Formulas · Invigorate Blood 活血祛瘀 · Dongwon (東垣)

Pubescent Angelica Decoction (Lumbus chapter)

Dokhwal-tang

한글 독활탕 · Pinyin Du Huo Tang

獨活湯

Cut and made into one packet, decocted in half wine and half water, and taken on an empty stomach. Distinct from the Pubescent Angelica Decoction of the Dreams chapter, which treats an ethereal soul that will not return at night. **Note on modern practice: rhubarb is a stimulant purgative; short courses only.**

Composition 構成

Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

6 g
Chief 君
Yeongyo Lian Qiao
連翹 연교 · Forsythia

6 g
Chief 君
Ganghwal Qiang Huo
羌活 강활 · Notopterygium

4 g
Deputy 臣
Dokhwal Du Huo
獨活 독활 · Aralia

4 g
Deputy 臣
Bangpung Fang Feng
防風 방풍 · Siler

4 g
Deputy 臣
Taeksa Ze Xie
澤瀉 택사 · Alisma

4 g
Assistant 佐
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

4 g
Assistant 佐
Doin Tao Ren
桃仁 도인 · Peach Kernel

2.4 g
Assistant 佐 9 kernels, tips retained
Bangi Fang Ji
防己 방기 · Sinomenium

2 g
Assistant 佐
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

2 g
Assistant 佐
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

2 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

2 g
Envoy 使

Total 42.4 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

Answers a lumbus that pains as though broken after heavy labor
Disperses wind-damp above while the blood is moved below

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Lumbar pain from taxing labor
as though broken (治勞役腰痛如折)
Acute strain with severe pain
Wrenching injury with heat

Biomedical correlates

Acute low back strain
Occupational back injury
Short-course therapy for acute pain

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治勞役腰痛如折. 當歸ㆍ連翹各一錢半, 羌活ㆍ獨活ㆍ防風ㆍ澤瀉ㆍ肉桂各一錢, 防己ㆍ黃柏ㆍ大黃ㆍ甘草各五分, 桃仁(留尖) 九粒. 右剉, 作一貼, 酒水各半煎, 空心服. 《東垣》

Translation

Treats lumbar pain from taxing labor, as though the back were broken. Korean angelica and forsythia, 1 don 5 fun each; notopterygium, pubescent angelica, saposhnikovia, alisma, and cinnamon bark, 1 don each; stephania, phellodendron, rhubarb, and licorice, 5 fun each; peach kernel with the tips retained, 9 kernels. Cut the above, make one packet, decoct in half wine and half water, and take on an empty stomach. — Dongwon 東垣 (Donguibogam · Yo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

*Pain as though broken* is the indication, and the formula answers it on three fronts at once — the wind medicinals disperse, the peach kernel and angelica move the blood, and a small measure of rhubarb takes the heat of an acute injury out downward. Decocting in half wine is not incidental: wine carries a formula to the blood, which is where this one is aimed. Note that the peach kernels keep their tips, which the tradition holds makes them more breaking. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.