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Source: Shāng Hán Lùn 伤寒论

Alternate Chinese names: 麻桂石膏汤

Ingredients:

• Má huáng (麻黄 Ephedrae Herba, ephedra) 6g
• Xìng rén (杏仁 Armeniacae Semen, apricot kernel) 5g
• Guì zhī (桂枝 Cinnamomi Ramulus, cinnamon twig) 3g
• Gān cǎo (甘草 Glycyrrhizae Radix, licorice [root]) (mix–fried) 2g
• Shí gāo (石膏 Gypsum Fibrosum, gypsum) 10g
• Shēng jiāng (生姜 Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, fresh ginger) 3g
• Dà zǎo (大枣 Jujubae Fructus, jujube) 3g

Action: Promotes sweating and resolves the exterior; clears heat and eliminates vexation.

Indication: Externally contracted wind-cold with depressed heat in the interior, marked by heat effusion with aversion to cold, generalized pain, absence of sweating, vexation and agitation, and a pulse that is tight and floating.

Category: Exterior-resolving formulas / Warm acrid exterior-resolving formulas

Method: Decoct with water.

Rationale: This is Má huáng tāng (麻黄汤 Ephedra Decoction)with larger amounts of Má huáng and Gān cǎo, and with the addition of Shí gāo, Shēng jiāng, and Dà zǎo. Má huáng tāng (麻黄汤 Ephedra Decoction)disperses cold and promotes sweating, diffuses the lung and resolves the exterior. This variation of the formula increases the sweat-inducing action. Má huáng, Guì zhī, and Shēng jiāng resolve exterior cold, while Shí gāo clears the interior heat. The Dà zǎo combined with the Gān cǎo and Shēng jiāng harmonizes center qì, regulates defense and provisioning, and ensures that sweating does not damage yīn humor, and heat clearing does not damage spleen yáng.

Notes: This is a variant of Má huáng tāng (麻黄汤 Ephedra Decoction). The formula is apparently so called because it causes sweating to remove the evil and eliminate the depressed heat, just as a dragon rises and causes the rain to fall.

Similar: Má huáng tāng (麻黄汤 Ephedra Decoction)

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