Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Manbyeong Hoechun (萬病回春)

Five Epidemics Elixir

Oon-dan

한글 오온단 · Pinyin Wu Wen Dan

五瘟丹

Composition 構成

Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

120 g
Chief 君

brocade-veined (錦紋), densely decocted and boiled down to a paste as the binder
Hwangnyeon Huang Lian
黃連 황련 · Coptis

40 g
Chief 君

raw; sovereign in the wu and gyu years, then doubled
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

40 g
Deputy 臣

raw (黃栢); sovereign in the byeong and sin years, then doubled
Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

40 g
Deputy 臣

raw; sovereign in the eul and gyeong years, then doubled
Hyangbuja Xiang Fu
香附子 향부자 · Cyperus

40 g
Assistant 佐

raw (香附); sovereign in the jeong and im years, then doubled
Jasoyeop Zi Su Ye
紫蘇葉 자소엽 · Perilla Leaf

40 g
Assistant 佐

raw
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

40 g
Envoy 使

raw; sovereign in the gap and gi years, then doubled
Jusa Zhu Sha
朱砂 주사 · Cinnabar (toxic)

—
Envoy 使

for the coating · toxic
Unghwang Xiong Huang
雄黃 웅황 · Realgar

—
Envoy 使

for the coating · toxic
Geumbak Jin Bo
金箔 금박 · Gold Leaf

—
Envoy 使

gold leaf, laid over the coating

Total 360 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 epidemic disease in circulation, cold damage febrile disease and heat malaria
Drains the three yellows downward with rhubarb, the sovereign drug set by the year

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Epidemic disease in circulation (流行瘟疫)
Cold damage febrile disease (傷寒熱病)
Heat malaria (熱瘧)

Biomedical correlates

Epidemic febrile illness — historical treatment
Malaria with fever

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治流行瘟疫及傷寒熱病ㆍ熱瘧. ○黃連屬火, 戊癸年爲君. ○黃栢屬水, 丙辛年爲君. ○黃芩屬金, 乙庚年爲君. ○甘草屬土, 甲己年爲君. ○香附屬木, 丁壬年爲君. ○紫蘇葉各一兩, 爲君者倍入. 右皆生用, 冬至日製爲末, 用錦紋大黃三兩, 濃煎湯去渣, 熬成膏和丸彈子大, 朱砂ㆍ雄黃末爲衣, 再貼金箔. 每一丸, 井華水磨服. 《回春》

Translation

Treats epidemic disease in circulation, and cold damage febrile disease and heat malaria. ○ Coptis belongs to fire and is sovereign in the wu and gyu years. ○ Phellodendron belongs to water and is sovereign in the byeong and sin years. ○ Scutellaria belongs to metal and is sovereign in the eul and gyeong years. ○ Licorice belongs to earth and is sovereign in the gap and gi years. ○ Cyperus belongs to wood and is sovereign in the jeong and im years. ○ With perilla leaf, 1 nyang each, and whichever is sovereign is put in at double. All of the above are used raw. Prepare them on the day of the winter solstice and make a powder. Take 3 nyang of brocade-veined rhubarb, decoct it densely, strain off the dregs, boil it down to a paste, and mix and roll pills the size of a bullet. Coat them with powdered cinnabar and realgar, then lay gold leaf over that. Grind one pill each time and take it in dawn-drawn well water. — Hoechun 回春 (Donguibogam · On)

Clinical commentary 臨床

A pill built on the calendar. Coptis belongs to fire and is sovereign in the wu and gyu years; phellodendron to water, in byeong and sin; scutellaria to metal, in eul and gyeong; licorice to earth, in gap and gi; cyperus to wood, in jeong and im. Perilla leaf is given no phase and no year. All six go in at a nyang, and whichever drug is sovereign for the year is doubled. The drugs are then used raw, powdered on the day of the winter solstice, and bound with a thick rhubarb decoction boiled down to a paste; the pills are rolled to the size of a bullet, coated with cinnabar and realgar, gold-leafed over that, and one is ground in dawn-drawn well water and drunk. The solstice date, the sovereign of the year and the gold are as much ritual as pharmacy, and the chapter keeps several such preparations. Read as medicine, what is left underneath is the three yellows with rhubarb — a real and forceful cold purgative — wrapped in a sixty-year cycle. **The coating is cinnabar, a mercury sulphide, with realgar, an arsenic sulphide. Both are poisonous and this must not be prepared.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.