Wen jing tang
wu zhu yu 9 mai men dong 24 ban xia 12 gui zhi 6 bai shao 6 chuan xiong 6 dang gui 6 ejiao 6 ren shen 6 mu dan pi 6 sheng jiang 6 zhi gan cao 6
For woman of about fifty, with diseases of incessant diarrhea of over ten times a day, fever that starts at dusk, internal urgency in the lower abdomen, abdominal bloating, vexing heat in the hand palms, and dry parched lips, what is this? The master says, this disease belongs to the category of below the belt disorders, why? For at one point in mid-delivery blood stasis has stayed in the abdomen without being expelled. How does one know? Because the lips and mouth are dry, that’s why. For this is governed by wen jing tang.
It is mainly a jue yin blood warming and nourishing formula but it warms and nourishes all three yin levels. Since the jue yin liver blood storage is closely related to the function of the uterus it is a core infertility and menstrual problem formula.
Wu zhu yu, Evodiae fructus is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is bitter draining of dampness in the stomach domain, spleen and lung.
Hot, pungent, bitter. It warms the interior liver channel, warms the liver organ and the ministerial fire.
Warms jue yin Wood and tai yin and Earth. It dries the stomach and spleen from dampness and expels cold contracting the liver causing abdominal pain and vomiting.
Wu zhu yu warms the liver and the ministerial fire. The liver controls menstrual bleeding and wu zhu yu warms the liver channel and organ, disperses cold and controls pain.
Mai men dong, Ophiopogonia radix is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the spleen and lung. Mai men dong is sweet, slightly bitter and cold and tonifies upper burner yin while eliminating mental unrest and vexation.
Mai men dong tonifies qi and yin and mildly clears heat to moisten dryness, while replenishing fluids and strengthening yin as the main component of blood. Mai men dong nourishes nutritive fluids and clears deficiency heat of the upper burner and buffers Wood. This clears the agitation at night and night sweats or the five center heat.
Ban xia, Pinelliae rhizoma is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is pungent dispersing of the cold and dampness in the stomach domain, spleen and lung. It transforms tai yin damp phlegm generated from excessive and stagnant cold dampness and counteracts nausea and adverse flow.
Ban xia warms the stomach and promotes the transportation of the yin and blood tonics in the formula. It also promotes fluid movement and so promotes blood movement.
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 opens the vessels and promotes flow of blood, it is one of the most important herbs for moving blood. It warms the vessels and heart and moves stagnant and congealed 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 softens the liver body and extinguishes internal wind due to deficiency and it stops cramping pains. It replenishes nutritive fluids and pacifies the blood layer that is about to be moved.
Chuan xiong, Ligustici radix is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao.
It is the core herb for moving qi within blood. Moves liver qi contained in blood allowing the wind to be stilled. The Nei jing states; when blood moves, wind will spontaneously subside.
Chuan xiong moves blood by moving the propelling qi contained within blood but does not strongly eliminate stasis. As such is a safe blood mover provided it is combined with dang gui and bai shao. Mainly enters the liver channel, it regulates, frees and spreads the qi flow of the liver. It is the main herb for moving qi within blood.
Dang gui, Angelicae sinensis radix is sweet tonifying and nourishing of liver blood and the ministerial fire. It is pungent dispersing of the liver blood and ministerial fire.
Dang gui is the core jue yin liver blood storage herb. Dang gui tonifies blood and nourishes the liver while moving blood and transforming stasis and so protects the jue yin liver blood from heat.
Ejiao, Asini corii colla is sweet tonifying and nourishing of the stomach and spleen. It directly nourishes the liver, kidney and heart blood. It is salty softening of yin and blood.
Ejiao nourishes shao yin heart and jue yin liver blood and tonifies yin, it moistens internal dryness and stops bleeding.
It strongly replenishes the Water element through its animal nature and kidney and heart affinity. Ejiao also controls bleeding during movement of blood. Combined with bai shao it strongly replenishes the nutritive fluids stored in the jue yin liver blood storage.
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.
The yin fluids from ren shen moderate excessive movement by anchoring yang with yin. 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 is mildly warm and sweet and it tonifies tai yin spleen and lung qi. Ren shen adds material to the tai yin and so also nourishes yin fluids.
Mu dan pi, Moutan cortex is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. It is bitter draining of heat in the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire.
Mu dan pi clears stagnation heat from the blood layer. Its pungent taste provides movement, its bitter taste provides descent and draining, and its cold nature cools the vessels to prevent blood leakage. Removes blood stasis while clearing blood heat. Together with ejiao it ensures control over blood and so prevents bleeding.
Sheng jiang, Zingiberis rhizoma recens is pungent dispersing of the liver and pericardium blood and the ministerial fire in the san jiao. Sheng jiang is pungent dispersing of dampness and cold in the stomach domain, spleen and lung. Sheng jiang is pungent connecting of the tai yin with the tai yang. It supports raising of the clear qi to the chest and the 100 vessels.
Sheng jiang harmonizes the formula and the middle burner while enhancing the tonifying and warming aspects of the formula.
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 herbs with its sweet moderation and nourishing. It moderates the pungent taste of chuan xiong and wu zhu yu.