Minor Bupleurum Decoction

Minor Bupleurum Decoction

Bupleuri Radix (Chai Hu) 0.5 jin (24g), Scutellariae Radix (Huang Qin) 3 liang (9g), Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Ren Shen) 3 liang (9g), Pinelliae Rhizoma (Ban Xia) 0.5 sheng (9g), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma(Zhi Gan Cao) 3 liang (9g), Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens (Sheng Jiang) 3 liang (9g), Jujubae Fructus (Da Zao) 12 pieces (3g)

Decoct the seven medicinals with 12 sheng of water. Boil down to 6 sheng, remove the dregs, and boil further until 3 sheng of water is left. Take 1 sheng of the warm decoction three times a day. (Modern use: prepare as a decoction).

Harmonizes the shaoyang.

1. Cold damage entering the shaoyang. The symptoms are alternating chills and fever, fullness and discomfort in the chest and rib-side, no desire to eat or drink, vexation and frequent vomiting, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizzy vision, a thin white tongue coating, and a wiry pulse.

The shaoyang channel passes through the chest and covers the rib-side, and is located between the taiyang and yangming. When cold damage invades the shaoyang, which belongs to half-exterior half-interior, struggle between pathogenic qi and zheng qi causes alternating chills and fever.

1. About the Combination of chai hu and huang qin

1. Essential pattern differentiation Xiao Chai Hu Tang is not only the fundamental formula for treating shaoyang syndrome, but also a representative formula for harmonizing shaoyang. This clinical pattern is marked by alternating chills and fever, fullness and discomfort in the chest and rib-side, no desire to eat or drink, vexation and frequent vomiting, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizzy vision, thin white coating, wiry pulse. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders when the patient shows signs of cold damage located in the shaoyang as well as disharmony of the liver and stomach: cold, influenza, malaria, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, acute and chronic cholecystitis, gallstones, acute pancreatitis, pleurisy, otitis media, puerperal fever, acute mastitis, orchitis, and bile reflux gastritis. 3. Cautions and contraindications In this formula, chai hu has an ascending and dissipating action, while huang qin and ban xia have a drying action. Therefore, it should not be prescribed to treat patients with yin or blood deficiency.

Chai Hu Zhi Jie Tang (Bupleurum, Orange Fruit and Platycodon Decoction, 柴胡枳桔湯)

Ginseng ( Panax ginseng ) is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II. Its trade is allowed but subject to licensing controls.