Ling gui zhu gan tang
fu ling 12 gui zhi 9 bai zhu 6 zhi gan cao 6
Warms the tai yang channel and organ, promote qi and water transformation, tonifies the spleen and drain dampness. It restores earth’s control over water. It warms a cold center with fluid accumulation, fullness in the chest, dizziness, and palpitations, cough and loose stools.
Jin gui yao lue formula
Line 16 For phlegm-rheum below the heart manifesting with propping fullness in the chest and rib-sides and dizzy vision, ling gui zhu gan tang is indicated.
Line 17 With shortness of breath and mild rheum, rheum should be eliminated by urination, ling gui zhu gan tang is indicated. Shen qi wan is also indicated.
If we combine these two lines we see that ling gui zhu gan tang is used for rheum and dampness causing chest and rib-side fullness, shortness of breath and dizzy vision, and should be eliminated by promoting urination.
What is the difference between dampness and phlegm rheum?
Rheum is an old-fashioned word for the watery discharge that drips from your nose and eyes when you have a cold or allergies.
Phlegm is the thick mucus secreted in the respiratory passages and discharged through the mouth, especially that occurring in the lungs and throat passages, as during a cold.
Phlegm rheum is a slightly thicker fluid than dampness that is accumulating.
Wiseman and Wilms, Medical literature from the Song period onward uses tan, phlegm to denote a thick turbid substance, and yin, rheum to denote a thinner, clearer form of pathological fluid.
For phlegm-rheum below the heart, refers to the stomach and epigastric region.
Dizzy vision is being caused by the internal wind created by the failure of the yang qi to descend. And by the failure of clear qi to reach the eyes. The phlegm is obstructing the yang qi from ascending.
Fu ling, Poria
Fu ling restores normal qi transformation of the kidneys by disinhibiting urination and opening the waterways.
Bai zhu and fu ling are the core herbs for clearing dampness from earth and draining it out by promoting urination. Bai zhu builds a dyke and fu ling opens the waterways.
Gui zhi, Cinnamomi cassiae ramulus
Gui zhi warms all three burners through the ministerial fire and so tonifies function of the yang and yin organs.
Gui zhi is the main herb to restore the water metabolism of the tai yang bladder. It warms the yang on the bladder channel and promotes the transformation of kidney qi as vapor from the stored fluids of the bladder.
Bai zhu, Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizome
It tonifies tai yin qi of the spleen and lung and strengthens the spleen by drying and draining dampness to allow normal function to return.
Zhi gan cao, Glycyrrhizae radix prep
Zhi gan cao directly enters the heart. It strongly tonifies heart qi and regulates heart rhythm. It also builds spleen qi to strengthen lung and heart qi to revive the pulse beat.
Ling gui zhug an tang contains two pairs of herbs. The first pair of gui zhi and zhi gan cao tonify yang qi. This strengthens the heart yang and fire element. Yang qi when weak fails to transform fluids.
Gui zhi tonifies yang qi and zhi gan cao ensures a smooth transition of the yang qi into the yin divisions.
Gui zhi corresponds with the southern direction and summer season. Zhi gan cao corresponds with the center and the last period of each season.
The second pair of bai zhu and fu ling promote the transformation of fluids, especially in the middle and lower burners. Bai zhu tonifies the fire element in earth. Fu ling promotes the movement of fluids in the middle and lower burners.
Bai zhu corresponds with the southern direction and the summer season. It also corresponds with the center and the last period of each season.
Fu ling corresponds with the center and the last period of each season.