Professor Yin Huihe's Empirical Formula "Qingjie Biaore Fang" for Wind-Heat Cold and Respiratory Infection
Professor Yin Huihe had many empirical formulas; "Qingjie Biaore Fang" (Formula to Clear and Release Exterior Heat) is one of them. It was Old Master Yin's common formula for externally contracted wind-heat cold with cough and sore throat, and is suitable for patients with upper respiratory tract infection.Composition: Sang Baipi (Mori Cortex) 9 g, Sang Ye (Mori Folium) 9 g, Ju Hua (Chrysanthemi Flos) 9 g, Huang Qin (Scutellariae Radix) 12 g, Shan Dou Gen (Sophorae Tonkinensis Radix) 10 g, Yu Xing Cao (Houttuyniae Herba) 30 g, Pi Pa Ye (Eriobotryae Folium) 9 g, Lu Gen (Phragmitis Rhizoma) 30 g, Sheng Shigao (Gypsum Fibrosum, raw, decocted first) 30 g.This formula is suitable for patients with fever and aversion to cold after a cold, with fever predominant over cold, distending headache, thirst with desire to drink, nasal congestion and discharge, cough, sore throat, red tongue edges and tip, white or slightly yellow tongue coating, and floating rapid pulse. It may be used for common cold with fever and marked upper respiratory inflammation in modern medicine.Old Master Yin's formula is essentially a combination of Sang Ju Yin (Sang-Ju Decoction) and Yin Qiao San (Lonicera-Forsythia Powder), but he replaced Jin Yin Hua (Lonicerae Flos) and Lian Qiao (Forsythiae Fructus) with Shan Dou Gen and Yu Xing Cao. Because Jin Yin Hua and Lian Qiao were relatively expensive—and in the era when Old Master Yin practiced, patients' economic conditions were still poor—he considered the patient's affordability and substituted Shan Dou Gen and Yu Xing Cao. Later he found that Shan Dou Gen and Yu Xing Cao were even more effective than Jin Yin Hua and Lian Qiao, and gradually came to prefer them.Clinically, Old Master Yin often used very large doses of Shan Dou Gen, sometimes up to 30 g. Many TCM physicians and pharmacists dare not use such a dose. In his writings, Professor Pei Yongqing mentioned that after learning Shan Dou Gen usage from Old Master Yin, he frequently used it in large doses with excellent results. Professor Pei also liked to use Shan Dou Gen against cancer, because this herb has antitumor activity.By traditional TCM theory, nearly every herb in this formula is cooling/cold in nature, so it suits heat-pattern patients and is not suitable for cold-pattern patients. I frequently use Old Master Yin's empirical formula for wind-heat common cold with very good results. According to his experience, for severe sore throat one may add Jie Geng (Platycodi Radix) 9 g and Niu Bang Zi (Arctii Fructus) 9 g; for severe cough, add Xing Ren (Armeniacae Semen) 9 g; for aversion to cold without sweating, add Jing Jie (Schizonepetae Herba) 9 g and Bo He (Menthae Folium) 3 g; for body pain, add Qiang Huo (Notopterygii Rhizoma) 9 g and Zi Su Ye (Perillae Folium) 9 g.This formula is especially suitable for patients who catch cold in midsummer. Midsummer colds are mostly wind-heat, and pungent-warm herbs carry greater side effects in summer, so Sang Ju Yin and Yin Qiao San are more commonly used for summer wind-heat colds. Old Master Yin's formula combines Sang Ju Yin and Yin Qiao San and further refines them, so it works well. It cannot be said to hit the mark every time, but for summer cold and respiratory infection caused by wind-heat, it is effective in most cases.However, most herbs in this formula are cold in nature, so patients with weak spleen-stomach should use it cautiously. In addition, patients who catch cold from prolonged air-conditioning are not suitable candidates. Summer colds caused by air-conditioning should be treated with formulas such as Chaihu Guizhi Tang or Gegen Tang. Gastrointestinal-type cold should be treated with Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Wan or Shi Di Shui; damp-heat patterns should be treated with formulas such as San Ren Tang. When prescribing, the physician must distinguish the patient's pattern.