Library

Treats Shanghan (Cold Damage) where the exterior heat has not yet subsided, with fluid retention in the epigastrium, presenting with dry heaving and coughing, or thirst, or diarrhea, or a sensation of choking in the throat, or wheezing, fullness in the lower abdomen, difficulty in urination, shortness of breath preventing lying flat.

Mahuang (Ephedrae Herba, removed nodes) Guizhi (Cinnamomi Ramulus) Shaoyao (Paeoniae Radix, wine-fried) Xixin (Asari Radix et Rhizoma) Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, honey-fried) Ganjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma, each three liang) Banxia (Pinelliae Tuber) Wuweizi (Schisandrae Fructus, half sheng). Take five qian per dose, decoct with water containing fresh ginger.

Mainly treats Shanghan (Cold Damage) pathogen transmitting to the Stomach, with heat in both interior and exterior, pulse large and long (Zhongjing said: floating and slippery).

Zhimu (Anemarrhenae Rhizoma, six liang) Shigao (Gypsum Fibrosum, one jin, crushed) Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, two liang, honey-fried) Jingsmi (Oryzae Semen, six ge). Use ten dou of water, boil until the rice is cooked and the decoction is ready, take one sheng warm, three times a day.

Transmission to the Stomach means the pathogen has entered the interior. Zhongjing stated that a floating and slippery pulse indicates the exterior pathogen has also not yet resolved. Cheng Shi said: Baihu Tang (White Tiger Decoction) resolves pathogens in both interior and exterior. Baihu is the Metal Spirit of the West, corresponding to Autumn, and belongs to the Lung. When heat is extreme within, use cold purgation; when heat is extreme on the exterior, use cooling resolution. When heat exists in both middle and exterior, unable to vent internally or diffuse externally, this decoction is required for resolution. Summer is hot, Autumn is cool; the name Baihu (White Tiger) signifies that when Autumn Qi arrives, the heat departs. Zhimu is bitter and cold; the Classics state: "When heat is excessive, assist with bitter and sweet"; and again: "When heat is rampant within, disperse it with bitterness." Therefore, Zhimu is used as the Sovereign herb. Shigao is sweet and cold; heat injures Qi, cold overcomes it, and sweetness moderates it; therefore, Shigao is used as the Minister herb. Gancao and Jingsmi are both sweet and neutral; the Spleen desires moderation, and in urgency, eat sweet substances to moderate it; therefore, Gancao and Jingsmi are used as the Envoy herbs. Taiyang Zhongshu (Summerheat affecting the Taiyang channel) is instantly cured by this, and heat is completely exhausted upon encountering Baihu. It should not be taken after Liqiu (Start of Autumn); if taken, one cannot eat, often resulting in deficiency and emaciation. Note: Gypsum, when added to a group of sweet-warm herbs, becomes Qinglong Tang (Azure Dragon Decoction); when aligned with cooling herbs of similar nature, it becomes Baihu Tang. Wind-cold both injure the body, and treatment should ideally follow pungent-sweet dispersion. However, if both exterior and interior are hot, warm-hot herbs are contraindicated. To simultaneously resolve the heat of wind-cold and the interior-exterior heat, the method of Baihu Tang was established to supplement the inadequacies of Qinglong Tang.