Formulas · Release the Exterior 解表 · Uihak Immun (醫學入門)

Ephedra and Cinnamon Twig Decoction for Taiyang

Mahwang-gyeji-tang

한글 마황계지탕 · Pinyin Ma Huang Gui Zhi Tang

麻黃桂枝湯

Registered with the chapter suffix to distinguish it from the 麻黃桂枝湯 registered elsewhere on this site, which has a quite different composition. The cinnamon twig outweighs the ephedra, which marks it as the milder of the exterior formulas.

Composition 構成

Gyeji Gui Zhi
桂枝 계지 · Cinnamon Twig

8 g
Chief 君
Mahwang Ma Huang
麻黃 마황 · Ephedra

4.8 g
Chief 君
Baekjagyak Bai Shao
白芍藥 백작약 · White Peony

8 g
Deputy 臣
Haengin Xing Ren
杏仁 행인 · Apricot Kernel

3.2 g
Assistant 佐
Gamcho Gan Cao
甘草 감초 · Licorice

4 g
Envoy 使
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Envoy 使

five slices
Daejo Da Zao
大棗 대조 · Jujube

—
Envoy 使

two fruits

Total 28 g per packet (첩) · representative dosage — verify against source texts. Excludes 2 ingredients measured by count or used as a vehicle, shown as —.

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

Treats taiyang disease of eight or nine days with fever and aversion to cold coming and going like malaria
Releases the exterior gently

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Taiyang disease lingering with alternating fever and chills
Wind cold at the surface not yet resolved

Biomedical correlates

Prolonged influenza
Intermittent fever

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

太陽病八九日, 發熱ㆍ惡寒ㆍ往來如瘧狀. 桂枝ㆍ芍藥各二錢, 麻黃一錢二分, 甘草一錢, 杏仁八分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑五片, 棗二枚, 水煎服. 《入門》

Translation

Taiyang disease of eight or nine days, with fever and aversion to cold coming and going in the manner of malaria. Cinnamon twig and peony, 2 don each; ephedra, 1 don 2 fun; licorice, 1 don; apricot kernel, 8 fun. Cut up, make one packet, add five slices of ginger and two jujubes, and decoct in water. — Uihak Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · Han)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Cinnamon twig at twice the ephedra, which is the proportion that defines this formula against Mahwang-tang: by the eighth or ninth day the exterior is no longer tight and a full sweating dose would empty the patient, so the harmonizing drugs lead and the ephedra follows. The phrase 往來如瘧狀 — coming and going in the manner of malaria — describes the intermittent fever of a lingering illness, and the chapter is careful to say it only resembles malaria; the true intermittent fevers have their own chapter. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.