Formulas · Purge Downward 瀉下 · Uibang Yuchwi (醫方類聚)

Tangkuei Order the Qi Decoction (Dryness)

Danggui-seunggi-tang

한글 당귀승기탕 (조문) · Pinyin Dang Gui Cheng Qi Tang

當歸承氣湯

A different 當歸承氣湯 from the Bomyeong's formula of the same name for yang mania, which is registered separately; that version is twice the weight and adds ginger and jujube.

Composition 構成

Danggwi Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

8 g
Chief 君
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

8 g
Chief 君
Mangcho Mang Xiao
芒硝 망초 · Mirabilite

2.8 g
Deputy 臣

stirred into the strained decoction until dissolved
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

2 g
Envoy 使

Total 20.8 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts.

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

The foremost medicine for dryness
Moistens the dry and frees what is bound below

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Dryness with the stool bound and the fluids spent
Blood dryness with heat in the interior

Biomedical correlates

Constipation with dehydration
Dry skin with constipation

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治燥之上藥也. 當歸ㆍ大黃各二錢, 芒硝七分, 甘草五分. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎, 入芒硝攪化服之. 《類聚》

Translation

The foremost medicine for dryness. Tangkuei and rhubarb, 2 don each; mirabilite, 7 fun; licorice, 5 fun. Cut up, make one packet and decoct in water; put in the mirabilite, stir until dissolved, and take. — Uibang Yuchwi 類聚 (Donguibogam · Jo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The chapter calls it the foremost medicine for dryness, which is startling for a purgative — the complaint is that the fluids are spent, and the treatment drains. The logic is the one the Jo chapter states outright: dryness below shuts the stool and urine, so opening them lets the fluids move again rather than stand pent. Tangkuei moistens and moves the blood while rhubarb and mirabilite clear; the mirabilite is stirred in off the heat, which keeps the sulphate from being driven off. In a patient genuinely dry this would do harm, and the chapter's own next section — dryness should be treated by nourishing the blood — is the better counsel. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.