Support the Interior Powder

Paljin-tang, the Eight Substances, with cnidium dropped and astragalus and aged tangerine peel put in — which is to say Sagunja-tang and Samul-tang joined, then tilted toward the qi side. The leaf names its own purpose in three characters, 以此補托: supplement in order to express. That is the whole logic of the chapter's 托裏 and 內托 group. Where the body is strong and the gut is stopped, the chapter drains — Naesohwangryeon-tang, Oridaehwang-tang, Cheongeumnuro-tang, taking free movement of the bowel as the measure. Where the body is spent, it does the opposite and builds it up so that the swelling is pushed outward and the pus comes away. The two arms read as a pair, and the method leaf's closing passage states the rule plainly: when an abscess has gone on long, the qi and blood are waning, the pus is thin and clear and the sore mouth will not close, then 托裏 is what is called for — where pus has not formed, make it form quickly; where it has broken, make new flesh grow early; supplement what is vacuous and attune what is unbalanced. The indication here is the late one, the wound that will not close, and it is the most defensible in the chapter. A chronic non-healing wound in a depleted patient is a real clinical entity, and protein and general nutritional repletion genuinely matter to wound healing. That is not the same as this decoction doing it, and a sinus or an undrained cavity will not close for any amount of ginseng; but the reasoning is not foolish, and it is the part of the 托裏 idea worth keeping. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.