Licorice and Gypsum 
Source: Shanghan Lun (Treatise on Exogenous Febrile Diseases).

Ingredients:
No.1  Mahuang (Herba Ephedrae) 9 g
No.2  Xingren (Semen Armeniacae Amarum ) 9 g
No.3  Zhigancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparatae) 6 g
No.4  Shengshigao (Gypsum Fibrosum) 18 g (decocted first)

Administration:
Decoct the above drugs for oral use.

Actions:
Dispersing heat in the lung, relieving cough and asthma.
 
Clinical Application:
This recipe is indicated for unrelieved exogenous pathogenic factors, cough and asthma due to heat in the lung, marked by fever, thirst, cough and asthma, nares flaring, desire for drinks, perspiration or absence of perspiration, thin whitish or yellowish fur, superficial and rapid pulse. It is applicable to common cold, acute bronchitis, bronchial pneumonia, lobar pneumonia, bronchial asthma, measles complicated with pneumonia, etc., main symptoms of which are fever, cough and asthma and belonging to accumulation of pathogenic heat in the lung with unrelieved exogenous pathogenic factors.

In case of excessive heat in the lung marked by high fever with perspiration, double the dosage Shengshigao (Gypsum Fibrosum). If accompanied by exterior syndrome marked by aversion to cold without perspiration, add Bohe (Herba Menthae) and Suye (Folium Perillae) to help bring about the effect of relieving exterior syndrome and releasing the stagnated lung-qi. In case of constipation, add Zhidahuang (Radix et Rhizoma Rhei Praeparatae) to remove heat by cathartics.

Elucidation:
This syndrome is caused by excessive heat transformed from exogenous wind, which accumulates in the lung and causes its failure in purifying and descending function. It should be treated by dispersing heat and relieving cough and asthma. As monarch drug, ingredient No. 1 is pungent in flavor and warm in property and No. 4 pungent in flavor and cool in property with larger dosage. They supplement each other in a rational combination to clear away heat in the lung. Ingredient No. 2 acts as minister drug, causing the lung-qi to descend, enhancing the function of relieving cough and asthma. Ingredient No. 3 functions as guiding drug, replenishing qi, regulating the middle-energizer, and mediating drug properties.

Cautions:
It is not applicable to cough and asthma to wind-cold, nor to excessive phlegm-heat.