Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Junggyeong (仲景)
Licorice Decoction
Gamcho-tang
한글 감초탕 · Pinyin Gan Cao Tang
甘草湯
Registered without a suffix as the canonical 甘草湯 of the Shanghanlun; the 甘草湯 of this chapter's 傷寒陰毒 section is a different formula and is registered separately.
Composition 構成
- Gamcho甘草 감초 · Licorice16 g
Chief 君cut up
Total 16 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
- Treats shaoyin guest heat with a sore throat
- One drug taken three times a day
Indications 主治
Pattern-based
- Shaoyin guest heat with a sore throat
- Mild throat heat
Biomedical correlates
- Pharyngitis
- Sore throat
Source text 原文
Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑
治少陰客熱咽痛. 甘草(剉), 每服四錢, 水煎, 日三服. 《仲景》
Translation
Treats shaoyin guest heat with a sore throat. Licorice, cut up; 4 don a dose, decocted in water, three times a day. — Junggyeong 仲景 (Donguibogam · Han)
Clinical commentary 臨床
One drug, four don, three times a day — the simplest formula in the Shanghanlun and still among the most used. Licorice is sweet, moistening and mildly anti-inflammatory, and its glycyrrhizin has demonstrable effect on an inflamed mucosa; for an ordinary sore throat a strong licorice decoction sipped through the day is a reasonable treatment and has never stopped being one. The section places it first among the throat formulas and escalates from here: licorice alone, then with platycodon, then with pinellia and cinnamon twig for a cold throat. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.