Library

Bi syndrome due to dampness presents with symptoms resembling Jing syndrome (a condition characterized by stiffness of the neck and back, and spasms of the limbs), a deep and fine pulse, pain in the joints, and a sensation of irritability and oppression. This is caused by injury from fog and dew, where dampness remains in the Cou Li (the spaces between skin and muscle), causing pain. Extreme cold generating heat leads to irritability, while unresolved dampness causes oppression. There may also be free stool but closed urination, and a white coating on the tongue; this occurs because dampness descends leading to diarrhea, and the failure of Yin and Yang to separate leads to urinary retention. With heat in the Dantian and cold in the chest, damp-heat steaming causes the white coating. Treatment should focus on promoting diuresis to drain dampness from the abdomen. If mistakenly treated with purgatives, it will result in sweating on the forehead, slight wheezing, hiccups, and death.

"Bao" means to protect; "Long" refers to the Liver. The Liver corresponds to the Azure Dragon of the East and Wood element. Wood generates Fire; what generates me is considered my parent. The Liver is the mother, and the Heart is the child. When the mother is peaceful, the child is peaceful. This is because the Heart houses the Shen (Spirit) and the Liver houses the Hun (Ethereal Soul). Once the Shen and Po (Corporeal Soul) are settled, from where would fright arise? Hence the name: Bao Long Wan (Embracing Dragon Pill). Hu Po (Amber), Ren Shen (Ginseng Root), Tian Zhu Huang (Bamboo Calculus), Tan Xiang (Sandalwood), Fu Ling (Poria), each 1 liang 5 qian; Zhi Gan Cao (Honey-fried Licorice Root, nodes removed), 3 liang; Zhi Qiao (Stir-baked Aurantium Fructus); Zhi Shi (Stir-baked Immature Bitter Orange Fruit), each 2 liang; Chen Sha (Cinnabar), 5 liang; Shan Yao (Stir-baked Dioscoreae Rhizoma), 1 jin; Niu Dan Nan Xing (Arisaema Cum Bile), 1 liang; Jin Bo (Gold Leaf), 100 pieces. Grind into powder, use fresh well water to make pills the size of longan seeds, dry in shade. Administer with Scallion White Decoction or Mint Decoction. For severe phlegm obstruction and cough, administer with Ginger Decoction. For palpitations and restlessness, administer with Juncus Decoction plus Pearl Powder.

Ya Zao (Gleditsiae Sinensis Spina), Xi Xin (Asari Radix et Rhizoma), Chuan Xiong (Ligusticum Chuanxiong Rhizome), Bai Zhi (Angelicae Dahuricae Radix), Zhi Zhu Hua (Daphne Odora Flower) are ground into powder. Dip a Juncus stalk into the powder and apply inside the nose; sneezing indicates efficacy. The medicine must not be dried by fire.

Treats surging wind-phlegm, vomiting of saliva and foam, deviation of the mouth and eyes, paralysis of the limbs, pediatric Jing Feng (infantile convulsion), and diarrhea due to excessive phlegm. Bai Fu Zi (Typhonii Rhizoma, raw), Nan Xing (Arisaematis Rhizoma, raw, 2 liang), Ban Xia (Pinelliae Rhizoma, soaked in water, raw with skin, 7 liang), Chuan Wu (Aconiti Radix, peeled and navel removed, raw, 5 qian). Grind into powder, place in a silk bag, shake in water to extract starch until exhausted. Store in a porcelain basin, sun-dry during the day and expose to night dew: 5 days in spring, 3 in summer, 7 in autumn, 10 in winter. Dry thoroughly, bind with rice paste into pills the size of mung beans. Take 20 pills per dose with Ginger Decoction; for paralysis, take with wine; for Jing Feng, take with Mint Decoction, 3 to 5 pills. These are herbs acting on the Foot Jueyin (Liver) and Foot Taiyin (Spleen) meridians. Phlegm arises from wind, cold, and dampness, hence Ban Xia is used. The acrid-warm nature of Nan Xing dries dampness and disperses cold; the acrid-hot nature of Chuan Wu and Bai Fu Zi warms the channels and expels wind. Soaking and sun-drying serves to reduce their toxicity. (This is a superior remedy for wind-phlegm. However, it is not suitable for heat-phlegm confusing the orifices.)