When evening heat meets Blood that circulates poorly
Heat rising at the end of the day, warm palms and soles at night, a dry mouth, sleep disturbed by heat, a dull complexion, a feeling of heaviness that always returns to the same place… In TCM, these signs may be associated with Kidney and Liver Yin Deficiency accompanied by Blood stasis. Yin, which nourishes and cools, runs short, and a slight heat rises. According to tradition, insufficient Yin no longer moistens the vessels enough, and heat thickens the Blood: it circulates less freely and ends up lingering.
Zi Yin Huo Xue Tang is a formula from the Chinese pharmacopoeia whose name announces its two aims: zi yin (滋阴), nourishing Yin, and huo xue (活血), moving the Blood. It shares four herbs with Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan, the formula that nourishes Yin and clears Deficiency Heat: prepared rehmannia, cornus, anemarrhena and phellodendron. It adds other nourishing herbs, and two that move the Blood.
Nourish, cool, move
The formula is organised in three groups. Five herbs nourish Yin and Blood, around rehmannia and white peony; two bitter herbs clear the rising heat; two cool herbs set the Blood moving again. Peony and rehmannia each appear in two forms: one to nourish, the other to cool or to move.
Nourishes Kidney and Liver Yin: Prepared rehmannia, cornus and goji berries nourish Kidney and Liver Yin; white peony nourishes the Blood.
Soothes sensations of heat: Anemarrhena and phellodendron, a classic pair in the tradition, clear Deficiency Heat; raw rehmannia cools the Blood.
Disperses Stasis: Red sage and red peony, both cool, move the Blood without warming it: they suit a stasis born of heat.
