Formulas · Regulate Qi 理氣 · Uihak Immun (醫學入門)

Plum Root Bark Decoction

Gamnigeun-tang

한글 감리근탕 · Pinyin Gan Li Gen Tang

甘李根湯

The Jingui's 奔豚湯, named here for its chief drug. 正在心端 — right at the tip of the heart — localizes the surging precisely to the epigastrium below the sternum.

Composition 構成

Gamnigeunpi Gan Li Gen Pi
甘李根皮 감리근피 · Plum Root Bark

20 g
Chief 君
Gyeji Gui Zhi
桂枝 계지 · Cinnamon Twig

6 g
Deputy 臣
Danggwi Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

4 g
Deputy 臣
Baekjagyak Bai Shao
白芍藥 백작약 · White Peony

4 g
Deputy 臣
Baekbongnyeong Fu Ling
白茯苓 백복령 · Poria (white)

4 g
Deputy 臣
Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

4 g
Assistant 佐
Banha Ban Xia
半夏 반하 · Pinellia

2 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

2 g
Envoy 使
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Envoy 使

three slices

Total 46 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 a stirring qi wrongly sweated so that the qi surges upward right at the tip of the heart
Brings the surging qi down

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Qi surging upward to the heart after wrongful sweating
Running piglet qi

Biomedical correlates

Panic attacks after dehydration
Palpitations with epigastric surging

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治動氣誤發汗, 氣上衝ㆍ正在心端. 李根皮五錢, 桂枝一錢半, 當歸ㆍ芍藥ㆍ茯苓ㆍ黃芩各一錢, 半夏ㆍ甘草各五分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑三片, 水煎服. 《入門》

Translation

Treats a stirring qi wrongly sweated, with the qi surging upward right at the tip of the heart. Plum root bark, 5 don; cinnamon twig, 1 don 5 fun; tangkuei, peony, poria and scutellaria, 1 don each; pinellia and licorice, 5 fun each. Cut up, make one packet, add three slices of ginger and decoct in water. — Uihak Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Han)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The Jingui's running-piglet decoction, named here after the plum root bark that leads it at five don. What makes the entry worth having is the localization: the qi surges up and stops right at the tip of the heart — which is to say the patient feels it rise and arrest at the epigastrium, not in the throat. That is a sharper description than the usual one, and set beside Bokryeong-gyegam-tang two entries earlier it gives the section two formulas for the same sensation distinguished by where it is felt. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.