Gan jiang ling zhu tang also known as Ling gan jiang zhu tang also known as Shen zou tang
gan jiang 12 fu ling 6 bai zhu 3 zhi gan cao 3
A person suffering from kidney fixity experiences generalized heaviness and lumbar coldness as though sitting in water. The symptoms may resemble those of water conditions, but there is an absence of thirst with uninhibited urination, and with eating and drinking as normal this indicates that the disease is attributed to the lower burner. Sweating during physical labor leads to cold and wetness inside the clothes. Over a long period of time, the condition develops and manifests with cold pain below the waist, and abdominal heaviness as if carrying five thousand coins. Gan ]iang ling zhu tang is indicated.
It clears tai yin cold and dries dampness.
Gan jiang, Zingiberis rhizoma, dried is warm (or hot) pungent and astringent. Gan jiang is the main herb to warm the tai yin level and treat excessive dampness by introducing yang ming dryness in tai yin dampness.
Gan jiang warms the cold and dries damp in the stomach domain.
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.
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, 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.
It tonifies the spleen qi along with the promotion of the spleen’s transforming and transporting actions.
Zhi gan cao, Glycyrrhizae radix prep is sweet tonifying and nourishing of all organs but especially the heart.
Strengthens the tai yin spleen qi and buffers the effects of drying herbs.
Zhi gan can anchors the gan jiang and together they tonify yang and tai yin yang. Together they form the formula gan cao gan jiang tang.