When Blood lingers

A feeling of weight in the upper body, frequent sighing, an irritable mood, restless sleep, a dull complexion, darker lips, discomfort that always returns to the same place… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Blood stasis, often accompanied by Liver Qi stagnation: according to tradition, Qi carries the Blood, and when Qi gets blocked, Blood slows down and lingers.

Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, the “Decoction that Drives Out Stasis from the Mansion of Blood”, is the work of Wang Qingren (王清任, 1768-1831), who published it in 1830, under the Qing, in the Yi Lin Gai Cuo (《医林改错》). Wang Qingren gave Blood stasis the central place it holds in the tradition today, through a series of formulas built on the same model and named after the region they target. This one targets the Mansion of Blood (血府), which he located in the upper chest; its cousin Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang targets the lower abdomen.

Moving the Qi so that the Blood follows

The formula brings together two complete formulas: Tao Hong Si Wu Tang, which sets the Blood moving while nourishing it, and Si Ni San, which moves the Liver Qi. Wang Qingren adds two herbs that give a direction: platycodon, which rises, and achyranthes, which makes the Blood descend. With bitter orange, which descends, and bupleurum, which disperses, movement happens in several directions at once.

Supports Blood circulation: Peach kernel and safflower, a classic pair of the tradition, set the Blood moving again; red peony and Sichuan lovage back them up.

Disperses Stasis: Achyranthes makes the Blood descend so that it does not accumulate in the upper body, while platycodon guides the formula there.

Helps promote the smooth flow of Liver Qi: Bupleurum and bitter orange move the Qi: according to tradition, when Qi moves, Blood moves (气行则血行).

Harmonises the Qi and Blood: Chinese angelica and rehmannia nourish the Blood and the Yin while the other herbs mobilise it: this is what tradition calls driving out stasis and generating the new.