Xiangfu Liuyi Tang for Chest Oppression and Vexatious Fullness
The Yifang Jiejie (A Comprehensive Compendium of Medical Formulas) records a formula called Xiangfu Liuyi Tang. It is composed of Xiangfuzi (Cyperus rotundus rhizome) 6 liang (180 g) and Gancao (licorice) 1 liang (30 g). Grind these two into a fine powder; each time take an appropriate amount, mixed with boiling water. Today one may also grind the two into a fine powder and form them into water-honey pills the size of a soybean. Because the ratio of Xiangfuzi to Gancao is six to one, the formula is called Xiangfu Liuyi Tang (Six-One Decoction). Its action is to move qi and resolve constraint; it is indicated for chest oppression with vexatious fullness.
Xiangfuzi is the dried rhizome of the sedge Cyperus rotundus. Despite its name ("sparrow head"), it is not the fruit of the sedge; only because its rhizome resembles a plant seed is it also called Xiangfuzi. Both the sedge and its rhizome have a distinctive fragrance. TCM holds that Xiangfuzi soothes the liver and moves qi, regulates menstruation and stops pain; it is indicated for distending pain in the chest and flanks, epigastric and abdominal distending pain, hernia pain, and liver-constraint menstrual irregularity, dysmenorrhea, and breast distending pain.
Modern pharmacological studies show that Xiangfuzi inhibits uterine contraction and has sedative, anesthetic, antipyretic, analgesic, cardiotonic, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, bactericidal, hepatoprotective, and choleretic actions.
Xiangfu is a common TCM herb for liver-qi stagnation and gynecologic disease; most often it is combined with Chaihu (bupleurum), the pairing enhancing the effect of soothing the liver, moving qi, regulating menstruation, and stopping pain. This formula pairs Xiangfu with Gancao, and uses a large dose of Xiangfu to bring out its unique fragrance that arouses the spleen and soothes the liver to resolve constraint. But Xiangfu is pungent and aromatic, with a strong qi and sharp taste; TCM holds that using it alone easily injures yin and blood, so a small amount of Gancao is added to reduce its side effects.
Chest oppression and vexatious fullness are most often seen in anxiety and depression patients and also in patients with digestive tract diseases. These two conditions commonly coexist in the same patient; treating them with Xiangfu Liuyi Tang kills two birds with one stone, resolving both at once — exactly the advantage of TCM "pattern differentiation and treatment" (symptomatic support).
In addition, this formula can be used as an analgesic for TCM qi-stagnation pain: any qi-stagnation pain due to gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, or gynecologic disease can be treated with a large dose of Xiangfu to stop pain.