Formulas · Warm the Interior 溫裏 · Jikji (直指)

Aconite and Seven Jujubes Decoction

Oduchiljo-tang

한글 오두칠조탕 · Pinyin Wu Tou Qi Zao Tang

烏頭七棗湯

The leaf writes 𥂁水, normalised here to 鹽水. The seven jujubes are counted, not weighed, and carry no gram figure.

Composition 構成

Cheono Chuan Wu
川烏 천오 · Aconite Main Root

—
Chief 君

one large root, steeped in salt water and blast-fried seven times, skin and navel removed, then cut up and divided between two packets
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Deputy 臣

seven slices to each packet
Daejo Da Zao
大棗 대조 · Jujube

—
Assistant 佐

seven jujubes to each packet, eaten before the decoction is drunk
Chongbaek Cong Bai
蔥白 총백 · Scallion White

—
Envoy 使

three scallion whites to each packet

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 4 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

Warms the channels and dispels cold
Scatters the cold malarial paroxysm
Protects the stomach with jujube

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Taxation malaria (勞瘧) — the enduring malaria
Cold malaria (寒瘧) with much cold and little heat
Cold malaria also called binhak (牝瘧)

Biomedical correlates

Malaria
Relapsing fever with severe rigors
Periodic fever with rigors

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治勞瘧及寒瘧. 大川烏一箇(以鹽水浸, 炮七次, 去皮臍). 右剉, 分二貼, 每貼入薑七ㆍ棗七ㆍ葱白三, 水煎稍冷, 先喫棗乃服藥. 《直指》

Translation

Treats the taxation malaria and the cold malaria. One large aconite main root, steeped in salt water and blast-fried seven times, with the skin and navel removed. Cut it up and divide it into two packets; to each packet add seven slices of ginger, seven jujubes and three scallion whites, decoct in water and let it cool a little; first eat the jujubes, then take the medicine. — Jikji 直指 (Donguibogam · Haehak)

Clinical commentary 臨床

One aconite main root against a cold paroxysm, and everything else in the formula is there to let the patient keep it down. The root is steeped in brine and blast-fried seven times before it is used at all, then split across two doses; ginger and scallion white carry the warmth outward to scatter the cold, and the seven jujubes are eaten first, before the decoction, so the stomach is lined when the aconite arrives. The decoction itself is let cool a little rather than drunk hot. The seven-jujube device gives the formula its name and links it to the chapter's Chiljo-tang; here the aconite is the whole of the medicine and the jujubes the whole of the protection. **Contains aconite main root (川烏), which is toxic. This must not be prepared.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.