Formulas · Purge Downward 瀉下 · Dongwon (東垣)

Three-in-One Order the Qi Decoction

Samil-seunggi-tang

한글 삼일승기탕 · Pinyin San Yi Cheng Qi Tang

三一承氣湯

The Bogam gives the composition in the Cold chapter and here supplies only Dongwon's commentary, which is translated in full.

Composition 構成

Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

—
Chief 君

as in the Bogam's Cold chapter formula
Mangcho Mang Xiao
芒硝 망초 · Mirabilite

—
Chief 君

drawn into the large intestine by the rhubarb
Hubak Hou Po
厚朴 후박 · Magnolia Bark

—
Deputy 臣

as in the Bogam's Cold chapter formula
Jisil Zhi Shi
枳實 지실 · Immature Bitter Orange

—
Deputy 臣

as in the Bogam's Cold chapter formula
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

—
Envoy 使

as in the Bogam's Cold chapter formula

Total 0 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 5 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 cold damage and miscellaneous disease with heat exuberant and both passages not passing
Treats fullness and pain of the chest and abdomen

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Yang brightness repletion heat with obstruction of both passages

Biomedical correlates

Febrile ileus
Faecal impaction with fever

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治傷寒及雜病熱盛, 大小便不通, 胸腹滿痛. 《方見寒門》 ○芒硝以大黃引之, 直入大腸, 潤燥軟堅, 瀉熱. 以在下言之, 便ㆍ尿俱陰; 以前後言之, 則前氣後血; 以腎言之, 捴主大小便難. 夫尿澁便秘, 俱爲水少. 經曰, 熱淫于內, 治以醎寒, 佐以苦, 故用芒硝ㆍ大黃相須爲使也. 《東垣》

Translation

Treats cold damage and miscellaneous disease with heat exuberant, both passages not passing, and fullness and pain of the chest and abdomen. (Its formula is in the Cold chapter.) Mirabilite, drawn in by the rhubarb, goes straight into the large intestine, moistens the dryness, softens the hardness and drains the heat. Spoken of as below, stool and urine are both yin; spoken of as front and back, the front is qi and the back is blood; spoken of in terms of the kidney, it governs difficulty of both stool and urine together. Now inhibited urine and bound stool are both a shortage of water. The classic says: where heat is excessive within, treat it with the salty and cold, assisted by the bitter — and so mirabilite and rhubarb are used, each needing the other, as the envoy. — Dongwon 東垣 (Donguibogam · Daebyeon)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The Bogam gives no composition here, only Dongwon's commentary, and the commentary is the reason the entry matters. It argues that constipation and scant urine are one disorder — both a shortage of water — and justifies the mirabilite-and-rhubarb pair from the Neijing's rule that inner heat is treated with the salty and cold assisted by the bitter. Mirabilite is sodium sulphate, an osmotic that draws water into the bowel, so salty and cold is a fair description of what it does. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.