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

Bupleurum and Cimicifuga Decoction (Epidemic chapter)

Sihoseungma-tang

한글 시호승마탕 · Pinyin Chai Hu Sheng Ma Tang

柴胡升麻湯

The Bogam carries more than one formula under the name 柴胡升麻湯; the other, from the Voice chapter, treats cold damage with a cough and a hoarse voice or a sore throat and is registered as sihoseungma-tang.

Composition 構成

Siho Chai Hu
柴胡 시호 · Bupleurum

4 g
Chief 君
Seokgo Shi Gao
石膏 석고 · Gypsum

4 g
Chief 君
Jeonho Qian Hu
前胡 전호 · Peucedanum

4 g
Deputy 臣
Galgeun Ge Gen
葛根 갈근 · Kudzu Root

4 g
Deputy 臣
Hyeonggae Jing Jie
荊芥 형개 · Schizonepeta

4 g
Deputy 臣
Seungma Sheng Ma
升麻 승마 · Cimicifuga

2 g
Deputy 臣
Jeokjagyak Chi Shao
赤芍藥 적작약 · Red Peony

4 g
Assistant 佐
Sangbaekpi Sang Bai Pi
桑白皮 상백피 · Mulberry Root Bark

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Hwanggeum Huang Qin
黃芩 황금 · Scutellaria

2.8 g
Assistant 佐
Saenggang Sheng Jiang
生薑 생강 · Fresh Ginger

—
Envoy 使

three slices
Damdusi Dan Dou Chi
淡豆豉 담두시 · Prepared Soybean

—
Envoy 使

ten grains

Total 31.6 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 the epidemic of the season with headache and a fierce fever
Releases the exterior and cools the lung at once

Indications 主治

Pattern-based

Epidemic of the season in circulation (時行瘟疫)
Headache with fierce fever (頭痛 · 壯熱)

Biomedical correlates

Febrile epidemic illness with headache
Influenza-like illness with high fever

Source text 原文

Donguibogam 東醫寶鑑

治時行瘟疫, 頭痛ㆍ壯熱. 柴胡ㆍ前胡ㆍ葛根ㆍ赤芍藥ㆍ荊芥ㆍ石膏各一錢, 桑白皮ㆍ黃芩各七分, 升麻五分. 右剉, 作一貼, 入薑三, 豆豉十粒, 水煎服. 《入門》

Translation

Treats the epidemic of the season with headache and a fierce fever. Bupleurum, peucedanum, pueraria, red peony, schizonepeta and gypsum, 1 don each; mulberry root bark and scutellaria, 7 fun each; cimicifuga, 5 fun. Cut up, make one packet, add three slices of ginger and ten grains of fermented soybean, and decoct in water. — Immun 入門 (Donguibogam · On)

Clinical commentary 臨床

Bupleurum and peucedanum for the shaoyang, pueraria and cimicifuga for the yangming, and gypsum at a full don for the fierce fever, with schizonepeta to keep the surface moving. Mulberry root bark and scutellaria below cool the lung, and ten grains of fermented soybean go in at the end — the old exterior-venting device of the Junggyeong formulas. The weights descend in three steps rather than sitting flat, so the formula has a shape: release at the top, cool through the middle, a token of lifting at the bottom. For a febrile epidemic illness with headache and an unbroken high fever and nothing yet localised. Not the Sihoseungma-tang built for a cough and a lost voice, which shares only the name. Gypsum with bupleurum is a reasonable pairing in a fever that has gone past the first day and is no longer answering to a plain sweat. — Eui Young (Justin) Chung, L.Ac., Dipl. O.M.