Formulas · Clear Heat 淸熱 · Hwarinseo (活人書)

Cimicifuga Decoction for Yang Toxin

Yangdok-seungma-tang

한글 양독승마탕 · Pinyin Yang Du Sheng Ma Tang

陽毒升麻湯

犀角 is from a CITES Appendix I species and its trade is prohibited. Zhongjing's 陽毒升麻鼈甲湯 is the ancestor of this formula, which the Hwarinseo has reworked.

Composition 構成

Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

8 g
Chief 君
Seogak Xi Jiao
犀角 서각 · Rhinoceros Horn (prohibited)

6 g
Chief 君

CITES
Seungma Sheng Ma
升麻 승마 · Cimicifuga

4 g
Chief 君
Sagan She Gan
射干 사간 · Blackberry Lily

4 g
Deputy 臣
Insam Ren Shen
人蔘 인삼 · Ginseng

4 g
Deputy 臣
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

2.8 g
Envoy 使

Total 28.8 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

Treats the yang toxin of cold damage with a red face
wild speech or the seeing of ghosts and a floating large rapid pulse
Resolves by sweating

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Yang toxin with heat clouding the spirit
Fire toxin in the blood with delirium

Biomedical correlates

Severe sepsis with delirium
Hyperthermia with hallucination

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治傷寒陽毒, 面赤ㆍ狂言ㆍ或見鬼ㆍ脉浮大數. 黃芩二錢, 升麻ㆍ射干ㆍ人參各一錢, 犀角一錢半, 甘草七分. 右剉, 作一貼, 水煎服. 出汗則解. 《活人》

Translation

Treats the yang toxin of cold damage, with a red face, wild speech or the seeing of ghosts, and a floating large rapid pulse. Scutellaria, 2 don; cimicifuga, belamcanda and ginseng, 1 don each; rhinoceros horn, 1 don 5 fun; licorice, 7 fun. Cut up, make one packet and decoct in water. When the sweat comes out it resolves. — Hwarin 活人 (Donguibogam · Han)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Rhinoceros horn and scutellaria for a patient who is red-faced, raving and seeing things, with ginseng alongside to keep the cooling from emptying him. The seeing of ghosts is the entry's one memorable phrase and it is a straightforward description of the visual hallucinations of a high fever or a septic delirium. Rhinoceros horn is prohibited; what remains — cimicifuga lifting, belamcanda for the throat, scutellaria cooling — is a thin formula without it, and the section's Samhwang-seokgo-tang is the better choice. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.