Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Uihak Immun (醫學入門)

Gardenia and Fermented Soybean Decoction

Jesi-tang

한글 치시탕 · Pinyin Zhi Chi Tang

梔豉湯

Composition 構成

Chija Zhi Zi
梔子 치자 · Gardenia

—
Chief 君

four large fruits
Dusi Dou Chi
豆豉 두시 · Fermented Soybean

24 g
Deputy 臣

Total 24 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

Ejects phlegm congested at the chest and diaphragm
Relieves agitation

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Phlegm congested at the chest and diaphragm with agitation breaking out

Biomedical correlates

Agitation with chest discomfort

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治胸膈痰壅發躁. (大)梔子四枚, 豆豉六錢. 右水煎飮, 得吐止. 瓜蔕性猛, 不如梔豉湯更妙. 梔豉之苦寒, 更入酸虀水少許, 以吐胸中之邪. 《入門》仲景, 用梔子爲吐藥, 梔子本非吐藥. 爲邪氣在上, 拒而不納, 故令上吐, 邪得以出. 經曰, 其高者, 因而越之, 此之謂也. 《湯液》

Translation

Treats phlegm congested at the chest and diaphragm with agitation breaking out. Large gardenia four fruits, fermented soybean 6 don. Decoct in water and drink; when vomiting is obtained, stop. Melon stalk is violent in nature and is not as good as Gardenia and Fermented Soybean Decoction, which is better still. To the bitter cold of gardenia and soybean, add a little sour pickle water to eject the evil in the chest. Zhongjing used gardenia as an emetic, but gardenia is not fundamentally an emetic. It is that the evil qi lies above and is refused and not taken in, and so it is made to vomit upward and the evil can issue. The classic says: what is high, thereby overflow it — and this means that. — Uihak Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · To)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The section's own argument against its principal formula: 瓜蔕性猛, 不如梔豉湯更妙 — melon stalk is violent and this is better. The Tangaek note that follows is the more interesting half. Gardenia is not an emetic; the vomiting happens because the evil sits high and the body refuses what is given. 其高者, 因而越之 — what is high, let it overflow — is the Neijing line the whole chapter rests on, and here it is used to explain why a cold bitter medicine should produce vomiting at all. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.