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

Ingredients:
No.1  Renshen (Radix Ginseng) 90 g
No.2  Ganjiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis) 90 g
No.3  Zhigancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparatae) 90 g
No.4  Baizhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae) 90 g

Administration:
Grind the above drugs into coarse powder, mix it with honey and make them into boluses, take 6 g orally with warm boiled water each time, three times daily; or decoct them with dosages in proportion to the original ones (it was named Renshen Tang in the book).

Actions:
Warming the middle-energizer to dispel cold and replenishing qi to invigorate the spleen.
   
Clinical Application:
This recipe is used to treat deficiency-cold syndrome of the spleen and stomach, marked by epigastric and abdominal pain, preference for warmth and for pressure, aversion to cold, cold limbs, poor appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, or bleeding due to yang deficiency with little dark blood, pale tongue with whitish fur, deep and thready pulse. It is applicable to such diseases characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, cold and pain as acute or chronic gastroenteritis, gastroduodenal ulcer and chronic colitis, etc., which pertain to deficiency-cold in the stomach and spleen. In case of severe cold syndrome, add the dosage of ingredient No. 2 or add Fuzi (Radix Aconiti Praeparatae) to enhance the effect of warming the middle-energizer to dispel cold, which constitutes another recipe known as Fuzi Lizhong Wan.

When used in the treatment of bleeding due to yang deficiency, substitute No. 2 with Paojiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis Praeparatae). In case of excessive deficiency syndrome, add No. 1 to replenish qi and reinforce the spleen.In case of severe diarrhea, add the dosage of No. 4 to invigorate the spleen and arrest diarrhea. In case of severe vomiting, add Wuzhuyu (Fructus Evodiae) and Shengjiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens) to warm the stomach and stop vomiting. In case of dysfunction of the spleen in transportation due to deficiency, and phlegm generated from dampness, add Banxia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) and Fuling (Poria) to resolve phlegm, which constitutes another recipe, entitled Lizhong Huatan Wan.

Elucidation:
The syndrome results from yang-deficiency of middle-energizer, and deficiency-cold of the spleen and stomach, leading to dysfunction in digestion and transformation. It should be treated by warming the middle-energizer to dispel cold and replenishing qi to invigorate the spleen. Ingredient No. 2 acts as monarch drug to restore yang of the spleen and stomach by means of warming the middle-energizer to dispel cold. Ingredient No. 1 is used as minister drug for supplementing qi, and strengthening the spleen to promote transportation and transformation. Ingredient No. 4 serves as adjuvant drug, used together with ingredients No. 1 and No. 2 for replenishing qi, strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness. Ingredient No. 3, sweet and mild in nature, helps other drugs in the recipe reinforce the spleen and stomach, and mediates other drugs properties, playing the part of guiding drug.