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Source: Jīn Guì Yào Lüè 金匮要略

Alternate Chinese names: Má xìng yì gān tāng (麻杏薏甘汤 Ephedra, Apricot Kernel, Coix, and Licorice Decoction)

Ingredients

• Má huáng (麻黄 Ephedrae Herba, ephedra) (with nodes removed) 9g
• Xìng rén (杏仁 Armeniacae Semen, apricot kernel) (with coating removed) 12g
• Yì yǐ rén (薏苡仁 Coicis Semen, coix [seed]) 30g
• Gān cǎo (甘草 Glycyrrhizae Radix, licorice [root]) 3g

Actions: Promotes sweating and resolves the exterior; dispels wind-damp.

Indications: External contraction of wind-damp, generalized pain, and heat effusion that is more pronounced in the afternoon. Tongue fur: Thin and white. Pulse: Floating and rapid.

Method: Decoct with water.

Rationale: Má huáng is warm and acrid, and is used in this formula for its sweat-effusing and exterior-resolving action to dispel wind and overcome dampness. Xìng rén's lung-diffusing action help the Má huáng to course exterior wind-damp. Yì yǐ rén is a bland-sweet, slightly cold agent that dispels dampness and clears heat, as well as disinhibiting the joints and relieving hypertonicity; it also help to alleviate impediment (bì) pain when combined with Má huáng. Gān cǎo moderates the sweat-effusing action of Má huáng (in the original formula there was twice as much Gān cǎo as Má huáng) and also helps the pain-relieving action of Yì yǐ rén.

Notes: This is Ephedra Decoction (mái huáng tāng) with Yì yǐ rén instead of Guì zhī.

Similar: Má huáng fù zǐ xì xīn tāng (麻黄附子细辛汤 Ephedra, Aconite, and Asarum Decoction)

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