Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Manbyeong Hoechun (萬病回春)

Cooling Relieve Suffering Powder

Cheongnyanggugo-san

한글 청량구고산 · Pinyin Qing Liang Jiu Ku San

淸凉救苦散

The transcription prints 桒葉 for 桑葉 and 囬春 for 回春, both normalized here; 黃栢 is printed as the transcription has it. 車前葉, the plantain leaf, is resolved to the whole-herb id for 車前草.

Composition 構成

Buyongyeop Fu Rong Ye
芙蓉葉 부용엽 · Cotton Rose Leaf

4 g
Chief 君

equal parts
Sangyeop Sang Ye
桑葉 상엽 · Mulberry Leaf

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts
Chajeoncho Che Qian Cao
車前草 차전초 · Plantain Herb

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts, the leaf
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts
Hwangnyeon Huang Lian
黃連 황련 · Coptis

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts
Mangcho Mang Xiao
芒硝 망초 · Mirabilite

4 g
Deputy 臣

equal parts
Baekgeup Bai Ji
白及 백급 · Bletilla

4 g
Assistant 佐

equal parts
Baengnyeom Bai Lian
白斂 백렴 · Ampelopsis Root

4 g
Assistant 佐

equal parts
Baekji Bai Zhi
白芷 백지 · Dahurian Angelica

4 g
Assistant 佐

equal parts
Unghwang Xiong Huang
雄黃 웅황 · Realgar

4 g
Assistant 佐

equal parts
Jeoksodu Chi Xiao Dou
赤小豆 적소두 · Adzuki Bean

4 g
Assistant 佐

equal parts
Bongmil Feng Mi
蜂蜜 봉밀 · Honey

—
Envoy 使

honey water, as the vehicle for the paste

Total 48 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 1 ingredient measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

Received this formula from your practitioner? Amounts shown here are classical reference values — granule and prepared products differ. Always follow your prescribed dosage and directions.

Actions 效能

Applied to the swelling as a honey-water paste, not taken internally
Cools and draws a hot red swelling of the face, nose, ears and eyes
Swept on again and again as it dries

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Epidemic swelling of the head (大頭瘟)
Face, nose, ears and eyes swollen and painful

Biomedical correlates

Topical cooling application for facial and periorbital swelling with fever
External use only

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治大頭瘟, 面鼻耳目腫痛. 芙蓉葉ㆍ桑葉ㆍ白芨ㆍ白斂ㆍ車前葉ㆍ大黃ㆍ黃連ㆍ黃栢ㆍ白芷ㆍ雄黃ㆍ赤小豆ㆍ芒硝各等分. 右爲末, 蜜水調, 敷於腫處, 頻頻掃上. 《回春》

Translation

Treats epidemic swelling of the head, with the face, nose, ears and eyes swollen and painful. Hibiscus leaf, mulberry leaf, bletilla, ampelopsis, plantain leaf, rhubarb, coptis, phellodendron, angelica dahurica, realgar, adzuki bean and mirabilite, in equal parts. Powder them, stir with honey water, spread the paste on the swollen place, and sweep it on again and again. — Hoechun 回春 (Donguibogam · On)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The only external preparation among the chapter’s big-head formulas, and it is a plaster rather than a draught — powdered, stirred into honey water, spread over the swelling and swept on again as it dries. Hibiscus leaf, mulberry leaf and plantain leaf are the cooling leaf drugs; bletilla and ampelopsis are what the tradition puts on a hot swelling to draw it; rhubarb, coptis, phellodendron and mirabilite are the cold drugs borrowed from the internal prescriptions and applied directly instead. That it names the nose, ears and eyes is the clinical detail. A swelling that has closed the eyes cannot be reached by anything but a topical, and a cool wet paste on inflamed skin is a real measure, which is roughly what adzuki bean flour and honey water amount to. **Contains realgar, which is an arsenic sulphide and absorbed through broken skin. This must not be prepared.** The leaf is worth keeping as a record of topical cooling; the formula is not. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.