When dryness rises up to the throat
A dry throat, especially in the evening, a voice that grows husky at the end of the day, a dry mouth, warmth in the palms and soles, fatigue that sets in… In TCM, these signs can be associated with Lung and Kidney Yin Deficiency. In the cycle of the five phases, the Lung (Metal) is the mother of the Kidney (Water): when one is depleted, the other follows. Without Yin to hold it back, a light heat, which tradition calls Deficiency Fire, rises and dries the throat.
Bai He Gu Jin Tang appeared under the Ming, around 1573, in the Zhou Shenzhai Yi Shu (《周慎斋遗书》), attributed to the physician Zhou Zhigan, known as Zhou Shenzhai (周之干). It spread thanks to the Yi Fang Ji Jie (《医方集解》) by Wang Ang (汪昂), in 1682. Its name reads “lily decoction that strengthens the Metal”, Metal being, in tradition, the phase of the Lung. It develops the core of a much older formula by Zhang Zhongjing, Bai He Di Huang Tang, which already combined lily and rehmannia. Bai He Gu Jin Wan is its pill form.
Nourishing Metal and Water together
The formula acts both above and below, which tradition calls nourishing Metal and Water together (金水并补). Lily moistens the Lung, the two rehmannias replenish the Water of the Kidney, and ophiopogon and figwort each reinforce their action. Wang Ang stresses that all these ingredients are sweet and cool: the aim is not to harm the Qi with bitterness and cold.
Nourishes Lung Yin: Lily bulb and ophiopogon, sweet and cool, nourish Lung Yin and clear the light heat that rises.
Moistens the Lung: According to tradition, the Lung is a “delicate” organ that dislikes Dryness. By nourishing the Fluids, lily and ophiopogon give it back the moisture it needs.
Helps soothe sensations of throat dryness: Figwort, salty and cold, benefits the throat according to tradition; platycodon and licorice, the pair of a small Shang Han Lun formula devoted to the throat, guide the formula there.
Nourishes the Lung and Kidney together: The two rehmannias, the raw one that cools and the prepared one that nourishes deeply, support Kidney Yin; Chinese angelica and white peony nourish the Blood.
