Formulas · Warm the Interior 溫裏 · Igan (易簡)

Apricot Kernel Decoction

Haengja-tang

한글 행자탕 · Pinyin Xing Zi Tang

杏子湯

Composition 構成

Insam Ren Shen
人蔘 인삼 · Ginseng

4 g
Chief 君
Geongang Gan Jiang
乾薑 건강 · Dried Ginger

4 g
Chief 君
Banha Ban Xia
半夏 반하 · Pinellia

4 g
Deputy 臣

processed · toxic in the raw state
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

4 g
Deputy 臣

as 桂皮, the bark
Haengin Xing Ren
杏仁 행인 · Apricot Kernel

4 g
Deputy 臣
Jeokbongnyeong Chi Fu Ling
赤茯苓 적복령 · Poria (red)

4 g
Assistant 佐
Baekjagyak Bai Shao
白芍藥 백작약 · White Peony

4 g
Assistant 佐
Sesin Xi Xin
細辛 세신 · Asarum

4 g
Assistant 佐
Omija Wu Wei Zi
五味子 오미자 · Schisandra

4 g
Assistant 佐
Mahwang Ma Huang
麻黃 마황 · Ephedra

—
Assistant 佐

added where better still
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

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

—
Envoy 使

five slices
Omae Wu Mei
烏梅 오매 · Mume Plum

—
Envoy 使

one fruit

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 3 ingredients 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 cough with abundant phlegm from contracted wind cold
Especially suited to a cold cough

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Cold cough with abundant thin phlegm
Lung and spleen cold with cough

Biomedical correlates

Bronchitis with copious watery sputum

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治感風寒痰盛咳嗽, 尤宜冷嗽. 人參ㆍ半夏ㆍ赤茯苓ㆍ白芍藥ㆍ細辛ㆍ乾薑ㆍ桂皮ㆍ杏仁ㆍ五味子各一錢, 甘草五分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑五ㆍ梅一, 水煎服. 加麻黃尤佳. 《易簡》

Translation

Treats cough with abundant phlegm from contracted wind cold, and is especially suited to a cold cough. Ginseng, pinellia, red poria, white peony, asarum, dried ginger, cinnamon bark, apricot kernel and schisandra, 1 don each; licorice, 5 fun. Cut up, make one packet, add five slices of ginger and one smoked plum, and decoct in water. Adding ephedra is better still. — Igan 易簡 (Donguibogam · Haesu)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The warmest of the cold-cough formulas, and the only one in the group with ginseng in it. Dried ginger, asarum and cinnamon bark warm, pinellia and poria take out the water, and schisandra and peony hold the lung in — the combination of warming, drying and astringing that the tradition uses for a cough producing large amounts of thin watery sputum. 冷嗽, cold cough, is the chapter's name for that picture. The pattern it describes is recognizable: a chronic cough with profuse clear sputum, worse in cold weather, in a patient who is not febrile. The chapter's instinct to warm rather than cool such a cough is sound, and it is still how such a case is approached in Korean practice. **Contains pinellia, which is toxic in the raw state and must be properly processed. Asarum at this weight should be used only under supervision.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.