Perilla Fruit Qi-Descending Decoction

Perilla Fruit Qi-Descending Decoction

Perillae Fructus (Zi Su Zi) 2.5 liang (75g), Pinelliae Rhizoma (Ban Xia) 2.5 liang (75g), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui) 1.5 liang (45g), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Zhi Gan Cao) 2 liang (60g), Peucedani Radix (Qian Hu) 1 liang (30g), Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex (Hou Po) 1 liang (30g), Cinnamomi Cortex (Rou Gui) 1.5 liang (45g)

Grind all the above medicinals into thin powder. Mix 2 qian (6g) with one and a half cups of water. Add two pieces of sheng jiang, 1 piece of da zao, and 5 pieces of zi su ye. Decoct down to 8 fen and take as needed. (Modern use: add 2 pieces of sheng jiang, 1 piece of da zao, and 2g of zi su ye. It can also be prepared as a decoction by adjusting the medicinal quantities based on their original ratios.)

Directs qi downward, dispels phlegm, relieves cough and panting.

Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang is indicated for coughing or wheezing in patterns of upper excess and lower deficiency. The symptoms are phlegm-drool accumulation, chest and diaphragm fullness and oppression, coughing, panting, shortness of breath, and exhaling more than inhaling. It is accompanied by lumbago, weakness in the legs, fatigue, lassitude, or swollen limbs. The tongue coating is glossy, white or greasy, white, and the pulse is wiry and slippery.

Upper excess refers to phlegm-drool accumulation in the lung that occurred because the lung lost its function of dispersing. It causes fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, cough, panting, and a large amount of phlegm. The tongue coating is glossy, white or greasy, white, and the pulse is wiry and slippery. Lower deficiency refers to kidney yang deficiency in the lower jiao. First, the kidney fails to govern qi reception and the patient exhales more than inhales and has shortness of breath. Second, the kidney fails to govern the bones and lumbago and weakness in legs are the result. Third, the kidney fails to govern water and water is not transformed by qi. Therefore, water doesn’t diffuse and accumulates as phlegm or it floods the exterior to cause edema. The pathogenesis of this formula pattern is that the phlegm-drool accumulation in the lung, and kidney yang insufficiency. It belongs to the type of upper excess and lower deficiency, but focusing on upper excess. So the strategy should focus on directing qi downward, dispelling phlegm, relieving cough and panting and then consider about kidney qi.

1. Essential pattern differentiation Su Zi Jiang Qi Tang is commonly indicated for patterns of upper excess and lower deficiency. This clinical pattern is marked by chest oppression, profuse loose white phlegm, white, glossy or white, greasy tongue. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders when the patient shows signs of phlegm-drool accumulation in the lung and kidney yang insufficiency: chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and bronchial asthma. 3. Cautions and contraindications This formula has warm and drying properties and is focused on directing qi downward and dispelling phlegm. It is not applicable for patients who suffer either with a lung-kidney yin deficiency type of cough and panting or lung heat with phlegm and wheezing.

Officinal Magnolia ( Magnolia officinalis ) is listed as "Endangered" in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.