When Qi ties itself in knots with frustrations
Frequent sighing, a feeling of tension or fullness at the sides of the chest, a mood that tightens, frustrations that take away your appetite, a sense of being “tied in knots”… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Liver Qi Stagnation. The Liver, responsible for the free flow of Qi, no longer ensures it. When the stagnation lasts, the Blood slows in turn, and the constrained Liver weighs on the Spleen and Stomach: Wood is overpowering Earth.
Chai Hu Shu Gan San, the “Bupleurum powder that frees the Liver”, is recorded under the Ming in the Yi Xue Tong Zhi (《医学统旨》), then taken up by Zhang Jingyue (张景岳) in the Jing Yue Quan Shu (《景岳全书》), which set how it is read. It derives from Si Ni San, a formula from the Shang Han Lun. Alongside Xiao Yao San, it is one of the two reference formulas for Liver Qi: Xiao Yao San moves and nourishes, Chai Hu Shu Gan San moves, and moves further. Chai Hu Shu Gan Wan is its pill form.
When Wood is constrained, free it
The formula applies a principle from the Nei Jing: when Wood is constrained, free it (木郁达之). Zhang Jingyue summed up its logic in a single sentence: bupleurum and peony harmonise the Liver, cyperus, bitter orange and tangerine peel move Qi, Sichuan lovage sets the Blood in motion, and licorice harmonises the centre.
Helps promote the smooth flow of Liver Qi: Bupleurum, the master plant, works in exact opposition to constraint: its light, dispersing nature unfolds what tightens. Cyperus, which tradition nicknames the commander-in-chief of the Qi plants, reinforces it.
Harmonises the Qi and Blood: Sichuan lovage, “the Qi herb within the Blood”, sets the Blood moving along with Qi, since Qi that stagnates for long makes the Blood stagnate too. White peony root nourishes Liver Blood: with bupleurum, one unfolds, the other holds back.
Supports emotional harmony: In TCM, the Liver looks after the free flow of Qi, and mood follows this movement. Peony and licorice, a pairing tradition uses to relax what tightens, accompany this return to suppleness.
