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

Three Seeds Decoction

Samin-tang

한글 삼인탕 (옹저) · Pinyin San Ren Tang

三仁湯

The Bogam carries this name over a formula unrelated to the 溫病條辨 Samin-tang already registered as samin-tang, which is the damp-warmth formula of apricot kernel, cardamom and coix; the two share only the coix and the name, so this leaf takes the chapter tail. The transcription prints 癕 for 癰 twice and 冬苽仁 for 冬瓜仁; 癰 is printed above and 苽 left as the transcription has it. The first-edition collation reads 㽲 for the transcription's 病 — 腸中㽲痛, griping pain in the intestines — which is the better reading and the Bogam's usual word for that pain; the transcription's 病 is printed.

Composition 構成

Uiiin Yi Yi Ren
薏苡仁 의이인 · Coix Seed

12 g
Chief 君
Donggwaja Dong Gua Zi
冬瓜子 동과자 · Winter Melon Seed

10 g
Deputy 臣

written 冬苽仁 in the text
Doin Tao Ren
桃仁 도인 · Peach Kernel

8 g
Assistant 佐
Mokdanpi Mu Dan Pi
牡丹皮 목단피 · Moutan Bark

8 g
Assistant 佐

Total 38 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts.

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 腸癰 with griping pain inside the intestines
Drains dampness and breaks stasis in the lower abdomen without purging hard
To be taken even where it is doubtful whether there is an abscess at all

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

腸癰 — intestinal abscess with pain inside the gut
疑似間 — the equivocal case, where abscess is suspected but not established
Damp-heat and blood stasis gathered in the lower abdomen

Biomedical correlates

Suspected early appendicitis (classical use; requires surgical assessment)
Equivocal right iliac fossa mass or pain
Peri-appendiceal inflammatory mass

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治腸癰, 腸中病痛, 縱非癰, 疑似間便可服. 薏苡仁三錢, 冬苽仁二錢半, 桃仁ㆍ牡丹皮各二錢. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服. 《入門》 ○一名薏苡湯. 《三因》

Translation

Treats intestinal abscess with pain inside the intestines; even where it is not an abscess, in the doubtful case it may still be taken. Coix seed, 3 don; winter melon seed, 2 don 5 fun; peach kernel and moutan bark, 2 don each. Cut the above, make one packet, decoct in water and take. — Immun 入門. Also called Uii-tang, the Coix Decoction. — Samin 三因 (Donguibogam · Ongjeo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Four seeds and a bark, and almost no force in it: coix seed draining the dampness, winter melon seed cooling and pushing the discharge downward, peach kernel and moutan bark cooling the blood and breaking the stasis. Where Daehwang-mokdan-tang purges, this one drains, which is why the chapter places it at the surging, rapid pulse — after the heat has declared itself but when the bowel is too irritable to purge. The instruction on the leaf is the interesting part. 縱非癰, 疑似間便可服 — even if it is not an abscess, in the doubtful case it may simply be taken. That is a real clinical instinct about the equivocal right iliac fossa: a tender lower abdomen that may be an appendix, may be an ileitis, may be a tubal problem, may be nothing, and in a tradition without imaging the sane move is a mild formula that will not harm the patient who turns out not to have an abscess. A hard purge given to the wrong patient does harm; coix and winter melon seed do not. The second name, 薏苡湯, names the chief drug. **An equivocal tender right lower abdomen still needs examination and imaging. If it is appendicitis it can perforate within a day, and a formula given while waiting is not treatment.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.