Renshen Kuanhua Wan: A Fine Cough-Stopping Formula
“Renshen Kuanhua Wan” comes from the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang. It is composed of Kuandonghua (Coltsfoot flower), Renshen (Ginseng), Wuweizi (Schisandra, stir-fried), Ziwan (Aster) and Sangbaipi (Morus root bark), in equal parts. Preparation: grind the herbs into a fine powder, use refined honey as an excipient, and form into pills the size of a Gorgon nut (Qianshi). Take one pill each time, chew finely after meals and wash down with a weak decoction of fresh ginger; or divide each pill into four small pieces, slowly dissolve in the mouth, twice daily.
Renshen Kuanhua Wan boosts qi and clears the lung, transforms phlegm and stops cough. It treats weak spleen and stomach, chronic cough that will not stop, fullness and oppression in the throat, cough with phlegm and drool, nausea and reverse vomiting, abdominal and hypochondriac distension, and tired aching of the back and loins. It may now also be prepared as a decoction, with adult daily doses of: Renshen 3–6 g, Kuandonghua 10 g, Ziwan 10 g, Wuweizi 10 g, Sangbaipi 10 g.
In this formula, Renshen greatly boosts original qi; the dose should not be too large, or the “ginseng abuse syndrome” may appear. If the patient is qi-deficient yet also has dry mouth and parched throat, Renshen may be replaced by Xiyangshen (American ginseng) at the same dose. Wuweizi boosts qi and engenders fluids, astringes the lung and stops cough; Ziwan warms the lung and disperses cold, transforms phlegm and stops cough; Kuandonghua moistens the lung and downbears qi, transforms phlegm and stops cough; Sangbaipi promotes urination and disperses swelling, drains the lung and calms panting. Washing the pill down with ginger decoction is because ginger itself also transforms phlegm and stops cough. Overall, this formula suits the emaciated, weak person with chronic cough.
Renshen Kuanhua Wan can be used to relieve cough caused by modern conditions such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis of the elderly, asthma and lung cancer. If the patient coughs up blood-tinged sputum, Baiji (Bletilla) 10–30 g may be added; if there is pleural effusion, Tinglizi (Descurainia/Lepidium seed) 10–30 g may be added; for lung cancer patients, Jinqiaomai (Fagopyrum dibotrys) 30 g, Yunzhi (Turkey tail) 30 g, Yuxingcao (Houttuynia) 10 g, Shishangbai (Selaginella) 30 g and Dilong (Earthworm) 10 g may be added.
If the cough is caused by wind-cold or wind-heat common cold, this formula is not appropriate. Feverish patients and those with excess repletion of lung qi are also unsuited to it. Such patients have an excess pattern and should be treated with exterior-resolving, pathogen-expelling formulas (such as Mahuang Tang, Guizhi Tang or Maxing Shigan Tang).