Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin: A TCM Formula for Clearing Heat, Detoxifying, and Relieving Swelling and Pain
Health Lab- May 23
- 7 min read
Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin, an ancient Chinese medicine recipe from the early Ming Dynasty, was first documented in Annotated Prescriptions for Women by Xue Ji, a renowned physician.
This text focused on treating gynecological conditions, and the formula was widely used to care for concubines in the imperial harem. It is highly valued for its ability to clear heat, detoxify, reduce swelling and lumps, and promote blood circulation to relieve pain.
Explanation of Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin Formula
Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin contains Angelica dahurica, pangolin, licorice, Saposhnikovia divaricata, myrrh, red peony root, angelica root, frankincense, Fritillaria thunbergii, Trichosanthes root, Gleditsia sinensis, honeysuckle, and dried orange peel.
These herbs are organized according to the "monarch, minister, assistant, and envoy" principle to maximize therapeutic effects.
Monarch Herb: HoneysuckleHoneysuckle clears heat, detoxifies, and disperses wind-heat, serving as the primary ingredient to address heat and toxins.
Minister Herbs: Angelica dahurica, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Angelica sinensis tip, and Red Peony RootThese herbs support honeysuckle in clearing heat and detoxifying while promoting blood circulation and relieving pain.
Assistant Herbs: Pangolin, Frankincense, Myrrh, and Gleditsia sinensisThese focus on reducing swelling, dissolving lumps, promoting blood flow, and relieving blood stasis.
Envoy Herbs: Licorice, Fritillaria, Trichosanthes Root, and Dried Orange PeelThese harmonize the formula, relieve cough, reduce phlegm, clear heat, and purge fire, ensuring balance.
Additional Formula Introduction
Wu Wei Xiao Du Yin: From Yi Zong Jin Jian, it includes honeysuckle, wild chrysanthemum, dandelion, Viola yedoensis, and Gynura ovata seeds. It clears heat, detoxifies, and reduces carbuncles, treating early-stage carbuncles with symptoms like fever, chills, millet-shaped lumps, redness, swelling, heat, pain, red tongue with yellow coating, and rapid pulse.
Si Miao Yong An Tang: From New Edition of Proven Prescriptions, it contains honeysuckle, Scrophularia, Angelica, and Licorice. It clears heat, detoxifies, promotes blood circulation, and relieves pain, treating gangrene with dark red, swollen, burning limbs, foul-smelling ulcers, severe pain, fever, thirst, red tongue, and rapid pulse.
Efficacy of Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin
Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin is primarily used for early-stage Yang syndrome ulcers and toxicity, with symptoms like local redness, swelling, burning pain, fever, chills, thin white or yellow tongue coating, and a strong rapid pulse.
Herbs like honeysuckle, Angelica dahurica, and Saposhnikovia divaricata have strong antibacterial and antiviral effects, inhibiting pathogenic microorganisms.
Ingredients like angelica, frankincense, and myrrh promote blood circulation, reduce blood stasis, relieve swelling, and ease pain, effectively addressing inflammation-related redness, swelling, heat, and pain.
The formula’s main effects are clearing heat, detoxifying, reducing swelling and lumps, and promoting blood flow to relieve pain. Modern research confirms its effectiveness for purulent inflammations like cellulitis, tonsillitis, mastitis, abscesses, and deep swellings.
It clears heat and toxins to reduce inflammation, particularly for ulcers and swellings caused by heat-toxin. It also reduces lumps, whether on the skin’s surface or deep abscesses, by promoting blood flow and resolving stasis, speeding up the resolution of swelling.
Additionally, it relieves pain by improving blood circulation, easing severe pain from ulcers and swelling for a more comfortable recovery.
Pathogenesis of Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin
Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin treats early-stage inflammations with redness, swelling, heat, and pain caused by excessive heat and toxins.
These block blood circulation, leading to swelling and pain, like a dammed river causing flooding. The formula acts like a tool to clear the blockage, restoring smooth blood flow.
Heat and toxins also cause systemic symptoms like fever and chills as they clash with the body’s healthy energy. Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin mediates this conflict, calming symptoms by balancing heat, toxins, and vital energy.
It also addresses blood stagnation, like clearing a clogged pipe, to reduce pain and swelling, improving patient comfort during recovery.
Modern Applications of Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin
Modern research highlights Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin’s effectiveness in treating skin infections and promoting wound healing. In perianal abscess cases, patients using this formula showed higher clinical efficacy and faster wound recovery compared to controls, demonstrating its antibacterial and tissue-repair benefits.
The formula also regulates the immune system by influencing lymphocyte differentiation and reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines, showing potential for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
It is widely used for inflammatory conditions such as mastitis, cellulitis, and tonsillitis, leveraging its heat-clearing, detoxifying, blood-activating, and pain-relieving properties to treat purulent and infectious diseases effectively.
Precautions
When using Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin, note the following:
Scope of Application: Suitable for early-stage Yang syndrome ulcers and swellings with a solid constitution. Avoid use if ulcers have already ruptured.
Dosage and Administration: For those sensitive to alcohol, use half alcohol and half water or boil with water. The residue can be mashed and applied externally to enhance local effects.
Contraindications: Its cold nature makes it unsuitable for yin syndrome ulcers or those with weak spleen, stomach, or deficient qi and blood.
Side Effects: Generally safe when used correctly, but improper use may cause gastrointestinal discomfort or other adverse reactions.
Conclusion
Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin, an ancient Chinese medicine formula, remains highly valuable in modern medicine for its ability to clear heat, detoxify, reduce swelling and lumps, and promote blood circulation to relieve pain.
Understanding its ingredients and effects allows for better use in providing effective treatment. However, careful attention to its scope and contraindications is essential to ensure safety and efficacy.
Chinese Name | 仙方活命飲 |
Phonetic | Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin |
English Name | Immortal Formula Life-Giving Beverage |
Classification | Heat-clearing formulas |
Source | 《Corrections and Annotations to Fine Formulas for Women》Jiao Zhu Fu Ren Liang Fang《校注婦人良方》 |
Combination | Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Bai Zhi) 6 fen (3g), Manis Squama (Chuan Shan Jia) 1 qian (6g), Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma(Gan Cao) 1 qian (6g), Saposhnikoviae Radix (Fang Feng) 1 qian (6g), Myrrha (Mo Yao) 1 qian (6g), Paeoniae Radix Rubra (Chi Shao) 1 qian (6g), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Dang Gui Wei) 1 qian (6g), Olibanum (Ru Xiang) 1 qian (6g), Fritillariae Bulbus (Bei Mu) 1 qian (6g), Trichosanthis Radix (Tian Hua Fen) 1 qian (6g), Gleditsiae Spina (Zao Jiao Ci) 1 qian (6g), Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (Jin Yin Hua) 3 qian (9g), Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (Chen Pi) 3 qian (9g) |
Method | Decoct one dose of the formula with three bowls of Chinese wine, and boil it down to one and a half bowls. Take the decoction after meals for diseases in the upper part of the body. Take the decoction before meals for diseases in the lower part of the body, and then take three or four cups of Chinese wine to enhance the power of the decoction. |
Action | Clears heat, resolves toxins, disperses swelling, promotes suppuration, invigorates blood, and relieves pain. |
Indication | This formula is indicated for yang patterns in the initial stage with sores, abscesses, and ulcers. The symptoms are redness, swelling, and pain in the affected areas, fear of cold with fever, a thin white or yellow tongue coating, and a forceful, rapid pulse. |
Pathogenesis | This is an initial stage of a yang pattern with sores, abscesses, and ulcers mainly caused by the accumulation and obstruction of heat toxins, as well as, qi stagnation, blood stasis, and phlegm coagulation. The heat toxins accumulate and obstruct causing a tangible accumulation of qi stagnation and blood stasis, which manifest as redness, swelling, and pain in the affected areas. The pathogenic qi struggles with the healthy qi in the fleshy exterior, causing fear of cold with fever and the intense pathogenic qi and healthy qi struggle within the channels, causing a forceful, rapid pulse. As the nature of the disease is a yang pattern of stagnant heat toxins in the fleshy exterior, the primary therapeutic method is to clear heat, resolve toxins, invigorate the blood, and regulate qi. The secondary method is to free the fleshy exterior, disperse swelling, and promote suppuration. |
Application | 1. Essential pattern differentiation Xian Fang Huo Ming Yin is a commonly used formula used to treat the initial stages of yang patterns with sores, abscesses, and ulcers. This clinical pattern is marked by redness, swelling, and pain in the affected areas, fear of cold with fever, and a forceful, rapid pulse. 2. Modern applications This formula may be used in the following biomedically defined disorders, when the patient has a yang pattern or an excessive pattern of suppurative inflammation: cellulitis, suppurative tonsillitis, mastitis, impetigo, boils, and deep abscesses. 3. Cautions and contraindications This formula should be used during the initial stage of a yang pattern with sores, abscesses, and ulcers in those with an excess-type constitution. If the formula is used properly, “those (sores, abscesses, and ulcers) without pus will dissipate, and those (sores, abscesses, and ulcers) with pus will drain.” Do not use this formula for those with open sores, abscesses, and ulcers. For patients who do not like alcohol, decoct the formula with water, or with half Chinese wine and half water. In addition to the decoction, the medicinals in this formula can be ground into powder and applied to the affected areas. Since the nature of medicinals in this formula is primarily cool-cold, use the formula with caution in patients who have sores, abscesses, and ulcers in a yin pattern, as well as, those with spleen, stomach, qi, and blood deficiency. |
Additonal formulae | 1. Wu Wei Xiao Du Yin (Five Ingredients Toxin-Removing Beverage, 五味消毒飲) [Source]《Golden Mirror of the Medical Tradition》Yi Zong Jin Jian《醫宗金鑒》 [Ingredients] Jin yin hua 3 qian (20g), ye ju hua 1.2 qian (15g), pu gong ying 1.2 qian (15g), zi hua di ding 1.2 qian (15g), tian kui zi 1.2 qian (15 g) [Preparation and Administration] Prepare the medicinals as decoction with 1 zhong of water. Add 0.5 zhong wine when 80% water was left, then continue to boil it for a little while. Take it hot to induce sweat. [Actions] Clears heat, resolves toxins, and dissipates boils. [Applicable Patterns] Boils caused by an accumulation of heat toxins. Symptoms include: hot, red, swollen, and painful boils, nail-like millet sores that have a firm root, a red tongue with a yellow coating, and a rapid pulse. 2. Si Miao Yong an Tang (Four Wonderfully Effective Heroes Decoction, 四妙勇安湯) [Source]《New Compilation of Proven Formulas》Yan Fang Xin Bian《驗方新編》 [Ingredients] Jin yin hua 3 liang (90g), xuan shen 3 liang (90g), dang gui 2 liang (60g), gan cao 1 liang (30g) [Preparation and Administration] Prepare it as a decoction. [Actions] Clears heat, resolves toxins, invigorates blood, and relieves pain. [Applicable Patterns] Sloughing deep-rooted abscesses caused by intense heat toxins. Symptoms include: hot, dark red, swollen limb, smelly ulcer with severe pain, fever and thirst, a red tongue, and a rapid pulse. |
Comments