Formulas · Release the Exterior 解表 · Uihak Gangmok (醫學綱目)

Cinnamon Twig and Notopterygium Decoction

Gyejiganghwal-tang

한글 계지강활탕 · Pinyin Gui Zhi Qiang Huo Tang

桂枝羌活湯

The transcription writes 腰脊強; printed here with the corpus glyph 强.

Composition 構成

Gyeji Gui Zhi
桂枝 계지 · Cinnamon Twig

6 g
Chief 君
Ganghwal Qiang Huo
羌活 강활 · Notopterygium

6 g
Chief 君
Bangpung Fang Feng
防風 방풍 · Siler

6 g
Deputy 臣
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

6 g
Envoy 使

Total 24 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

Releases the taeyang exterior in malaria where sweating is already present
Harmonizes the surface with cinnamon twig rather than forcing it open

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Taeyang malaria (太陽瘧) with spontaneous sweating (自汗)
Pain in the head and nape with stiffness of the lumbus and spine
Malaria contracted in summer and still shallow

Biomedical correlates

Malaria with paroxysmal fever and chills
Febrile illness with neck and back stiffness

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治太陽瘧, 自汗, 頭項痛, 腰脊强. 桂枝ㆍ羌活ㆍ防風ㆍ甘草各一錢半. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服. 《綱目》

Translation

Treats taeyang malaria with spontaneous sweating, pain in the head and nape, and stiffness of the lumbus and spine. Cinnamon twig, notopterygium, saposhnikovia and licorice, 1 don 5 fun each. Cut up, make one packet, and decoct in water and take. — Gangmok 綱目 (Donguibogam · Haehak)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Four herbs in one weight, and the whole of the thinking sits in the second clause of the indication: spontaneous sweating (自汗). The chapter pairs this leaf with Mahwangganghwal-tang, which is the same prescription with cinnamon twig taken out and ephedra put in, for the case with no sweat. That is the Shanghanlun's taeyang division transposed wholesale onto malaria — if the surface is already open, harmonize it; if it is shut, break it. Notopterygium and saposhnikovia carry the formula upward and outward to the nape and the lumbar spine, which is exactly where the indication puts the pain. It is a small, plain exterior-releasing prescription, and the Bogam puts it at the head of the chapter's treatment list because the chapter holds that malaria taken between the summer solstice and the end of the heat is a shallow injury that still wants sweating. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.