Zhisou San: Classic TCM Formula

Name

Zhisou San (Cough Powder)

Source

Yi Xue Xin Wu

Ingredients

• Jie Geng (Radix Platycodi) 1000 g
• Zi Wan (Radix Asteris) 1000 g
• Jing Jie (Herba Schizonepetae) 1000 g
• Bai Bu (Radix Stemonae) 1000 g
• Bai Qian (Rhizoma Cynanchi Stauntonii) 1000 g
• Zhi Gan Cao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Preparata) 375 g
• Chen Pi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae) 500 g

Explanation

• Zi Wan, Bai Bu and Bai Qian arrest cough and eliminate phlegm.
• Jie Geng and Chen Pi open and direct the lung qi downward, eliminate phlegm and arrest cough.
• Jing Jie disperses wind and relieves the exterior syndrome.
• Gan Cao tempers the action of all the other ingredients.
• Jing Jie, Jie Geng and Gan Cao work together to draw intense heat out of the throat and relieve pain.

Nature and action

Disperses wind, opens the lung, eliminates phlegm and arrests cough.

Indications

Cough and dyspnea due to a wind pathogen attacking the lung, marked by cough, an itching throat and expectoration, or by mild aversion to cold, fever, a thin whitish tongue coating and a floating pulse.

Also indicated for diseases presenting these symptoms, such as acute bronchitis, chronic bronchitis, pertussis and influenza.

Dose

Grind all the drugs into a fine powder. Take 6 g of the powder with warm boiled water each time, two or three times a day.

With the amounts reduced in proportion to these, the drugs may also be decocted in water and taken by mouth.