Qinghaotai Jia Tang

Qinghaotai Jia Tang

(Wen Bing Tiao Bian)

[Composition] Qinghaotai 6 grams, Baojia 15 grams, Zhimu 6 grams, Shengdi 12 grams, Mudanpi 9 grams

[Usage] Brewed in water and taken orally.

[Indications] Yin deficiency with fire agitation, with residual pathogenic factors lingering within.

[Indications] Nighttime fever with early coolness, heat subsides without sweating, red tongue with little coating, and a fine, rapid pulse.

[Functions] Nourish yin and clear heat.

[Formula Explanation] Although the high heat has subsided, yin fluids are depleted; when yin is deficient, false fire may arise, leading to uncontrolled heat. Nighttime fever with early coolness, red tongue with little coating, and a fine, rapid pulse all indicate yin deficiency with fire agitation; heat subsides without sweating, indicating that residual pathogenic factors still linger in the yin portion and cannot be expelled externally. This condition involves both yin deficiency with fire agitation and residual pathogenic factors lingering within; simply nourishing yin may lead to lingering pathogenic factors, while simply eliminating pathogenic factors may damage yin. In the formula, Qinghaotai opens the skin and pathways to draw out pathogenic factors, while Baojia enters the blood and yin to nourish yin and detoxify—both herbs work together to nourish yin and clear heat as their primary functions. Zhimu, Mudanpi, and Shengdi all possess the properties of nourishing yin and clearing heat as auxiliary ingredients.

[Clinical Additions and Subtractions]

① Remove Shengdi and add Sangye and Huafen, still named Qinghaotai Jia Tang (Wen Bing Tiao Bian), used to treat “pulses that are left-handed, with nighttime fever and early coolness, sweating and thirst, and where the sunnier side of the body tends toward heat.”

② This formula can also be used for pulmonary tuberculosis with bone marrow depletion; add Shaoshan and Hanlian to nourish yin and clear the lungs; add Baiwei, Shihu, and Digeopi to clear deficiency heat.

③ Add Baiwei and He Geng to treat summer heat in children, who experience nighttime fever with early coolness, indicating yin deficiency with heat.

④ Remove Mudanpi and Shengdi from this formula, and add Yin Chaihu, Huhuanglian, and Roasted Gan Cao, forming Qinggu San (Zheng Zhi Chuang Shu), used to treat deficiency heat in bone marrow.

[Reference Materials]

① “Nighttime fever with early coolness, heat subsides without sweating, and heat originates from the yin—this is what Qinghaotai Jia Tang addresses. Nighttime heat resides in the yin portion, while daytime heat resides in the yang portion; one can tell that pathogenic factors are deeply hidden in the yin portion. Heat subsides without sweating, meaning that the pathogenic factors remain in the yin portion and do not reach the surface—this is another indication! Thus, it is said that heat comes from the yin.” (Wen Bing Tiao Bian)

② Remove Mudanpi and Shengdi from Qinghaotai Jia Tang, and add Chaihu, Gou Teng, Chen Pi, and Bai Zhu to treat 19 cases of rubella-like conjunctivitis caused by dryness in the lung meridian; few doses, many doses—ten or more—were sufficient for complete recovery. Recovery rate was 100%. (Beihai Science and Technology, 1973, 1)

[Commentary] This formula can be used for vegetative nervous system disorders and fever of unknown origin in the later stages of fever; it can also be used for low-grade fevers associated with tuberculosis, low-grade fevers in blood diseases, and summer heat in children.