The Coptis and Cinnamon Formula

Hwangryeonyukgye-bang

한글 황련육계방 · Pinyin Huang Lian Rou Gui Fang

黃連肉桂方

The base text gives this only as 一方; it is named here for its two ingredients. It is the formula later called Gyotae-hwan 交泰丸.

Composition 構成

Hwangryeon Huang Lian
黃連 황련 · Coptis

—
Chief 君

raw, as chief
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

—
Assistant 佐

官桂, a little, as assistant
Bongmil Feng Mi
蜂蜜 봉밀 · Honey

—
Envoy 使

put into the decoction

Total 0 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

Makes the heart and kidney meet in a moment

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Heart and kidney not communicating

Biomedical correlates

Insomnia with anxiety

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

一方, 黃連, 生用爲君, 佐官桂少許. 煎百沸湯, 入蜜, 空心服. 能使心腎交於頃刻. 《丹心》

Translation

Another formula: coptis, raw, as chief, assisted by a little cinnamon bark. Decoct in water boiled a hundred times, put in honey, and take on an empty stomach. It can make the heart and kidney meet in a moment. — Dansim 丹心 (Donguibogam · Sim)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Coptis and cinnamon — the coldest and the hottest — and 能使心腎交於頃刻, they make the heart and kidney meet in a moment. Coptis brings the heart's fire down, cinnamon brings the kidney's water up, and where they meet is sleep. Danxi's version in a decoction; the pill the tradition kept is Gyotae-hwan, the Pill of Peaceful Crossing. The Medicine Use chapter's 5.31 gave the principle — the utmost yang assisted by the utmost yin — and this is its smallest formula. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.