropriate amounts. Decoct in water; take one dose daily in two divided doses.
This formula harmonizes and resolves the shaoyang, and drains dampness while harmonizing the stomach. It treats what Chinese medicine calls damp malaria, presenting as heavy limbs, predominant cold with little heat, and a soft (ru) pulse; in modern practice it is commonly used for digestive-system diseases such as dyspepsia, bile reflux esophagitis, and acute cholecystitis.
Chaiping Tang is in fact a combination of two formulas: Xiaochaihu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction) and Pingwei Wan (Stomach-Calming Pill). Xiaochaihu Tang consists of Chaihu, Huangqin, Renshen, Banxia, Gancao, Shengjiang, and Dazao; Pingwei Wan consists of Chenpi, Cangzhu, Houpo, and Gancao. It is therefore a classic "combined formula," made by simply putting the original Xiaochaihu Tang and Pingwei Wan together with no additions or removals.
Such a formula carries the combined actions of both.
Xiaochaihu Tang releases the exterior and disperses heat, and harmonizes and resolves the shaoyang; it treats the shaoyang pattern of cold damage, presenting as alternating chills and fever, fullness and discomfort in the chest and hypochondrium, dullness with no desire to eat, vexation and frequent nausea, bitter mouth, dry throat, and dizziness—or in women, cold damage with heat entering the blood chamber. Xiaochaihu Tang not only reduces fever but also protects the liver and gallbladder; it is a common formula for hepatobiliary diseases. Modern colds of the shaoyang pattern, as well as chronic hepatitis, cholecystitis, gallstones, gastric ulcer, and reflux esophagitis, can all be treated with Xiaochaihu Tang.
Pingwei Wan dries dampness and fortifies the spleen, and widens the chest while dispersing distension; it treats spleen-stomach damp excess with no appetite, abdominal and epigastric fullness, nausea and vomiting, acid regurgitation, and belching. Pingwei Wan is often used in modern medicine for gastritis, cholecystitis, and reflux esophagitis, and also for cancer patients experiencing side effects of chemotherapy.
The combined formula Chaiping Tang is mainly used for digestive tract diseases presenting with a shaoyang pattern. Reports show good clinical efficacy for functional dyspepsia, bile reflux gastritis, and acute cholecystitis. Pharmacological experiments also show that Chaiping Tang protects the gastric mucosa in rats with chronic gastritis induced by dimethylnitrosoguanidine.
Chaiping Tang can also be used for gastrointestinal cold presenting with shaoyang signs, because it has a good fever-reducing effect. This formula has some diaphoretic action; if the patient sweats markedly more after taking it, it should not be used for long, so as not to damage healthy qi.