Formulas · Invigorate Blood 活血祛瘀 · Donguibogam · Po

Free the Menses Pill

Tonggyeong-hwan

한글 통경환 · Pinyin Tong Jing Wan

通經丸

Pill formula, equal parts: powdered finely, then 2 nyang of the powder is first simmered with vinegar into a paste, the remaining powder worked into it evenly, and pills the size of parasol-tree seeds formed. Note on modern practice: dried lacquer is a sensitizing agent not used in contemporary practice, and prolonged amenorrhea requires evaluation rather than long courses of breaking medicinals.

Composition 構成

Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

20 g
Chief 君 heart (桂心)
Cheongpi Qing Pi
靑皮 청피 · Green Tangerine Peel

20 g
Deputy 臣
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

20 g
Deputy 臣
Geongang Gan Jiang
乾薑 건강 · Dried Ginger

20 g
Deputy 臣
Cheoncho Chuan Jiao
川椒 천초 · Sichuan Pepper

20 g
Assistant 佐
Bongchul E Zhu
莪朮 봉출 · Zedoary

20 g
Assistant 佐
Geonchil Gan Qi
乾漆 건칠 · Dried Lacquer

20 g
Assistant 佐 dry-fried
Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

20 g
Assistant 佐
Doin Tao Ren
桃仁 도인 · Peach Kernel

20 g
Assistant 佐
Honghwa Hong Hua
紅花 홍화 · Safflower

20 g
Assistant 佐

Total 200 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

Frees a cycle long stopped and dissolves the Blood concretion it has formed
Warms breaks and drives on a ten-herb frame

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

The menses of an unmarried woman not flowing or having formed a Blood concretion (月候不通或成血瘕)
Long amenorrhea with mass formation
Cold stagnation of the deepest grade

Biomedical correlates

Long-standing amenorrhea
Pelvic mass with cold-pattern signs — supportive care
Refractory menstrual obstruction

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治室女月候不通, 或成血瘕. 桂心ㆍ靑皮ㆍ大黃ㆍ乾薑ㆍ川椒ㆍ蓬朮ㆍ乾漆(炒)ㆍ當歸ㆍ桃仁ㆍ紅花各五錢. 右爲細末, 先取二兩和醋熬膏, 乃入餘末, 和勻作丸梧子大.

Translation

Treats an unmarried woman whose menses do not flow, or which have formed a Blood concretion. Cinnamon heart, green tangerine peel, rhubarb, dried ginger, Sichuan pepper, curcuma, dry-fried lacquer, Korean angelica, peach kernel, and safflower, 5 don each. Powder the above finely; first take 2 nyang of it, mix with vinegar and simmer to a paste, then work in the remaining powder evenly and form pills the size of parasol-tree seeds. — Donguibogam · Po

Clinical commentary 臨床

Ten herbs at flat equal weight, and no builders among them — cinnamon heart, dried ginger, and Sichuan pepper for the cold, rhubarb and lacquer and curcuma for the mass, peach kernel and safflower for the Blood itself. The chapter's heaviest artillery, reserved for a cycle that has been closed long enough to form something you can feel. Its own preparation shows the caution: part of the powder is cooked into vinegar first, so the pill is bound in the flavor that gathers even as it drives. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.