Major Blue-Green Dragon Decoction

Pattern-based

• Wind damage showing a cold pulse or cold damage showing a wind pulse
• Fever and aversion to wind with vexation and agitation and no sweat

Biomedical correlates

• Influenza with high fever and restlessness
• Acute bronchitis with fever and agitation

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

善解風寒兩傷. 麻黃 三錢, 桂枝 二錢, 杏仁 一錢半, 石膏 四錢, 甘草 一錢. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑 三片, 棗 二枚, 水煎服, 如上法. 有汗勿服. 《入門》 ○發熱ㆍ惡風ㆍ煩躁ㆍ手足溫, 爲傷風候; 脉浮緊, 爲傷寒脉, 是傷風見寒脉也. 寒多熱少ㆍ不煩躁ㆍ手足微厥, 爲傷寒候; 脉浮緩, 爲傷風脉, 是傷寒見風脉也. 蓋脉似桂枝反無汗, 病似麻黃反煩躁, 是也. 此藥能主之. 《活人》 ○仲景治傷寒, 一則桂枝, 二則麻黃, 三則靑龍. 桂枝治傷風, 麻黃治傷寒, 靑龍治傷風見寒脉ㆍ傷寒見風脉. 三者如鼎立. 予嘗深究三旨, 若證候與脉相對, 則無不應手而愈. 《本事》

Translation

Resolves well a double injury of wind and cold. Ephedra, 3 don; cinnamon twig, 2 don; apricot kernel, 1 don 5 fun; gypsum, 4 don; licorice, 1 don. Cut up, make one packet, add three slices of ginger and two jujubes, and decoct in water, following the method above. If there is sweating, do not give it. — Immun 入門 ○ Fever, aversion to wind, vexation and agitation, and warm hands and feet are the signs of wind damage; a floating tight pulse is the pulse of cold damage — this is wind damage showing a cold pulse. Much cold and little heat, no vexation or agitation, and the hands and feet slightly reversed are the signs of cold damage; a floating moderate pulse is the pulse of wind damage — this is cold damage showing a wind pulse. In short, the pulse resembles the cinnamon twig case yet there is no sweat; the disease resembles the ephedra case yet there is vexation and agitation. This is it, and this medicine can govern it. — Hwarin 活人 ○ Zhongjing treated cold damage with cinnamon twig first, ephedra second and the dragon third. Cinnamon twig treats wind damage, ephedra treats cold damage, and the dragon treats wind damage showing a cold pulse and cold damage showing a wind pulse. The three stand like the legs of a tripod. I have long studied the import of the three, and where the signs and the pulse are matched against each other, there is no case that does not heal under the hand. — Bonsa 本事 (Donguibogam · Han, upper)