Formulas · Purge Downward 瀉下 · Dansim (丹心)

Six Harmonies Decoction

Yukhwa-tang

한글 육화탕 · Pinyin Liu He Tang

六和湯

The Bogam carries two different formulas under the name 六和湯: this one, from the Haehak chapter, a dichroa formula for cutting off a malaria long unhealed, while the Seo chapter's Uigam formula of the same name harmonizes the six qi for summerheat injuring the heart and spleen with vomiting and diarrhoea. The 露一宿 of the instruction is the overnight dew-exposure of the finished decoction, not a drug, and is recorded in the preparation rather than the ingredient list.

Composition 構成

Sangsan Chang Shan
常山 상산 · Dichroa Root (toxic)

8 g
Chief 君

2 don
Jimo Zhi Mu
知母 지모 · Anemarrhena

4 g
Deputy 臣
Paemo Bei Mu
貝母 패모 · Fritillaria

4 g
Deputy 臣
Chogwa Cao Guo
草果 초과 · Tsaoko Fruit

4 g
Deputy 臣
Billang Bing Lang
檳榔 빈랑 · Areca Seed

4 g
Deputy 臣
Insam Ren Shen
人蔘 인삼 · Ginseng

4 g
Assistant 佐
Baekji Bai Zhi
白芷 백지 · Dahurian Angelica

4 g
Assistant 佐
Omae Wu Mei
烏梅 오매 · Mume Plum

4 g
Assistant 佐
Siho Chai Hu
柴胡 시호 · Bupleurum

4 g
Assistant 佐
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Envoy 使

three slices
Daejo Da Zao
大棗 대조 · Jujube

—
Envoy 使

two fruits

Total g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 2 ingredients 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

Cuts off a malaria long unhealed
Expels the lurking evil while holding the qi and the fluids

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Taxation malaria (勞瘧)
Old malaria (老瘧)
Malaria long unhealed

Biomedical correlates

Malaria
Relapsing periodic fever

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治瘧久不愈. 常山二錢, 知母ㆍ貝母ㆍ人參ㆍ草果ㆍ白芷ㆍ烏梅ㆍ檳榔ㆍ柴胡各一錢. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑三棗二, 酒水相半同煎, 露一宿, 臨發日服之. 《丹心》

Translation

Treats a malaria long unhealed. Dichroa root, 2 don; anemarrhena, fritillaria, ginseng, tsaoko, angelica dahurica, mume, areca and bupleurum, 1 don each. Cut the above, make one packet, add three slices of ginger and two jujubes, decoct it in half wine and half water together, leave it out in the dew for one night, and take it on the day the fit is due. — Dansim 丹心 (Donguibogam · Haehak)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Dichroa and areca at the head, which is the pair the chapter names outright — 雖內虛非常山檳榔决不能除, that even in a depleted patient nothing but dichroa and areca will clear it — with mume and tsaoko completing the standard malaria-cutting set. Against that attacking half the formula sets ginseng to hold the qi and anemarrhena and fritillaria to hold the fluids, since the indication is a malaria that has gone on long enough to leave the patient hollow. The preparation carries as much of the method as the drugs do. Half wine and half water, then the decoction is set out overnight in the dew and drunk on the day the fit is expected: the chapter's whole 截瘧 habit of dosing ahead of the onset rather than during it, the cooling night air being understood to temper a formula this harsh. **Contains dichroa root, which is a violent emetic and hepatotoxic. This must not be prepared. Malaria requires modern antimalarial treatment and prompt diagnosis.** — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.