Fu zi tang
fu zi 30 bai zhu 12 fu ling 12 bai shao 9 ren shen 6
When in shao yin disease that has lasted one or two days, there is harmony in the mouth and aversion to cold in the back, this means that one should use moxa and fu zi tang governs.
When in shao yin disease there is generalized pain, cold extremities, joint pain, and a pulse that is sunken, fu zi tang governs.
It clears cold and dampness. It warms the shao yin heart and kidneys and disperses fluids while supporting the tai yin transformation and transport functions. It is a shao yin and tai yin level pattern.
Fu zi, Aconiti radix lateralis praeparata is pungent dispersing of liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is pungent dispersing of the heart and kidneys. It is pungent dispersing of the tai yang channels. It is pungent dispersing of excess water.
Fu zi warms the source yang of the body as imperial fire of the heart and kidneys. Fu zi infuses the body with fire and promotes water metabolism through the descent of Fire into the Water reservoirs of the body to draw qi from the body. It is a dispersing herb and bai shao protects against excessive dispersing with its sour nature.
Bai zhu, Atractylodis macrocephalae rhizome is sweet tonifying of the stomach domain and spleen. Bai zhu is bitter draining of excess fluids in the stomach domain, spleen, lungs and bladder.
Bai zhu and fu ling restore the Earth’s control over Water. Bai zhu dries the middle burner and strengthens the spleen. It metabolizes fluids and so creates room for healthy new fluids. Bai zhu and ren shen are the representative pair for supporting tai yin qi deficiency and damp accumulation. We see the pair of bai zhu and ren shen in li zhong wan.
Fu ling, Poria is sweet and neutral. It drains fluids but is not bitter. Fu ling is tonifying the stomach domain, spleen, kidney and bladder to move excess fluids. It moves more than it tonifies.
Fu ling drains fluids through the tai yang bladder and restores the water metabolism. Dampness is a form of yin and we move the yin with the fu ling to restore the transformation and transport aspect of tai yin. Tai yin is also the post heaven source of clear qi and yin and blood.
Bai shao, Paeoniae radix lactiflora is sour, bitter and cool. It is sour collecting of yin fluids and blood. It is bitter descending of heat. It nourishes dryness in yang ming and the jue yin. It descends Earth and Metal and calms Wood wind.
Bai shao nourishes yin and blood and in this formula it also calms the Wood wind created by fu zi. Bai shao prevents excessive moving of the blood to maintain calm while warming.
Ren shen, Ginseng radix is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the spleen, lungs, heart, and kidney. It nourishes yin fluids and therefore is the foremost qi and yin tonic.
Ren shen tonifies spleen qi and treats deficiency. It is often combined with bai zhu to treat excessive dampness. Mildly warm and sweet it tonifies tai yin spleen and lung qi. Ren shen adds material to the tai yin and so also nourishes yin fluids. Used alone or in the wrong cases it can create internal dampness, which is why it is combined with warm and drying bai zhu.
It raises the original qi and gathering qi. It strengthens righteous qi and righteous qi is also called true qi and is a combination of original qi and gathering qi. All are dependent on the qi of shao yin and tai yin. Which in turn are dependent on the jue yin and shao yang for the ministerial fire in all three burners.
Ren shen tonifies qi and yin of the lungs and heart. The tonification of qi will strengthen the heartbeat, while the tonification of yin will nourish the blood and clear deficient heat.
Standard modification for diarrhea is to remove bai shao.