Zhang Zhongjing ⁽²²⁾

The Tangtou Gejue (Song of Decoction Rhymes) says: "Suan Zao Ren Tang treats insomnia; with Chuanxiong, Zhimu, Gancao, and Fuling decocted; it nourishes blood and removes vexation, clears deficiency heat, and one sleeps peacefully with sweet dreams." The Suan Zao Ren Tang mentioned in this…

Danggui Shaoyao San (Dong Gui and Peony Powder) comes from Zhang Zhongjing's Jin Gui Yao Lue (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Coffer) of the Han dynasty. Its composition: Danggui 3 liang (9 g), Shaoyao 1 jin (48 g), Fuling 4 liang (12 g), Baizhu 4…

Zhang Zhongjing encountered an enormous number of critical and emergency cases in his life, as can be seen from the preface to his Shanghan Lun. In it he wrote: "My clan has long been large, over two hundred. Since the Jian'an era, in fewer than…

Mahuang Lianqiao Chixiaodao Tang (Ephedra, Forsythia, and Rice Bean Decoction) is a classical formula from Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Cold Damage (Shanghan Lun). Its composition is: 6g of Ephedrae Herba (Mahuang, nodes removed), 6g of Forsythiae Fructus (Lianqiao), 40 pieces of Armeniacae Semen (Xingren, peel…

Fu Ling Ze Xie Tang (Poria-Alisma Decoction) comes from the Jingui Yaolue (Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet). The original text reads: "In stomach counter-flow (fan wei), when there is vomiting and thirst with a desire to drink water, Fu Ling Ze Xie Tang governs."…

Da Chaihu Tang is a classic renowned formula from Zhang Zhongjing's Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage). It is composed of "Chaihu (Bupleuri Radix) half a jin, Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix) three liang, Shaoyao (Paeoniae Radix) three liang, Banxia (Pinelliae Rhizoma) half a sheng (washed), Shengjiang…

What TCM calls “xiere li” (concurrent-heat diarrhea) refers to a condition in which an exterior pattern (fever and aversion to cold) coexists with diarrhea. The Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage) contains this passage: “In a taiyang disease of the guizhi presentation, if the doctor…

Banxia Xiexin Tang, Shengjiang Xiexin Tang, and Gancao Xiexin Tang in Zhang Zhongjing's Treatise on Cold Damage (Shanghan Lun) are three formulas for digestive tract diseases. Original text from the Shanghan Lun: "When cold damage has lasted five or six days and there is vomiting…

The patient was a female eighth-grader. Because her maternal grandfather had osteosarcoma, her parents had been in frequent contact with me. One day the girl's father asked me to see the patient via video. The patient had suffered from intractable insomnia since fifth grade, and…

I grew up in the countryside. During the busy farming season I had to work the fields with my parents; rural children have followed the same path for thousands of years. The hardest work we did as children was probably transplanting rice seedlings. It required…