Decoction to Nourish Yin and Descend Fire

沈氏尊生方

White Peony root 10g, Angelica sinensis root 10g, Prepared Rehmannia root 8g, Asparagus root 8g, Ophiopogon root 8g, Atractylodes macrocephala rhizome 8g, Raw Rehmannia root 6g, Aged tangerine peel 6g, Anemarrhena rhizome 4g, Phellodendron bark 4g, Prepared Licorice root 4g, Fresh ginger 10g, Jujube 10g

Boil nine bowls of water down to three bowls; take one bowl warm after each of the three meals.

湯劑

Nourish yin and descend fire, relieve cough and dispel phlegm.

Consumptive disease with yin depletion and blood deficiency, vigorous ministerial fire; symptoms include fever, night sweats, palpitations, cough, fatigue, dry mouth, insomnia, dry throat, emaciation, dry stool, red tongue body, and deep rapid pulse.

Cough with phlegm and wheezing: add Morus root bark, Aster root, and Scutellaria root. -- Excessive phlegm: add Fritillaria bulb, Tussilago flower, and Morus root bark. -- Night sweats: add Astragalus root and Ziziphus seed. -- Lower abdominal pain: add Aucklandia root and Fennel fruit. -- Bone-steaming consumptive fever: add Lycium bark and Bupleurum root.

This formula is named for the idea of enriching yin and lowering liver-kidney fire; it is recorded in Wanbing Huichun (Recovery from All Diseases). Taken together with Liuwei Pill, it has a remarkable effect of greatly supplementing consumptive disease. Its characteristics are that the fever is hectic fever, the cough is more severe in the evening, and the phlegm is necessarily sticky and difficult to expectorate. Most patients have slightly dark skin, hard stool, and a fine rapid pulse. Conversely, if the skin is pale, there is sweating, cough or copious phlegm, and the gastrointestinal tract is weak with a tendency to diarrhea, it is contraindicated.