When digestion weighs heavy and energy follows
A feeling of fullness that lasts after meals, a fading appetite, tiredness that sets in from early afternoon, a heavy body and sticky mouth in damp weather… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Spleen Qi deficiency accompanied by Dampness. The Spleen weakens, the Dampness it no longer transforms accumulates, and Qi stagnates in the centre. Tradition knows the trap of this situation: tonifying alone would clog things further; things also need to be set moving.
Liu Jun Zi Tang, the “Six Gentlemen Decoction”, extends Si Jun Zi Tang, the base formula for Qi: to the four sweet herbs of its predecessor, tradition adds tangerine peel and pinellia (Ban Xia). Our adapted version keeps only tangerine peel. It thus takes on the structure of an older formula, Yi Gong San, recorded under the Northern Song by the physician Qian Yi (钱乙).
One that fills, one that moves forward
Ginseng, atractylodes and poria, in equal parts, form the base of the formula: they support the Spleen and help it transform Dampness, and honey-fried licorice harmonises. Tangerine peel, in a smaller amount, brings what a purely tonifying formula lacks: movement. Commentators summed up this principle in four characters, tonifying without clogging (补而不滞).
Tonifies the Spleen and supports the Qi: Ginseng replenishes Spleen and Stomach Qi; dry-fried atractylodes assists it and restores the Spleen’s transporting function.
Helps transform Dampness: Atractylodes and poria form the classic pair for Spleen Dampness: one dries it, the other gently disperses it. Tangerine peel, pungent and aromatic, keeps it from thickening into Phlegm.
Brings lightness and comfort after meals: By moving the Qi of the centre, tangerine peel keeps the formula from feeling heavy, and dispels the feeling of fullness that follows meals when the Spleen lacks drive.
