A Famous Anticancer Formula of the TCM Warm-Disease School: Shengjiang San

Doctor zhou August 17, 2019

Shengjiang San (Ascending-Descending Powder) is a classic famous formula of the TCM Warm-Disease (wenbing) school, drawn from the Shanghan Wenyi Tiaobian (Systematic Analysis of Cold Damage and Warm Epidemics). Shengjiang San consists of four herbs: Bombyx Batryticatus (jiangcan), Periostracum Cicadae (chantui), Curcumae Longae (jianghuang), and Rheum (dahuang). The original text states: 'Warm disease is also one of the miscellaneous qi; when there is great heat in the exterior, interior, and sanjiao, with signs and symptoms beyond description, this formula governs.'

Formula of Shengjiang San: white Bombyx Batryticatus (wine-fried) two qian (6 g), whole Periostracum Cicadae (earth removed) one qian (3 g), Guang Curcuma Longae (peeled) three fen (1 g), Sichuan Rheum (raw) four qian (12 g).

Method of use: Grind the above into a fine powder and mix evenly. For a mild illness, divide into four doses, each weighing one qian eight liang two hao five hao, taken with one cup of yellow wine and five qian of honey, mixed and taken cold; stop once the disease is reached. For a severe illness, divide into three doses, each weighing two qian four liang three hao three hao, with one and a half cups of yellow wine and seven qian five fen of honey, mixed and taken cold. For the most severe, divide into two doses, each weighing three qian six liang five fen, with two cups of yellow wine and one liang of honey, mixed and taken cold. It is not contraindicated in pregnancy or childbirth. Made into pills with refined honey, it is named Taiji Wan (Great Polarity Pill), taken as above, in divided doses according to severity, washed down with honey and wine. (In modern use it may be prepared as a powder, or as a decoction, with the dosage adjusted as appropriate.)

Shengjiang San is a formula of very broad application and is one of the classic formulas most commonly used by TCM physicians of the Warm-Disease school. It can be used not only to treat many common difficult and complicated diseases but also to treat tumors. Earlier, this author also wrote a special article introducing two classic cases in which the contemporary great master of warm diseases, Professor Zhao Shaoqin, used Shengjiang San to treat cancer.

This formula treats 'great heat in the exterior, interior, and sanjiao, with signs and symptoms beyond description'; clinically one may see aversion to cold with high fever, headache and swollen eyes, swelling and pain of the throat, dizziness and vertigo, fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, pain of the heart and abdomen, and retching and vomiting of food.

The reason this formula is named Shengjiang San (Ascending-Descending Powder) is mainly that it was composed according to the TCM theory of 'ascending, descending, floating, and sinking.' The conception of this formula is ingenious and its method rigorous. In the formula, Bombyx Batryticatus (jiangcan) is pungent-salty and balanced, light and floating, and ascends; it clears heat and resolves constraint, extinguishes wind and stops spasms, and dissipates phlegm and disperses nodules. Periostracum Cicadae (chantui) is sweet and cold, clear and outward-reaching; it clears heat and releases the exterior, penetrates and reaches the lung orifices, and drives toxin outward. Curcumae Longae (jianghuang) is pungent-bitter and warm; it moves qi and resolves constraint, and invigorates blood and unblocks the collaterals. Rheum (dahuang) is bitter-cold and good at draining and unblocking; it attacks accumulations, disperses dead blood, drains fire and resolves toxin, and activates blood and resolves stasis. Used together, these herbs ascend and descend in combination, ascending the clear and descending the turbid, smoothing the flow of qi, and having the power to drain fire and dispel pathogen.

Modern pharmacological research has confirmed that all four herbs in Shengjiang San have antitumor effects, so it is hardly surprising that this formula appears in a great many medical cases treating tumor diseases.

This author often combines Shengjiang San with formulas such as Wuwei Xiaodu Yin (Five-Ingredient Detoxification Drink) to treat various tumor patients presenting with yang-pattern signs, and the results are satisfactory. I have also seen senior physicians such as Professor Pei Yongqing combine this formula with Didang Tang and Sanren Tang to treat cancer, with cases of very good therapeutic effect.

The dosage I commonly use is: Curcumae Longae (pian-jianghuang) 6 g, Periostracum Cicadae (chantui) 6 g, fried Bombyx Batryticatus (chao-jiangcan) 10 g, taken in decoction. If made into pills, the corresponding dosage must be greatly reduced.

As for Rheum (dahuang), it may or may not be used depending on the patient's specific condition; if there are no obvious signs of excess heat in the lower jiao such as constipation of the stool or urine, Rheum is not used. If Rheum must be used, whether to use cooked or raw Rheum should also be decided according to the patient's condition; the dosage of Rheum may range from 1 to 30 grams. When using Rheum, one should start with a small dose and gradually increase it, and once the therapeutic effect of draining heat is achieved, its use should be stopped.

Although the original text notes that this formula may also be used by pregnant women, in the present social environment pregnant women should after all not use this formula lightly, so as to avoid unnecessary medical disputes.

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