When inner heat dries and agitates
A feeling of inner heat that is stronger in the evening, dry mouth and throat, thirst, restlessness, nervousness, agitated sleep… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Heat reaching the nutritive level (Ying), close to the Heart and the Blood: it consumes Yin and the body’s Fluids, and agitates the Spirit (Shen) that the Heart houses.
Qin Yin Tang brings together the eight herbs of Qing Ying Tang (清营汤), the “Decoction that Clears the Nutritive Level”, without the horn that was its sovereign ingredient. That formula appears under the Qing dynasty in the Wen Bing Tiao Bian (《温病条辨》) by Wu Jutong (吴鞠通), one of the great masters of the school devoted to attacks of Warmth. It puts into herbs a principle of Ye Tianshi (叶天士): even once it has gone deep, Heat can still be guided back towards the outside.
Cool, nourish, bring out
The formula works on several levels. Coptis clears Heart Fire. Three sweet, cool herbs nourish the Yin and Fluids that Heat has consumed. Three light herbs guide Heat outwards, where it disperses more easily. Finally, red sage cools the Blood and keeps it gently moving, so that so many cool herbs do not slow it down.
Clears Heat: Coptis, bitter and cold, clears Heart Fire; honeysuckle, forsythia and bamboo leaves, all light, help Heat find its way out.
Nourishes Yin: Raw rehmannia, the most generously dosed herb, figwort root and ophiopogon together form Zeng Ye Tang, the “Decoction for Increasing Moisture”: they nourish Yin and give back what Heat has dried out.
Calms inner agitation: Coptis and bamboo leaves lead the formula towards the Heart, and red sage cools the Blood: the Spirit finds its calm again more easily.
