Formulas · Invigorate Blood 活血祛瘀 · Gogeum Uigam (古今醫鑑)

Free the Menses Decoction

Tonggyeong-tang

한글 통경탕 · Pinyin Tong Jing Tang

通經湯

Composition 構成

Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

2.8 g
Chief 君
Cheongung Chuan Xiong
川芎 천궁 · Cnidium

2.8 g
Chief 君
Baekjakyak Bai Shao
白芍藥 백작약 · White Peony

2.8 g
Deputy 臣
Saengjihwang Sheng Di Huang
生地黃 생지황 · Raw Rehmannia

2.8 g
Deputy 臣
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

2.8 g
Deputy 臣
Yukgye Rou Gui
肉桂 육계 · Cinnamon Bark

2.8 g
Assistant 佐

官桂
Hubak Hou Po
厚朴 후박 · Magnolia Bark

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Jigak Zhi Qiao
枳殼 지각 · Bitter Orange

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Jisil Zhi Shi
枳實 지실 · Immature Bitter Orange

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Somok Su Mu
蘇木 소목 · Sappan Wood

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Honghwa Hong Hua
紅花 홍화 · Safflower

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Daejo Da Zao
大棗 대조 · Jujube

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

6 g
Envoy 使
Omae Wu Mei
烏梅 오매 · Mume Plum

—
Envoy 使

1 fruit

Total 47.6 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

Frees blocked menses
Abducts phlegm and downbears fire so the menses may descend

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Menses blocked
Heart qi unable to communicate downward so that the menses do not come

Biomedical correlates

Amenorrhoea

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治月閉. 當歸ㆍ川芎ㆍ白芍藥ㆍ生乾地黃ㆍ大黃ㆍ官桂ㆍ厚朴ㆍ枳殼ㆍ枳實ㆍ黃芩ㆍ蘇木ㆍ紅花各七分. 右剉, 作一貼. 入烏梅一箇, 薑三片, 棗二枚, 水煎服. 《醫鑑》心氣不得下通, 故月事不來. 宜用黃連, 厚朴之類, 導痰降火, 則月事來矣. 此藥是也. 宜加黃連七分.

Translation

Treats blocked menses. Angelica, chuanxiong, white peony, dried fresh rehmannia, rhubarb, cinnamon bark, magnolia bark, bitter orange, bitter orange fruit, scutellaria, sappan and safflower 7 pun each. Cut up, make one packet; add 1 mume fruit, 3 slices of ginger and 2 jujubes, decoct in water and take. The heart qi cannot communicate downward, and so the menses do not come. Coptis and magnolia bark and their kind should be used, to abduct phlegm and downbear fire, and then the menses come. This medicine is that; 7 pun of coptis should be added. — Gogeum Uigam 醫鑑 (Donguibogam · Po)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Samul-tang with rhubarb, sappan and safflower to break, and the qi-movers of Xiao Chengqi to open below. What the appended note adds is the mechanism the chapter keeps returning to: 心氣不得下通 — the heart qi cannot communicate downward. The uterus is held to connect to the heart through the uterine vessel, so the menses fail when that link is blocked above rather than when the womb is at fault. That is why a formula for amenorrhoea carries coptis, and why the chapter's blocked-menses section reads as much about the heart as about the blood. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.