Gui zhi qu gui jia fu ling bai zhu tang
bai shao 9 sheng jiang 9 da zao 9 zhi gan cao 6 fu ling 18 bai zhu 15
When gui zhi tang is taken, or precipitation is used and there is still stiffness and pain of the head and nape, feather warm heat effusion, absence of sweating, fullness below the heart with slight pain, and inhibited urination, gui zhi qu gui jia fu ling bai zhu tang governs.
There is disagreement among scholars about why gui zhi is taken out of the formula. It is enough to see that fu ling and bai zhu are added for damp accumulation.
This formula is an obvious modified version of gui zhi tang. Gui zhi has been removed and bai zhu and fu ling have been added.
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.
Bai zhu and fu ling work together in clearing fluids away from Earth towards the bladder.
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.
In this pattern Earth and Water fail to transform fluids and bai zhu and fu ling restore the normal function. Bai zhu restores the control over Water and reabsorbs the fluids in the turbid yin of the large intestine to replenish fluids. It stops sweating because any loss of fluids can lead to a loss of Earth’s fluid controlling function.
Bai zhu treats external cold dampness but cang zhu is pungent and better at drying dampness on the surface.