Gui zhi gan cao long gu muli tang
gui zhi 12 zhi gan cao 6 long gu 15 mu li 9
When in adverse fire flow, one is purged, or because of the application of a burning needle, there is vexation and restlessness, gui zhi gan cao long gu muli tang governs.
It treats a weakness of heart yang that then rushes upwards and causes mental vexation. It is a shao yin formula and it anchors yang back in yin with the use of long gu and muli. It does not get used much but the theory needs to be understood.
This formula contains the heart yang formula gui zhi gan cao tang but now there is long gu and muli. The long gu and muli are for the vexation and restlessness. There is a weakening of yang qi due to a loss of fluids or shock and now the heart has lost its control.
Gui zhi, Cinnamomi cassiae ramulus is pungent sweet and warm dispersing of the imperial and ministerial fire. It warms and tonifies the shao yin and jue yin. In doing so it warms and tonifies the whole body.
Gui zhi is the emperor because it warms the Wood to stir the imperial Fire. It warms the blood which tonifies the heart yang. Warms the vessels and frees the movement of yang qi. It frees the flow of heart yang in the chest and promotes the circulation of heart qi through the channels.
Zhi gan cao, Glycyrrhizae radix prep is sweet tonifying and nourishing of all organs but especially the heart.
Zhi gan cao is sweet and mildly warm tonifying and nourishing of yin fluids. It nourishes yin fluids in the tai yin and shao yin. It calms wind in the jue yin.
It balances the pungent gui zhi with its sweet moderation and nourishing. 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.
Long gu calms the mind and descends heart fire by reconnecting the heart shen and kidneys, it astringes kidney fluids. It is sweet and astringent, and descends rebellious yang and suppresses Wood wind.
Muli, Ostrea concha is salty softening of hardness in the abdomen and stomach domain. It is astringing fluids into the kidney and stomach organs.
Long gu, Mastodi fossilium ossis is sweet and astringent and cool. Long gu is sweet tonifiyng and nourishing of liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. Long gu is astringent collecting of fluids into the liver, kidneys and heart.
Long gu is cool, sweet material that anchors yang back in the blood, muli is cool and salty and also anchors the yang back down but it also breaks up yin accumulation so it can rise back up to cool the fire element.
Together long gu and muli restore the heart and kidney connection by descending heart fire to the kidneys while ascending kidney water to the heart, thus restoring the communication through the jue yin channel of liver and pericardium.