Bupleurum and Forsythia Decoction

Sihoyeongyo-tang

한글 시호연교탕 · Pinyin Chai Hu Lian Qiao Tang

柴胡連翹湯

Composition 構成

Siho Chai Hu
柴胡 시호 · Bupleurum

3.2 g
Chief 君
Yeongyo Lian Qiao
連翹 연교 · Forsythia

3.2 g
Chief 君
Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

3.2 g
Deputy 臣
Jeokjagyak Chi Shao
赤芍藥 적작약 · Red Peony

3.2 g
Deputy 臣
Gwaruin Gua Lou Ren
瓜蔞仁 과루인 · Trichosanthes Seed

3.2 g
Deputy 臣
Chija Zhi Zi
梔子 치자 · Gardenia

3.2 g
Deputy 臣

part: kernel
Hwangnyeon Huang Lian
黃連 황련 · Coptis

3.2 g
Deputy 臣
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

3.2 g
Deputy 臣
Jigak Zhi Qiao
枳殼 지각 · Bitter Orange

3.2 g
Assistant 佐
Gilgyeong Jie Geng
桔梗 길경 · Platycodon

3.2 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

3.2 g
Envoy 使
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Envoy 使

three slices

Total 35.2 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

Clears heat from all three burners
Stops delirium and groaning
Restores sleep

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Cold damage with fever and delirium
Heat harassing the spirit with sleeplessness and groaning

Biomedical correlates

Febrile delirium
Insomnia and restlessness in acute infection

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治傷寒發熱ㆍ譫語ㆍ呻吟ㆍ睡卧不得. 柴胡ㆍ黃芩ㆍ枳殼ㆍ赤芍藥ㆍ桔梗ㆍ瓜蔞仁ㆍ梔子仁ㆍ連翹ㆍ黃連ㆍ黃栢ㆍ甘草各八分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑三片, 水煎服. 《醫鑑》

Translation

Treats cold damage with fever, delirious speech, groaning and inability to sleep. Bupleurum, scutellaria, bitter orange, red peony, platycodon, trichosanthes kernel, gardenia kernel, forsythia, coptis and phellodendron, and licorice, 8 fun each. Cut up, make one packet, add three slices of ginger and decoct in water. — Uigam 醫鑑 (Donguibogam · Han, lower)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The three yellows plus gardenia cover the whole vertical range of heat, and bupleurum with scutellaria holds the shaoyang while forsythia works on the surface — so this is a formula for heat that has not settled into one place. Trichosanthes kernel and platycodon with bitter orange open the chest, which is where the groaning comes from; red peony cools the blood that the delirium points to. Eleven drugs at the same small dose, each covering a different storey of the same fire, and the result is broad rather than sharp. The Bogam places it where the fever has gone on long enough to disturb sleep but has not yet produced the frank mania of the preceding entries. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.