Shanghan Lun ⁽²⁵⁾

Sore throat is a very common clinical symptom. In the Shanghan Lun, the chapter "Differentiating and Treating the Pulse and Manifestations of Shaoyin Disease" contains several passages addressing sore throat, and later practitioners of throat disorders have long used their formulas. The original text of…

I began self-studying the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) in 1998, and after 21 years I still now and then go through its various annotated editions. Since last year I have also been teaching the Shanghan Lun to my students. In the process of…

Because of the great lapse of time, some concepts in the Shanghan Lun are very hard for modern learners to grasp. Without understanding them, it is difficult to accurately judge a condition and decide how to prescribe in clinical practice. Based on my own understanding,…

Xiao Xianxiong Tang (Minor Chest-Storing Decoction) comes from the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). The original text in the Shanghan Lun reads: "In the minor chest-storing disease, the disorder is right below the heart; it hurts when pressed, and the pulse is floating and…

This article is organized from the content of a lecture I gave my students yesterday. Because my own level is limited and my work is busy, I have always lectured directly without preparing; so the content inevitably has many inadequate points, and I hope experts…

Guizhi Tang is praised as the foremost of all TCM formulas because it is the first formula in the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) and also the most widely used in clinical practice. Professor Liu Duzhou believed that Guizhi Tang, externally, harmonizes the nutritive…

Fangji Huangqi Tang (Stephania and Astragalus Decoction) comes from Zhang Zhongjing's Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet). It treats "wind-dampness with a floating pulse, heaviness of the body, sweating and aversion to wind." The original formula is: Fangji (Stephaniae Radix) 1…

Zhenwu Tang is a classic famous formula from the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). Its original name was Xuanwu Tang. When Lin Yi and others of the Northern Song proofread the Shanghan Lun, they renamed it Zhenwu Tang to avoid the naming taboo on…

Guizhi Jia Zhu Fu Tang (Cinnamon Twig Plus Atractylodes and Aconite Decoction) is an important formula for treating rheumatic arthralgia. Professor Hu Xishu held this formula in especially high regard. It is also one of the two formulas I commonly use for rheumatic arthralgia; the…

Minor Bupleurum Decoction (Xiao Chaihu Tang) and Major Bupleurum Decoction (Da Chaihu Tang) are two famous formulas from the Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) by the Eastern Han dynasty physician Zhang Zhongjing. When some cancer patients develop cancer fever, Minor or Major Bupleurum Decoction…