Supplement the Kidney Decoction

Bosin-tang

한글 보신탕 · Pinyin Bu Shen Tang

補腎湯

Cut and made into one packet with 3 slices of ginger, decocted in water and taken on an empty stomach. The chapter's general-treatment section names this formula as treating every kind of lumbar pain.

Composition 構成

Bogolji Bu Gu Zhi
補骨脂 보골지 · Psoralea

4 g
Chief 君 dry-fried
Duchung Du Zhong
杜仲 두충 · Eucommia Bark

4 g
Chief 君 wine-fried
Hoehyang Hui Xiang
茴香 회향 · Fennel Fruit

4 g
Deputy 臣 salt-wine-fried
Hyeonhosaek Yan Hu Suo
玄胡索 현호색 · Corydalis

4 g
Deputy 臣
Useul Niu Xi
牛膝 우슬 · Achyranthes

4 g
Deputy 臣 wine-washed
Danggui Dang Gui
當歸 당귀 · Korean Angelica

4 g
Deputy 臣 wine-washed
Hwangbaek Huang Bai
黃柏 황백 · Phellodendron

4 g
Assistant 佐 salt-wine-fried
Jimo Zhi Mu
知母 지모 · Anemarrhena

4 g
Assistant 佐 salt-wine-fried
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

6 g
Envoy 使 3 slices

Total 38 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts.

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

Supplements the Kidney and frees the lumbus in decoction form
Treats every kind of lumbar pain

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Kidney vacuity lumbar pain (治腎虛腰痛)
Treats every kind of lumbar pain (治一切腰痛)
The chapter's general decoction

Biomedical correlates

Low back pain of mixed pattern
General supportive treatment for lumbar pain
First-line decoction therapy

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治腎虛腰痛. 破故紙(炒)ㆍ茴香(鹽酒炒)ㆍ玄胡索ㆍ牛膝(酒洗)ㆍ當歸(酒洗)ㆍ杜沖(酒炒)ㆍ黃柏ㆍ知母(幷鹽酒炒) 各一錢. 右剉, 作一貼, 薑三片, 水煎, 空心服. 《醫鑑》

Translation

Treats Kidney vacuity lumbar pain. Dry-fried psoralea, salt-wine-fried fennel, corydalis, wine-washed achyranthes, wine-washed Korean angelica, wine-fried eucommia, and phellodendron and anemarrhena both salt-wine-fried, 1 don each. Cut the above, make one packet, add 3 slices of ginger, decoct in water and take on an empty stomach. — Uigam 醫鑑 (Donguibogam · Yo)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Eight herbs at one flat don each, and the chapter's own summary section returns to it as the formula for lumbar pain of any kind. The balance is what makes that plausible: psoralea and eucommia fill, corydalis and angelica move, achyranthes leads downward, and the salt-processed pair keeps the filling from raising heat. Every processing instruction in it involves salt or wine — salt to reach the Kidney, wine to reach the blood. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.