Clear the Yang Decoction

Cheongyang-tang

한글 청양탕 · Pinyin Qing Yang Tang

淸陽湯

The licorice appears twice, honey-roasted at 1 don and raw at 5 fun, as Li Dongyuan often prescribes it. 當歸身 is the body of the root, distinguished from the head and the tail. Decocted in wine alone rather than in water.

Composition 構成

Seungma Sheng Ma
升麻 승마 · Cimicifuga

8 g
Chief 君
Hwanggi Huang Qi
黃芪 황기 · Astragalus

8 g
Chief 君
Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

8 g
Deputy 臣

body of the root
Galgeun Ge Gen
葛根 갈근 · Kudzu Root

6 g
Deputy 臣
Somok Su Mu
蘇木 소목 · Sappan Wood

2 g
Assistant 佐
Honghwa Hong Hua
紅花 홍화 · Safflower

0.8 g
Assistant 佐
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

0.8 g
Assistant 佐

wine-treated
Gyeji Gui Zhi
桂枝 계지 · Cinnamon Twig

0.8 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

4 g
Envoy 使

honey-roasted
Ju Jiu
酒 주 · Wine

—
Envoy 使

three cups

Total 38.4 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

Treats wind stroke with the mouth deviated and the cheek and jaw drawn tight
which is stomach fire exuberant with sweating that will not stop and frequent urination
Raises the clear yang and drains the stomach fire

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Stomach fire exuberant with yang qi sinking and facial deviation
Yangming heat with sweating and frequent urination

Biomedical correlates

Bell's palsy
Facial nerve palsy with autonomic signs

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治中風口喎斜, 頰顋急緊, 此胃中火盛, 必汗不止ㆍ小便數. 升麻ㆍ黃芪ㆍ當歸身各二錢, 葛根一錢半, 甘草(灸) 一錢, 蘇木ㆍ甘草(生) 各五分, 酒黃栢ㆍ紅花ㆍ桂枝各二分. 右剉, 作一服, 酒三盞, 煎至一盞三分, 溫服. 《東垣》

Translation

Treats wind stroke with the mouth deviated and the cheek and jaw drawn tight; this is fire exuberant in the stomach, and there will necessarily be sweating that does not stop and frequent urination. Cimicifuga, astragalus and the body of the tangkuei root, 2 don each; pueraria, 1 don 5 fun; honey-roasted licorice, 1 don; sappanwood and raw licorice, 5 fun each; wine-treated phellodendron, safflower and cinnamon twig, 2 fun each. Cut up, make one dose, and boil in 3 cups of wine down to 1 cup 3 fun; take warm. — Dongwon 東垣 (Donguibogam · Pung)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Li Dongyuan's formula, and it reads like his work throughout: cimicifuga and pueraria to raise the clear yang, astragalus to hold it up, a token of wine-treated phellodendron for the fire, and the whole thing boiled in wine instead of water. The diagnosis is the interesting part — facial deviation with unceasing sweating and frequent urination is read as stomach fire with the yang qi failing to rise, which attends to the autonomic features alongside the palsy rather than treating the face alone. The two licorices at different preparations and the three drugs at two fun apiece are signatures of his prescribing. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.