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How To Analyse The Therapeutic Functions Of The Various Decoctions Part Fourteen

 Hey, I'm back to discuss the messenger's herb for this Bai Du Tang and move on to our topic to discuss the Jing Fang Bai Du Tang discriminating against Ma Huang Tang.

Jing Jie and Fang Feng would be added to Bai Du Tang as the Monarch's herb having a slightly higher quantity over Qiang Huo and Du Huo.

This is how to analyse the therapeutic functions of the various decoctions. (part 14)

Messenger's herb - Gan Cao


I also like to stress the important points so that it would stay longer or even better stick onto you forever to use Gan Cao, better known as Licorice.
  • The messenger's herb is, as the word messenger depict, the marshal directing the various medicinal power of individual herb to the infected organs to start the healing process.  
  • Another function is to reconcile and harmonise the effects of various herbs to a moderate and digestive level.
Monarch's herbs:
  • Jing Jie
  • Fang Feng
The scientific name for the 3 herbs are as follow:
  • Gan Cao - Radix Glycyrrhizae, (better known as Licorice)
  • Jing Jie - Schizonepeta tenuifolia
  • Fang Feng Saposhnikovia divaricata (Turcz.) Schischk




Let's analyse them in detail with the thresholds established as:

Association to the Specific Meridian Channel

  • Gan Cao - Heart, Lung, Spleen, Stomach
  • Jing Jie - Lung, Liver
  • Fang Feng -  Bladder, Liver, Spleen ---respectively
The TCM fundamentals of Gan Cao is similar to that of the Zhi Gan Cao and so it should be still fresh In the mind.
I'm going to refresh our memories on the Meridian Channels Association for:
  • Qiang Hou - Bladder and Kidneys
  • Du Hou - Bladder and Kidneys
  • Chuan Xiong - Liver, Gall Bladder and Pericardium
  • Chai Hu  - Liver, Gall Bladder, Pericardium and San Jiao
There are none of the monarch or ministers' herbs that travels to the Lung directly because of its natural meridian channel link.  Bai Du Tang is only using:
  • Gan Cao
  • Qian Hu  
  • Jie Gen 
to marshal the warm herbs to disperse the cold virus infection as a medicinal primer.  What is a medicinal primer? It is a substance that is required for the functioning of various herbs together in the TCM perspective.

Jing Jie and Fang Feng

As a result, Jing Jie is selected with a slightly higher quantity which has a direct link with the Lung to start the healing directly.  In addition, to further strengthen the power of Jing Jie, the equal healing power of Fang Feng is added to complement each other.

Specific Taste


The specific taste of Gan Cao is similar to Zhi Gan Cao and so I'll not touch on it again for now. 
  • Gan Cao - Sweet 
  • Jing Jie - Pungent 
  • Fang Feng - Pungent, Sweet 

The effect of the pungent or spicy taste is to: 

  • soothe the Qi
  • disperse in the purpose of weakening the virus invasion
  • invigorate blood 
  • remove blood stasis 

Specific Property


The overall role for Gan Cao is to reconcile with all herbs in the decoction to a moderate and digestive level. 
  • Gan Cao  - moderate (note that it is not warm unlike Zhi Gan Cao)
  • Jing Jie - lukewarm
  • Fang Feng - lukewarm
I'll discuss the effect of:
  • Jing Jie 
  • Fang Feng  
to treat the cold virus infection as below.  The new terminology to apply primarily for both (Jing Jie and Fang Feng) is:
  • Fa Han Jie Biao 
Next, both herbs are found to be especially useful to:
  • Clear through*** rashes 
which can prevent the development of measles in the later stage.




I'll be back soonest to discriminate between the two formulas in my next blog as promised.  In the meanwhile, easy digestion and be prepared for the verdict to be disclosed.

Clear through***method needs a little explanation here.   The clear through method is using any (Xin Liang Jie Biao) herbs like Jing Jie and Fang Feng to release the accumulated rash poison, like venting through from the interior to the exterior to prevent the rashes to turn into more complicated issues.  This is only applicable from the TCM perspective.



Best of all,








Xiong




***Reference:

Emperor's Interior Sutra is available on sales better known as the esoteric scripture of the yellow emperor in Amazon, it's just a different way of naming the book cover)


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How To Analyse The Therapeutic Functions Of The Various Decoctions Part Thirteen

 

Hey, I'm back to discuss the 4th Division Officer's herb in 2 pairs for this Bai Du Tang.  At this point, it's very important to do a quick revision on the function of the 4th Division Officers as:

  • The division 4 Officer's herb coordinates with the monarch and minister herbs to enhance the therapeutic effect of the decoction as well as directly treat minor complications.   
  • It would also slow down the strong effect of monarch and minister herbs.  
This is how to analyse the therapeutic functions of the various decoctions. (part 13)

Therefore, there are 4 herbs in this decoction and would become some other combination in other decoctions.
It would be very interesting when you realise and understand the applications and functions of the combinations becoming more and more effective as more herbs are discussed in the later blogs.

4th Division Officer Herbs in 2 pairs:

  • Zhi Ke
  • Jie Geng
  • Fu Lin
  • Qian Hu





The scientific name for the 4 herbs are as follow:
  • Zhi Ke Fructus Aurantii Immaturus
  • Jie GengPlatycodon Gradiflorus
  • Fu Lin = Poria
  • Qian Hu Peucedanum Praeruptorum
Over here, let me indicate some root words to explain the reason why are we learning Latin or scientific words?  Fructus Aurantii links to citrus orange and Immaturus links to not ripe or sour.  So Zhi Ke belongs to the families of sour oranges in that sense.

Association to a Specific Meridian Channel

Zhi Ke is associated with: 
  • Spleen 
  • Stomach 
  • Large Intestine --- Meridian Channel respectively
Fu Lin is associated with:
  • Heart 
  • Spleen 
  • Kidneys --- Meridian Channel respectively
Both Jie Geng and Qian Hu are associated with the 
  • Lung Meridian Channel only
As about the role of the decoction to eradicate the cold virus in our topic, these 4 herbs would apply their natural primary function of :
  • (Zhi Ke) = Jiang Qi means lower the Qi, ensuring smooth sailing of air passage
  • (Jie Geng) = Kai Fei means clear the airway of the Lung
  • (Fu Lin) = Sheng Shi means to remove the wetness
  • (Qian Hu) = Qu Tan means clear and remove phlegm

respectively for all treatment in the TCM perspective.  This means everyone can use these 4 herbs according to their natural primary function except that you must be qualified to identify the cause of illness.

Specific Taste

These 4th division officer's herbs possess the following specific taste:
  • Zhi Ke = pungent and bitter
  • Jie Geng = pungent and bitter
  • Fu Lin = sweet and light
  • Qian Hu = pungent and bitter
Looking at these 4 herbs' taste Fu Lin would stand out to supplement the rest of the 3 herbs of which they would complement each other to clear the cold virus.

Specific Property

The Specific Property of these 4 herbs are:
  • Zhi Ke and Qian Hu = slightly cold
  • Jie Geng and Fu Lin = moderate
So far I have discussed only the warm properties of the monarch and the minister's herbs to combat the cold virus infection.  On the contrary, the effect of these 4th division officer's herbs are moderate and slightly cold meaning they would together slow down the strong effect of the monarch and minister's herbs, thus reconciling the whole decoction to better off in the following actions:
  • smooth sailing of air passage
  • clear the airway of the Lung
  • remove the wetness
  • clear and remove phlegm
It's time to review the specific function of the 4th division officer's herbs to the Bai Du Tang in the discrimination.
Firstly the Monarch's herbs aim at:
  • inducing perspiration
  • Remove wetness
Secondly, the minister's herbs aim at: 
  • inducing perspiration 
  • Remove blood stasis
  • Relieving pain
The selection of the 4th division officer's herbs is aimed at aiding the monarch's and minister's herbs in combating the cold virus and at the same time perform its primary role as follows:
  • Zhi Ke ensures smooth sailing of air passage
  • Jie Geng clears the airway of the Lung
  • Fu Lin removes the wetness
  • Qian Hu clears and removes phlegm
Am I going too fast for you because I like to introduce a set of three common additional herbs which is:
  • Sheng Jiang 
  • Bo He 
  • Ren Shen 
into the decoction?  These 3 herbs are optional and the decoction can work effectively with or without them.  However, they are being adopted by many TCM physicians in many other decoctions and so it is necessary to throw some light on these areas.
One very important difference between them is:
  • Sheng Jiang and Ren Shen need long hours to boil, a minimum of 4 hours, to bring out their extract effectively.
  • Bo He on the contrary needs only a short time to boil out, like a maximum of 5 minutes, the volatile oil which is the required extract responsible for sterilizing, disinfecting, removing turbidity and defilement.
Once again, the scientific name for these 3 optional herbs are:
  • Sheng Jiang = Zingiber Officinale Rose
  • Ren Shen =  Panax Ginseng C. M. Mey
  • Bo He = Mentha Haplocalyx Brig.
Their:

Association to the Specific Meridian Channel are as follow:
  • Sheng Jiang = Lung and Spleen 
  • Ren Shen = Lung and Spleen
  • Bo He = Lung and Liver
Specific Taste:
  • Sheng Jiang = Pungent
  • Ren Shen = Sweet and slightly better
  • Bo He = Pungent
Specific Property:
  • Sheng Jiang = Lukewarm
  • Ren Shen = Lukewarm
  • Bo He = Cold
These optional herbs are added to the Bai Du Tang if you can identify the correct symptoms observed.
Moreover, these are only optional and would become monarch's or minister's herbs in some other decoction of which I would further discuss them in detail.

I'll leave you with more time to digest the above and would commence with the discrimination between Ma Huang Tang and Jing Fang Bai Du Tang in the blog after next.









Best of all,








Xiong




***Reference:

Emperor's Interior Sutra is available on sales better known as the esoteric scripture of the yellow emperor in Amazon, it's just a different way of naming the book cover)






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