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[Formulas for Tonifying Deficiency and Strengthening Tendons and Bones]

**Jinkui Cui Shi Ba Wei Wan (Cui's Eight-Ingredient Pill from the Golden Cabinet)**: Treats Kidney deficiency with Qi insufficiency, coldness and exhaustion of the Lower Origin (Lower Jiao), presenting with pain in the abdomen and umbilical region, polyuria at night, weakness and flaccidity of the legs and knees, limb fatigue, sallow or dark complexion, as well as deficiency consumption with insufficient vitality, thirst with desire to drink, heavy sensation and pain in the lower back, urgency and pain in the lower abdomen, and difficulty in urination. It is suitable for all these conditions.
*Formula*: Qianshen Qi Wan (Former Kidney Qi Pill) plus Rougui Xin (Cinnamon Twig Heart) (1 liang), Fuzi (Prepared Aconite Root) (1 liang).
*Preparation and Administration*: Grind into fine powder, mix with refined honey to form pills the size of Chinese quince seeds. Take 50–70 pills per dose, administered with warm wine; salt water is also acceptable. Take on an empty stomach before meals. For women, administer with weak vinegar soup.

**Jufang Xichuan Shike Anshen Wan (Ancestral Formulation West Stone-Carved Kidney-Anchoring Pill)**: Treats depletion of True Qi, weakness and slowness of the legs and knees, nocturnal emissions during dreams, and slippery, frequent, clear urination.
*Formula*: Qingyan (Blue Salt) (4 liang), Lurong (Processed Deer Antler), Baiziren (Cleaned Biota Seed), Shihu (Dendrobium Stem), Fuzi (Aconite Root), Chuanwu (Prepared Sichuan Aconite Root), Bajitian (Morinda Root, dehearted), Rougui (Cinnamon Bark), Tusizi (Dodder Seed), Rongrong (Cistanche Stem), Jiu Zi (Chinese Chive Seed), Huluba (Fenugreek Seed), Duzhong (Eucommia Bark), Pozhuzi (Stir-fried Psoralea Fruit), Shizao (Ziziphus Jujube Kernel), Yuanzhi (Polygala Root), Chishizhi (Red Kaolin), Fuling (Poria), Fushen (Poria with Hostwood), Huixiang (Stir-fledged Star Anise, each 1 liang), Cangzhu (Atractylodes Rhizome), Chuanlianzzi (Sichuan Chinaberry Fruit), Chuanjiao (Sichuan Pepper), Shanyao (Dioscorea Rhizome, each 4 liang).
*Preparation and Administration*: Grind into powder, use Shan Yao (Dioscorea Rhizome) paste mixed with wine to form pills the size of Chinese quince seeds. Take 70–80 pills per dose on an empty stomach with salt water.

**Wubi Shanyao Wan (Peerless Yam Pill)**: Treats various deficiencies and damages, Wulao Qishang (Five Exhaustions and Seven Injuries), resulting in emaciation, dry skin, and weak pulse.
*Formula*: Chishizhi (Red Kaolin), Fushen (Poria with Hostwood, each 1 liang), Shanyao (Dioscorea Rhizome) (3 liang), Rongrong (Cistanche Stem, soaked in wine, 4 liang), Bajitian (Morinda Root), Niuxi (Achyranthes Root, soaked in wine), Zexie (Alisma Rhizome), Shanzhuyu Rou (Cornus Fruit Flesh, each 1 liang), Wuweizi (Schisandra Berry) (2 liang), Duzhong (Eucommia Bark), Tusizi (Dodder Seed), Shudihuang (Prepared Rehmannia Root, each 3 liang).
*Preparation and Administration*: Pound in a stone mortar into fine powder, mix with refined honey to form pills the size of Chinese quince seeds. Take 40–50 pills per dose on an empty stomach with warm wine.

**Yangshi Huan Shao Dan (Yang's Return to Youth Elixir)**: Greatly tonifies True Qi deficiency and damage, suitable for emaciated bodies.
*Formula*: Rourong (Cistanche Stem), Yuanzhi (Polygala Root), Huixiang (Star Anise), Bajitian (Morinda Root), Shanyao (Dioscorea Rhizome), Gouqizi (Goji Berry), Shudihuang (Prepared Rehmannia Root), Shichangpu (Acorus Rhizome), Shanzhuyu (Cornus Fruit), Niuxi (Achyranthes Root), Duzhong (Eucommia Bark), Chushizi (Broussonetia Fruit), Wuweizi (Schisandra Berry), Bai Fuling (White Poria).
*Preparation and Administration*: Pound in a stone mortar into fine powder, mix with refined honey to form pills the size of Chinese quince seeds. Take 50 pills per dose on an empty stomach with warm wine.

**Jiyao Niuxi Wan (Essentials Achyranthes Pill)**: Treats Kidney and Liver damage leading to bone flaccidity (Gu Wei), making it impossible to rise from bed; suitable for essence depletion and tendon laxity where self-control is lost. It employs a soothing method, and this pill is indicated for such cases.
*Formula*: Niuxi (Achyranthes Root, soaked in wine), Bibi (Dioscorea Hexandra Rhizome), Duzhong (Eucommia Bark, stir-fried), Rongrong (Cistanche Stem, soaked in wine), Tusizi (Dodder Seed), Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia Root), Huluba (Fenugreek Seed, stir-fried), Gui (Cinnamon Twig, halved dosage), Boguzhi (Psoralea Fruit), Shayuan Jili (Astragalus Complanatus Seed).
*Preparation and Administration*: Equal parts ground into fine powder, use wine-boiled pig kidney as the binder to form pills. Take 50–70 pills per dose on an empty stomach with warm wine.
*Note*: Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia Root) is used here to ascend and diffuse Liver Qi, not to directly tonify the Liver.

** Dihuang Wan (Rehmannia Pill)**: Treats Yang excess with Yin deficiency, Liver and Kidney insufficiency, sexual excess leading to deficiency, presenting with emaciation, weakness, and a mottled yellow-green complexion without consistent color. This formula nourishes Ying Blood and tonifies Kidney Qi.
*Formula*: Cangzhu (Atractylodes Rhizome, soaked in rice water), Shudihuang (Prepared Rehmannia Root, each 1 jin), Ganjiang (Dried Ginger) (Spring: 7 qian, Summer: 0.5 liang, Autumn: 7 qian, Winter: 1 liang).
*Preparation and Administration*: Pound in a stone mortar into fine powder, mix with steamed jujube flesh to form pills the size of Chinese quince seeds. Take 50–100 pills per dose with various beverages. If Wuweizi (Schisandra Berry) is added, it is called Shenqi Wan (Kidney Qi Pill); this is described as a divine medicine describing forms.
*Note*: The above formulas belong to the Shaoyin (Lesser Yin) category of medications. It is said that the Kidney is True Water, suitable only for tonification and not for purging. Thus, the ancients established the method of Shenqi Wan. Later secular practitioners used it to tonify Yang. However, Yang deficiency cases do exist, but it should not be used routinely as a standard tonic.

*Further Commentary*: Deficiency consumption syndromes have diverse origins, but none arise other than from insufficiency of Stomach Qi and Yuan Qi (Original Qi), leading to Qi deficiency, Blood deficiency, or simultaneous Yin and Yang deficiency. Alternatively, excessive sexual activity exhausts Essence, weakening Ying and Wei (Nutritive and Defensive Qi), causing Zang-Fu Qi to become flaccid and unable to transport and nourish, resulting in extreme fatigue, which may degenerate into Lao Zhai (Consumption Disease). However, secular physicians often fail to understand the etiology and pathogenesis, indiscriminately using aromatic-dry or mineral-metallic agents, frequently harming patients. Only Qian Zhongyang (Qian Yi) of the Song Dynasty established formulas for Five Zang deficiencies, surpassing previous theories. My teacher, Mr. Danxi, elucidated the faults of the *Jufang* (Imperial Formulary), indicating the beginnings of tonification methods. As Dongyuan stated, internal injury from diet and overwork damages Yuan Qi, preventing the Yang of the Stomach Middle Jiao from ascending, causing Lung and Heart Qi to sink into the Middle Jiao; thus, Buzhong Yiqi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction) is used. This was indeed unprecedented.
However, Heaven is deficient in the Northwest, and Earth is incomplete in the Southeast. Heaven is Yang, Earth is Yin. In the Northwest, Yang Qi tends to descend; in the Southeast, Yin Qi tends to ascend. If one ignores this principle and mechanically applies a single method, while it may be effective for descending Qi, applying it to ascending Qi will likely exacerbate the condition. Therefore, this cannot be regarded as a universal method.
Human deficiency is mostly Yin insufficiency. Shaozi (Shao Yong) stated that Heaven and Earth rely on each other; Heaven relies on Form, Earth relies on Qi. Form has boundaries, Qi does not. Human physical substance is bounded; after Tian Gui (Heavenly Water/Reproductive Essence) ceases, the form declines. If Yin is not supplemented to maintain interior stability, Yang cannot flourish to perform vigorous functions. This is like Heaven losing its foundation, becoming scattered and drifting like a stray dog. Once Yang scatters, Earth loses its attachment further. When Form and Qi no longer support each other, death ensues. How can one then supplement such a decaying body?
This discussion on deficiency aligns with Dongyuan's methods, though the syndromes differ, both stem from the *Neijing* principle: "Those whose Yin Essence is offered up live long; those whose Yang Essence descends die young." Essentially, human longevity varies by region, just as North and South differ in classical texts. The method of ascending Yang should be applied flexibly; the principle of Yin-nourishing agents is similar. One must identify the specific location of deficiency and apply treatment according to pathogenesis. This approach differs vastly from secular practices that blindly use warming tonics due to ignorance of natural laws. Therefore, these are not detailed in general collections of tonifying formulas. Students who examine this carefully will have grasped more than half of the subject.