Source: Taiping Huimin Hejiju Fang (Benevolent Prescriptions from Taiping Pharmaceutical Bureau).

Ingredients:
No.1  Zhigancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparatae) 15 g
No.2  Danggui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis) 30 g
No.3  Fuling (Poria) 30 g
No.4  Shaoyao (Radix Paeoniae) 30 g
No.5  Baizhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae) 30 g
No.6  Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) 30 g

Administration:
Grind the above drugs into fine powder, take 6 g twice daily with the decoction of a small amount of roasted ginger and peppermint; or prepare into decoction with doses in proportion to the original recipe.

Actions:
Soothing the liver, nourishing blood and invigorating the spleen.

Clinical Application:
This recipe is used to treat stagnation of liver-qi and deficiency of blood and spleen, marked by hypochondriac pain, headache, dizziness, dry mouth and throat, mental fatigue and poor appetite, or alternate attacks of chills and fever, or irregular menstruation, distension in the breast, reddish tongue, taut and thready pulse. It is applicable to chronic hepatitis, cholelithiasis, gastroduodenal ulcer, chronic gastritis, gastrointestinal neurosis, premenstrual tension, hyperplasia of lobule of mammary gland, menopausal syndrome, and chronic pelvic inflammation, whose symptoms are stagnation of liver-qi with deficiency of blood as well as failure of the spleen in transportation and transformation with chief manifestations as hypochondriac distention and pain, mental fatigue and poor appetite. Baishaoyao (Radix Paeoniae Alba) is often used clinically as ingredient No. 4.

In case of heat converted from stagnated liver-qi manifesting dry and bitter mouth, add Mudanpi (Cortex Moutan Radicis) and Zhizi (Fructus Gardeniae) to purge heat from the liver, namely Jiawei Xiaoyao San. In case of excessive deficiency of blood with pale complexion, dizziness and pale tongue, add Shudihuang (Radix Rehmanniae Praeparatae) to nourish yin and blood, namely Hei Xiaoyao San.

Elucidation:
The syndrome is due to protracted stagnation of liver-qi consuming blood, liver-wood depression subjugating spleen-earth and dysfunction of the spleen in transportation and transformation. It should be treated by dispersing the liver-qi and nourishing blood, invigorating the spleen to promote transportation and transformation. The last ingredient is the monarch drug in the recipe, used to disperse stagnated liver-qi. Ingredients No. 2 and No. 4 are used as minister drugs to nourish blood for retaining yin and nourish the liver to relieve spasm. As adjuvant drugs, ingredients No. 3, No. 5 and No. 1 can supplement qi, strengthen the middle-energizer, reinforce the spleen to prevent the liver from subjugating it, and complement the source of qi and blood.

Ingredient No. 1 also mediates the effects of other ingredients, and acts as guiding drug. The peppermint and ginger respectively assist ingredient No. 6 to disperse the stagnated liver-qi, and help ingredients No. 3 and No. 5 warm and regulate the middle-energizer. All the drugs are used together to disperse the stagnated liver-qi and enrich liver blood on the one hand, and restore the normal function of the spleen on the other so that the patient gets fully recovered.