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Harmonization formulas

和解剂 〔和解劑〕 hé jiě jì

Medicinal formulas that adjust functions within the human body and that are used when other methods cannot treat midstage penetration of an external evil or disharmony between qì and blood or between bowels and viscera.

Harmonization formulas correspond to harmonization among the eight methods. They were originally designed for evil entering the lesser yáng (shào yáng) in cold damage disease. The lesser yang belongs to the gallbladder its location is considered half exterior half interior. For this reason, lesser yáng disease is not suited to treatment by sweating, the method used for exterior patterns, or by ejection or precipitation, which are methods used to eliminate evils from the interior. However, the gallbladder is an appendage of the liver and stands in exterior-interior relationship with the liver. Disease of the gallbladder channel can affect the liver, and disease of the liver channel can affect the gallbladder. Furthermore, liver and gallbladder disease can affect the stomach and spleen, giving rise to liver-spleen disharmony. Gastrointestinal disharmony easily develops into cold-heat and vacuity-repletion complexes. For this reason, harmonizing formulas of the kind originally tailored for lesser yáng disease patterns have also developed to harmonize the liver and spleen in the treatment of liver depression and spleen vacuity and to harmonize the stomach and intestines in the treatment of gastrointestinal cold and heat complexes. The central idea of harmonization formulas is that they can treat both heat and cold, restore normal upbearing and downbearing, and address both right and evil.

Subcategories

  1. Lesser yáng harmonization formulas
  2. Liver-spleen harmonization formulas
  3. Gastrointestinal harmonization formulas

1. Lesser Yáng Harmonization Formulas

Formulas that harmonize lesser yáng treat cold damage lesser yáng (shào yáng) disease patterns manifesting in alternating heat effusion and aversion to cold, fullness in the chest and rib-side, taciturnity and no desire to heat, heart vexation, retching, bitter taste in the mouth, dry throat, dizzy vision, and a pulse that is stringlike.

Main agents: Chái hú (柴胡 Bupleuri Radix, bupleurum) or qīng hāo (青蒿 Artemisiae Annuae Herba, sweet wormwood) combined with huáng qín (黄芩 Scutellariae Radix, scutellaria) as the main agents.

If qì vacuity is also present, these are assisted by agents that boost qì and support right to prevent the disease evil from falling inward. If dampness evil is also present, agents that free damp turbidity can be included to conduct the evil downward.

Representative formulas

2. Liver-Spleen Harmonization Formulas

Formulas that harmonize the liver and spleen treat liver-spleen disharmony, which arises either when liver qì is depressed and crosses to invade the spleen or when spleen vacuity affects free coursing, causing liver-wood overwhelm the spleen. In either case, the signs include distension and pain in the stomach duct, abdomen, chest, and rib-side, lassitude of spirit, reduced eating, menstrual irregularities, abdominal pain and diarrhea, and lack of warmth in the extremities. Commonly used are agents that course the liver and rectify qì such as chái hú (柴胡 Bupleuri Radix, bupleurum), zhǐ ké (枳壳 Aurantii Fructus, bitter orange), and zhǐ ké (枳壳 Aurantii Fructus, bitter orange) combined with spleen-fortifying medicinals such as fú líng (茯苓 Poria, poria), and gān cǎo (甘草 Glycyrrhizae Radix, licorice).

3. Gastrointestinal Harmonization Formulas

Formulas that harmonize the stomach and intestines treat gastrointestinal cold-heat complexes with vacuity and repletion signs and with abnormal upbearing and downbearing, manifesting in glomus and fullness below the heart, distension and fullness in the stomach duct and abdomen, retching and vomiting and diarrhea. These formulas have acrid opening and bitter downbearing agents such as bàn xià (半夏 Pinelliae Rhizoma, pinellia), gān jiāng (干姜 Zingiberis Rhizoma, dried ginger), huáng lián (黄连 Coptidis Rhizoma, coptis),huáng qín (黄芩 Scutellariae Radix, scutellaria) as their main agents, combined with qì-boosting center-harmonizing medicinals such as rén shēn (人参 Ginseng Radix, ginseng), dà zǎo (大枣 Jujubae Fructus, jujube), and gān cǎo (甘草 Glycyrrhizae Radix, licorice).

Representative formulas

See harmonization.

Harmonization Formulas

Lesser Yáng Harmonization Formulas

Liver-Spleen Harmonization Formulas

Gastrointestinal Harmonization Formulas

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