Liuhe Tang for Vomiting and Diarrhea Caused by Summerheat-Dampness

Liuhe Tang (Six-Harmonies Decoction) comes from the Xuzhou Zhumu Jingyan Mifang (Added Proven Secret Formulas of the Bureau) appended to the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang (Formulas from the Imperial Pharmacy). It is composed of: suosharen (amomum fruit), fabanxia (processed pinellia, soaked seven times in hot water), xingren (apricot kernel, peeled and tip removed), renshen (ginseng) and zhigancao (honey-fried licorice), each 1 liang (30 g); chifuling (red poria, peeled), huoxiangye (agastache leaf), baibiandou (white hyacinth bean, lightly stir-fried in ginger juice) and mugua (quince fruit), each 2 liang (60 g); plus xiangru (elsholtzia herb) and houpo (magnolia bark, processed in ginger juice), each 4 liang (120 g).

File the herbs finely. Each time take 4 qian (12 g), add one bowl of water, three slices of ginger and one jujube, and boil until about two-thirds of a bowl remains; strain out the dregs. Take warm, regardless of before or after meals, twice daily.

This formula has the actions of dispelling summerheat and transforming dampness, and of fortifying the spleen and harmonizing the center. It is indicated for contraction of summerheat-dampness from the outside, disharmony of the spleen and stomach, and abnormal ascent and descent of qi movement, presenting with choleraic cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, alternating cold and heat, phlegm panting and cough, fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, dizziness and headache of the head and face, edema of the limbs, somnolence and fatigue, and scanty dark and painful urination.

This is a commonly used summer formula, indicated for the syndrome of vomiting and diarrhea in summer caused by infection with various unknown pathogens. This formula has a certain symptomatic effect on ulcerative colitis, acute gastroenteritis, shigella infection, cholera and similar conditions.