"Hua Qi San" for Accumulation in the Spleen and Stomach
In Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang (Prescriptions from the Taiping Imperial Pharmacy) there is a formula called "Hua Qi Tang." This formula is also recorded in Zhangshi Yitong (Comprehensive Medicine by Mr. Zhang), where it is named "Hua Qi San."
The formula consists of: Chenxiang (Lignum Aquilariae Resinatum) and Hujiao (Fructus Piperis) each 1 liang (30 g); Muxiang (Radix Aucklandiae), Sharen (Fructus Amomi, shelled) and Guixin (Cortex Cinnamomi, outer bark removed) each 2 liang (60 g); Dingxiangpi (Cortex Caryophylli), Ganjiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis, fired), Ezhu (Rhizoma Curcumae, roasted), Huixiang (Fructus Foeniculi, stir-fried), Qingpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae Viride, white removed, bran-fried), Chenpi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae, pith removed, bran-fried) and Gancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae, processed) each 4 liang (120 g).
Method: grind the above herbs into a fine powder. Each time take 2 qian (6 g), add an appropriate amount of Shengjiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens) and Zisu (Folium Perillae), and briefly decoct in salt water; women may replace salt water with dilute vinegar, and take after decocting. Take twice daily in the above manner.
The main effects of Hua Qi Tang are to move qi and resolve stagnation, warm the middle and dispel cold. It is indicated for accumulation and stagnation in the spleen and stomach with disordered qi movement: stifling oppression in the chest and diaphragm, abdominal distension and fullness, heart and epigastric pain, vomiting of sour fluid, and small-intestinal qi (hernia-like) disorders. These conditions roughly correspond to modern digestive-tract diseases such as gastritis, reflux esophagitis and cholecystitis.
The Chenxiang, Muxiang, Sharen, Dingxiang, Huixiang, Qingpi and Chenpi used in this formula all move and descend qi and stop pain; they promote bile secretion and intestinal peristalsis and improve digestion. Hujiao, Guixin and Ganjiang warm the middle and dispel cold, and are commonly used for deficiency-cold spleen-stomach diseases. Ezhu breaks blood and dispels stasis, removes accumulations, and is an important herb for heart-abdominal accumulations; Ezhu is used in a large dose here precisely to dispel stasis and dissipate nodules. Processed Gancao harmonizes the other herbs, moderates the middle and relieves pain; Shengjiang and Zisu both stimulate stomach qi and dispel cold to aid digestion. Combined, these herbs achieve the effect of moving qi and resolving stagnation, warming the middle and dispersing cold, and give good results for disordered qi movement and spleen-stomach accumulation caused by middle-jiao deficiency cold.
This formula can also be used to improve clinical symptoms in patients with gastric cancer, esophageal cancer or gallbladder cancer of the middle-jiao deficiency-cold pattern, improving the patient's digestive capacity.