Prescriptions for Removing Heat in Qi System
Bai Hu Tang (白虎汤)
Name
White Tiger Decoction
The Prescription of 白虎汤
Source
The book Shang Han Lun
Ingredients
Shi Gao (Gypsum Fibrosum) 30 g,Zhi Mu (Rhizoma Anemarrhenae) 9 g,Zhi Gan Cao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata) 3 g,Jing Mi (Semen Oryzae Sativae) 9 g.Explanation
Shi Gao: The principal drug, being pungent and sweet in flavor and very cold in nature, purging heat in the lung and stomach, eliminating vexation.
Zhi Mu: Purging heat in the lung and stomach, being moisture in nature to moisten dryness.
Gan Cao and Jing Mi: Benifiting the stomach, protecting body fluids from being impaired, letting prescriptions very cold in nature not injure the spleen and stomach.
The Effect of 白虎汤
Effect
Removing heat and promoting the production of body fluids
Indications
Syndrome due to intense heat in Yangming Qi system, manifested as high fever, flushed face, extreme thirst and strong desire for drink, perspiration and aversion to heat, full large forceful pulse or slippery rapid pulse; including such diseases with the above symptoms as acute or chronic febrile infective diseases, diabetes, heatstroke, diab acute conjunctivitis, etc.
Administrations
Decocted in water for oral dose to be taken twice.
Sources and further reading
We cite classical materia medica and modern reference works. This article is health education, not medical advice.
- Shennong Bencao Jing (The Divine Farmer's Materia Medica), Han dynasty.
- Bencao Gangmu (Compendium of Materia Medica), Li Shizhen, 1578.
- Chinese Pharmacopoeia, current edition — identity, quality and safety monographs.
- NCCIH and WHO reference material on traditional medicine safety.
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