Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Manbyeong Hoechun (萬病回春)

Arctium, Scutellaria and Coptis Decoction

Ubanggeumnyeon-tang

한글 우방금련탕 · Pinyin Niu Bang Qin Lian Tang

牛蒡芩連湯

The leaf prints 各一錢 twice in succession for two separate groups of drugs; both groups are entered at 1 don. 入薑三 is written without 片, and is read as three slices. The transcription prints 囬春 for 回春.

Composition 構成

Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

8 g
Chief 君

wine-washed
Hwangnyeon Huang Lian
黃連 황련 · Coptis

4 g
Chief 君

stir-fried with ginger juice
Daehwang Da Huang
大黃 대황 · Rhubarb

4 g
Deputy 臣

wine-steamed
Seokgo Shi Gao
石膏 석고 · Gypsum

4 g
Deputy 臣
Yeongyo Lian Qiao
連翹 연교 · Forsythia

4 g
Deputy 臣
Ubangja Niu Bang Zi
牛蒡子 우방자 · Burdock Seed

4 g
Deputy 臣
Gilgyeong Jie Geng
桔梗 길경 · Platycodon

4 g
Assistant 佐
Hyeonsam Xuan Shen
玄參 현삼 · Scrophularia

4 g
Assistant 佐
Hyeonggae Jing Jie
荊芥 형개 · Schizonepeta

2 g
Assistant 佐
Bangpung Fang Feng
防風 방풍 · Siler

2 g
Assistant 佐
Ganghwal Qiang Huo
羌活 강활 · Notopterygium

2 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

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

—
Envoy 使

three slices

Total 46 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 toxin from the head and face and drains it below
Resolves toxin and disperses swelling with arctium and forsythia
Also used for the mute miasma

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Epidemic swelling of the head (大頭瘟)
Mute miasma (啞瘴) — a miasmic epidemic with loss of voice

Biomedical correlates

Epidemic illness with swelling of the head, face and neck
Febrile pharyngeal and facial swelling with hoarseness or voice loss

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治大頭瘟, 兼治啞瘴. 黃芩(酒洗) 二錢, 黃連(薑汁炒)ㆍ桔梗ㆍ大黃(酒蒸)ㆍ石膏各一錢, 連翹ㆍ惡實ㆍ玄參ㆍ甘草各一錢, 荊芥ㆍ防風ㆍ羌活各五分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑三, 水煎, 徐徐服之. 《回春》

Translation

Treats epidemic swelling of the head, and also treats the mute miasma. Wine-washed scutellaria, 2 don; coptis stir-fried with ginger juice, platycodon, wine-steamed rhubarb and gypsum, 1 don each; forsythia, arctium seed, scrophularia and licorice, 1 don each; schizonepeta, saposhnikovia and qianghuo, 5 fun each. Cut up, make one packet, put in three slices of ginger, decoct in water and take it slowly. — Hoechun 回春 (Donguibogam · On)

Clinical commentary 臨床

The Hoechun’s version of the big-head prescription, and the one its own author sends patients to when Iseonggugo-hwan has not finished the job. Wine-washed scutellaria leads at double the common weight; wine-steamed rhubarb and gypsum are what distinguish it from the Dongwon line, adding a downward drain and a cold that reaches the Stomach channel of the face. Arctium seed, here written 惡實, is in the name because it is the drug the formula is built around. 啞瘴, the mute miasma, is the second indication and the odd one. It names a miasmic epidemic in which the voice is lost, which fits a throat swollen past speaking, and the prescription treats it by the same route as the facial swelling. The instruction 徐徐服之 — take it slowly — is worth keeping. Sipped rather than swallowed at once, a decoction stays in contact with the throat. **Fever with facial swelling and a lost voice needs urgent assessment.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.