Jing Fang Bai Du San: Herbal Relief for Wind, Toxins, and Skin Rashes
Health Lab- Jan 30
- 8 min read
Updated: May 3
Jing Fang Bai Du San is a classic Chinese herbal formula, first recorded in "Health Prescriptions." Renowned for its ability to dispel wind and toxins while soothing skin rashes, it’s widely used to treat conditions like redness, itching, swelling, and early-stage skin irritations, often accompanied by chills, fever, or a stuffy nose. Below is a simplified guide to this effective remedy.
What’s in Jing Fang Bai Du San?
The formula blends herbs based on the traditional Chinese medicine roles of "monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy" to maximize healing:
Monarch: Leads the formula’s main action.
Minister: Enhances the monarch’s effects.
Assistant: Balances the formula and targets secondary symptoms.
Envoy: Guides herbs to affected areas and ensures harmony.
Monarch Herbs
The primary herbs, Schizonepeta (sometimes called catnip) and Siler (Chinese lovage root), drive the formula’s ability to dispel wind, clear toxins, and relieve skin rashes.
Schizonepeta: Spicy and warm, it promotes sweating, clears rashes, and reduces itching, making it ideal for skin irritations and wind-related issues.
Siler: Also spicy and warm, it boosts Schizonepeta’s effects, helping to remove dampness, toxins, and wind while soothing skin discomfort.
Minister Herbs
Notopterygium (Chinese notopterygium root) and Angelica (Angelica pubescens) support the monarch herbs by clearing wind, toxins, and dampness, while easing related aches.
Notopterygium: Spicy and warm, it tackles wind, cold, and dampness, relieving headaches and body aches that often accompany skin issues.
Angelica: Warm and spicy, it clears energy blockages, reduces dampness, and eases pain in joints and muscles.
Assistant Herbs
These herbs—Bupleurum, Ligusticum (Sichuan lovage), Platycodon (balloon flower root), Bitter Orange, and Peucedanum (hogfennel root)—fine-tune the formula and address additional symptoms.
Bupleurum: Slightly cooling and spicy, it soothes the liver and helps clear wind and toxins, supporting skin healing.
Ligusticum: Warm and spicy, it improves blood flow, reducing swelling and pain linked to skin inflammation.
Platycodon: Bitter and spicy, it clears phlegm and opens the lungs, easing coughs or chest tightness that may accompany rashes.
Bitter Orange: Bitter and slightly cooling, it regulates energy flow and relieves chest discomfort.
Peucedanum: Bitter, spicy, and slightly cooling, it clears phlegm and heat, aiding respiratory and skin health.
Envoy Herbs
Poria (China root) and Licorice guide the formula and enhance its effects.
Poria: Sweet and neutral, it reduces dampness, strengthens the spleen, and helps clear phlegm and skin-related discomfort.
Licorice: Sweet and mild, it detoxifies, supports the spleen, and harmonizes the formula.
What Does Jing Fang Bai Du San Do?
This formula is exceptional at:
Dispelling wind and toxins to clear harmful influences from the body.
Relieving skin rashes by reducing redness, itching, and swelling.
Easing related symptoms like aches, fever, or respiratory discomfort.
Schizonepeta and Siler lead by clearing wind and toxins through sweating, while Notopterygium and Angelica remove dampness and ease pain. Assistant and envoy herbs address secondary issues like phlegm or chest tightness, ensuring comprehensive relief.
How It Works
Jing Fang Bai Du San targets health issues through key actions:
Clearing Wind and Toxins: Schizonepeta, Siler, Notopterygium, and Angelica promote sweating to expel wind, cold, and toxins, relieving skin rashes and irritations.
Reducing Dampness: These herbs clear dampness from muscles and joints, easing aches and supporting skin healing.
Improving Circulation: Ligusticum enhances blood and energy flow, reducing swelling and discomfort in inflamed areas.
Clearing Phlegm and Airways: Platycodon, Bitter Orange, and Peucedanum relieve coughs, phlegm, and chest tightness.
Supporting the Spleen: Poria reduces dampness and strengthens the spleen, addressing the root of phlegm and skin issues.
When to Use It
Jing Fang Bai Du San is perfect for conditions caused by wind, toxins, dampness, and low energy, often presenting as:
Skin rashes, redness, or itching
Swelling or early-stage ulcers
Chills, fever, or no sweating
Stuffy nose or cough with phlegm
Body aches or headaches
Chest tightness
These symptoms occur when wind, toxins, and dampness invade a weakened body, blocking energy flow and causing skin or respiratory issues. Dampness can also lead to chest discomfort or a greasy tongue coating.
Modern Uses
Today, Jing Fang Bai Du San is used for:
Eczema and Skin Inflammation: Schizonepeta, Siler, Notopterygium, and Angelica reduce itching, redness, and swelling, while Bupleurum and Ligusticum clear toxins and improve circulation. Studies show it significantly reduces rash severity and itching.
Colds and Flu: It relieves early symptoms like fever, aches, and nasal congestion.
Bronchitis: Platycodon, Peucedanum, and Bitter Orange clear phlegm and ease coughs, while Poria reduces chest tightness.
Important Notes
When using Jing Fang Bai Du San, consider:
Contraindications
Avoid in cases of heat-related conditions, yin deficiency, or damp-heat digestive issues.
Customizing the Formula
Adjustments can be made based on symptoms:
For low energy: Add Ginseng or Astragalus to boost vitality.
For heavy dampness or aches: Include Clematis, Mulberry, Gentiana, or Stephania to clear dampness and pain.
For severe cough: Add Almond or White Peony to soothe the lungs.
For skin rashes: Add Cicada or Sophora to stop itching, and replace Ginseng with Honeysuckle or Coptis to clear heat and swelling.
Conclusion
Jing Fang Bai Du San is a powerful Chinese herbal remedy for dispelling wind and toxins, relieving skin rashes, and easing related symptoms like aches or respiratory discomfort. It’s highly effective for eczema, colds, bronchitis, and other conditions driven by wind, dampness, or low energy. With proper customization and guidance from a practitioner, this formula offers safe, effective relief for a range of ailments.
Chinese Name | 敗毒散 |
Phonetic | Bai Du San |
English Name | Toxin-Resolving Powder |
Classification | Exterior-releasing formulas |
Source | 《Formulas from the Imperial Pharmacy》Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang《太平惠民和劑局方》 |
Combination | Bupleuri Radix (Chai Hu) 30 liang (900g), Peucedani Radix (Qian Hu) 30 liang (900g), Chuanxiong Rhizoma (Chuan Xiong) 30 liang (900g), Aurantii Fructus (Zhi Qiao) 30 liang (900g), Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix (Qiang Huo) 30 liang (900g), Angelicae Pubescentis Radix (Du Huo) 30 liang (900g), Poria (Fu Ling) 30 liang (900g), Platycodonis Radix (Jie Geng) 30 liang (900g), Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Ren Shen) 30 liang (900g), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Gan Cao) 30 liang (900g) |
Method | Take 6g of the powder per dose, add 1g of sheng jiang and bo he to it and boil them together. It can be taken any time. Take it warm if the cold is more severe, and lukewarm if the fever is more serious. It can also be prepared as a decoction following the ratio of each ingredient in the original formula. |
Action | Dissipates cold, removes dampness, boosts qi, and releases the exterior. |
Indication | Bai Du San is indicated for the pattern of externally contracted wind-cold-dampness. The symptoms are strong aversion to cold, high fever, headache, neck stiffness and pain, body soreness and pain, absence of sweating, stuffy nose, harsh voice, cough with phlegm, pi, and distressed chest and diaphragm. The tongue is pale with a white coating, and the pulse is superficial and forceless upon pressing. |
Pathogenesis | This formula treats patterns of zheng qi deficiency with externally contracted wind-cold-dampness. Strong aversion to cold, stiff and painful head and neck, body aches, and an absence of sweat are signs of wind-cold-dampness attacking the surface of the flesh and lingering within the channels. The stuffy nose with a harsh voice, cough with phlegm, pi, and suppressed chest and diaphragm are symptoms of wind-cold invading the lung, blocking it, and causing the lung qi to fail to diffuse which further results in fluid accumulation transforming into phlegm. A white and greasy tongue coating, and a superficial pulse that is forceless with pressure are characteristic for deficient constitution contracted external wind-cold-dampness. The treatment should dissipate cold, remove dampness, and boost qi to release the exterior. |
Clarification | 1. The combination of ren shen with other medicinals The addition of a small amount of ren shen to the wind-cold dispelling medicinals helps to boost qi and enhance zheng qi. Here is why this is necessary. If we only consider the removal of pathogens without replenishing zheng qi in a pattern of externally contracted pathogens in a qi-deficient constitution, the body will not have the strength to dispel the pathogens. Even with the temporary release of the exterior pathogen, it will later reenter because insufficient zheng qi is not able to defend the body. Even though exterior-releasing medicinals direct pathogens outward, a zheng qi-deficient person who has contracted external pathogens will not have enough center qi to follow through. In a less serious situation, only a portion of the necessary sweating will be induced; in a more serious one, exterior pathogens can counter-attack because of the insufficient original qi and penetrate the interior. This leads to continuous fever and makes the situation more complicated. Therefore, ren shen is added to increase the zheng qi in order to expel the pathogens and prevent them from entering the interior. Also, by using a small amount of ren shen to supplement in a scattering formula, it prevents over-consumption of the original kidney qi. 2. “Rowing the boat against the stream” method Yu Jia-yan often applied this method to treat patterns of dysentery caused by external pathogens that have penetrated the interior. This method was named “rowing the boat against the stream” by later generations. Dysentery is mostly the result of epidemic damp-heat toxins blocking the intestines where the disease progresses interiorly and downward. Therefore the treatment usually follows this momentum by clearing heat, removing dampness, and resolving toxins, and is accompanied by rectifying qi and blood and guiding out the obstruction. This is the common method used for treating dysentery. On the other hand, “rowing the boat against the stream” is an alternative method used to treat dysentery with a different cause, which is the inward invasion of exterior pathogen, resulting in obstruction of the intestines and disharmony of qi and blood. Although the disease trend is inward and downward, the root cause of intestinal obstruction was the inward invasion of exterior pathogen. Therefore, by “counter”, it means to counter the tendency of the disease and the usual way of treatment. By utilizing exterior releasing medicinals, the inward pathogen is dispelled from the superficial level, as if pulling a boat upstream, and that is where the name comes from. By looking at the disease tendency, it seems this method goes opposite direction. However, by analyzing the disease mechanism, it actually follows the momentum, reflecting the difference between the superficial phenomenon and the essential nature of the disease. |
Application | 1. Essential pattern differentiation This is a commonly used formula to boost qi and release the exterior. This clinical pattern is marked by strong aversion to cold, high fever, body soreness and pain, absence of sweat, superficial pulse that is forceless with pressure. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders when the patient shows signs of the externally contracted wind-cold-dampness with qi-deficient constitution pattern: common cold, flu, bronchitis, allergic dermatitis, and eczema. 3. Cautions and contraindications Most of the medicinals in this formula are acrid, warm, aromatic, and dry. It is not applicable for yin-deficient patients with externally contracted pathogens, and is forbidden for dysentery caused by epidemic pestilence, damp-warmth, or intestinal accumulation of damp-heat. |
Additonal formulae | 1. Jing Fang Bai Du San (Schizonepeta and Saposhnikovia Toxin-Resolving Powder, 荊防敗毒散) [Source]《Numerous Miraculous Prescriptions for Health Cultivation》She Sheng Zhong Miao Fang《攝生眾妙方》 [Ingredients] Qiang huo 1.5 qian (4.5g), du huo 1.5 qian (4.5g), chai hu 1.5 qian (4.5g), qian hu 1.5 qian (4.5g), zhi qiao 1.5 qian (4.5g), fu ling 1.5 qian (4.5g), jing jie 1.5 qian (4.5g), fang feng 1.5 qian (4.5g), jie geng 1.5 qian (4.5g), chuan xiong 1.5 qian (4.5g), gan cao 0.5 qian (1.5g) [Preparation and Administration] Prepare it as decoction with 1.5 cups of water and boil down to 0.8 cup, and take while it is warm. [Actions] Induces sweat to release the exterior, dissolves furuncles and stops pain. [Applicable Patterns] Early stages of furuncles. Symptoms include: red swelling and painful furuncles, aversion to cold, fever, no sweat, thirst, a thin and white tongue coating, and a superficial, rapid pulse. 2. Cang Lin San (Granary Powder, 倉廩散) [Ingredients] Ren shen 9g, fu ling 9g, gan cao 9g, qian hu 9g, chuan xiong 9g, qiang huo 9g, du huo 9g, jie geng 9g, zhi qiao 9g, chai hu 9g,, chen cang mi 9g [Source]《Formulas for Universal Relief》Pu Ji Fang《普濟方》 [Preparation and Administration] Add sheng jiang and bo he, prepare it as decoction and take while it is warm. [Actions] Boost qi and release the exterior, dispel dampness and harmonize the stomach. [Applicable Patterns] Dysentery with inability to eat. Symptoms include: diarrhea and dysentery, vomiting, ascending counterflow, inability to eat, aversion to cold with fever, absence of sweating, aching pain of body, white and greasy tongue coating, and a superficial, soggy pulse. |
Remark | Ginseng (Panax ginseng) is listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Appendix II. Its trade is allowed but subject to licensing controls. |
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