Gui Zhi Ren Shen Tang (Cinnamon Twig and Ginseng Decoction)

Cinnamon Twig and Ginseng Decoction

Shang Han Lun, c. 220 CE

• Li Zhong Tang (Ren Shen, Bai Zhu, Gan Jiang, Zhi Gan Cao) – warm middle
• plus Gui Zhi (release exterior)

• Warms and tonifies the middle burner
• Releases a lingering exterior

Middle deficiency-cold with a lingering exterior: persistent diarrhoea with undigested food, epigastric focal distension, and ongoing chills, fever and body aches.

Tongue: pale with a white coat. Pulse: deep and weak (or floating).

Add Fu Zi for marked yang deficiency.

For middle cold with exterior; not for damp-heat diarrhoea.