When water stagnates in the centre

A feeling of fullness in the pit of the chest and belly, the impression of water sloshing in the belly after drinking, a heavy head, a heavy and chilly body, little thirst… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Phlegm-Fluids (痰饮): when Spleen Yang lacks warmth, the Fluids are no longer transformed and accumulate in the centre. Tradition describes them as a cold accumulation, Yin in nature.

Ling Gui Zhu Gan Tang comes from the great work of Zhang Zhongjing (张仲景), written around the year 200, at the end of the Eastern Han. It appears in both its parts, the Shang Han Lun (《伤寒论》) and the Jin Gui Yao Lue (《金匮要略》), in the chapter on Phlegm-Fluids: it is one of the classical formulas in the strict sense. Its name is its composition, one character per herb: ling for poria, gui for cinnamon, zhu for atractylodes and gan for licorice.

Warming in order to transform

The formula applies a principle that the Jin Gui Yao Lue states in a single sentence: Phlegm-Fluids are harmonised with warmth. What is cold does not transform merely by flowing away; it must also be warmed. Hence the central pair: poria, the highest-dosed herb, helps water flow and supports the Spleen; cinnamon twig warms the Yang and makes transformation possible, as the sun evaporates standing water.

Helps transform Dampness: Poria lets what has accumulated flow on, and atractylodes dries Dampness at the source, so that new Fluids do not build up.

Gently warms the body: Cinnamon twig, warm and pungent, warms the Yang. With licorice, it applies another classical principle: pungent and sweet transform into Yang (辛甘化阳).

Tonifies the Spleen and supports the Qi: Atractylodes and prepared licorice support the Spleen, the organ of the Fluids in TCM: strengthened, it transforms them instead of letting them stagnate.