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Source: Shěn Shì Yáo Hán 审视瑶函

Ingredients

• Bái wēi (白薇 Cynanchi Atrati Radix, black swallowwort) 15g
• Shí liú pí (石榴皮 Granati Pericarpium, pomegranate rind) 9g
• Qiāng huó (羌活 Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix, notopterygium [root]) 9g
• Fáng fēng (防风 Saposhnikoviae Radix, saposhnikovia) 9g
• Jí lí (蒺藜 Tribuli Fructus, tribulus [fruit]) 9g

Actions: Eliminates wind and clears heat.

Indications: Weeping canthus due to wind-heat congesting in the upper body blocking the tear orifices (i.e., the outlets of the lacrimal gland) causing the flesh of the canthus to swell with pus, which discharges spontaneously or can be squeezed out. The source book gives wind-heat as the indication. In actual fact, since the canthi are the blood wheel, which is governed by the heart, weeping canthus may also be caused by heat internal, which may rise spontaneously or be stirred by externally contracted wind-heat.

Method: Grind, blend with water, and form into pills the size of firmiana seeds.

Dosage: 12 pills at a time, taken with water.

Rationale: Bái wēi is a cold agent that cools the blood and clears internal heat. Qiāng huó, Fáng fēng, and Jí lí are acrid agents that course external wind. Pomegranate skin is added for its contracting and constraining properties to check tearing. Note older pharmacopoeias recommended use the topical use of pomegranate skin for this same purpose. This formula is effective for the treatment of what biomedicine diagnoses as chronic dacryocystitis (inflammation of the lacrimal sac).

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