Gui Zhi Tang [Composition]: Gui Zhi, Paeonia lactiflora, Glycyrrhiza glabra, ginger, jujube. [Status】The top of the group, the first of food therapy, the first formula in the Treatise on Typhoid Fever. The treatise on typhoid fever, the Golden Horoscope, and the article on warm diseases all list Gui Zhi Tang as the first formula. Xu Shuwei, a famous doctor in the Southern Song Dynasty, said, “Zhongjing has one hundred and thirteen prescriptions, but Gui Zhi is the only one that tops them.” Ke Qin, the Qing typhoid scientist, said that Gui Zhi Tang “is the top of Zhong Jing’s group of prescriptions, which is the general formula for nourishing Yin and Yang, harmonizing Ying and Wei, and relieving muscle sweating.” This all shows the important status of Gui Zhi Tang. With Gui Zhi Tang as the main formula, more formulas can be developed, and it is indeed the ancestor of the group of formulas. It is said that Gui Zhi Tang was made by Yi Yin in the Shang Dynasty and later included in the Treatise on Typhoid by Zhang Zhongjing. Yi Yin was the earliest culinary master in China. He suggested that a delicious product should be “long but not bad, cooked but not rotten, sweet but not thick, sour but not cool, salty but not less, pungent but not strong, light but not thin, fat but not lung (greasy)”. This is also the origin of the term “fatty but not greasy” that we often say. Yi Yin was also the prime minister of the Shang Dynasty. He helped Cheng Tang to destroy the Xia Dynasty and establish the Shang Dynasty, and assisted Cheng Tang in laying the foundation of the Shang Dynasty for 600 years, and served as the emperor’s teacher for several generations. According to legend, he combined the theory of cooking with the way of ruling a country, and once said “ruling a country is like cooking a small meal”. He said, “Governing a big country is like cooking a small fish”, which means that a small fish should not be stirred more than it is cooked. He was known as “Yilu”, along with the later Jiang Ziya (Lv Wang). However, many people do not know that Yi Yin was also the inventor of Chinese medicine soup. Yi Yin was good at cooking, and he was born in the Yishui valley, which was rich in herbs, and was well versed in medicine. In the process of treating people’s diseases, he learned a lesson: boiling herbs and taking them is more effective than taking them raw. Thus, he summed up the experience of herbs in treating diseases and combined it with cooking techniques to create many soup recipes. Gui Zhi Tang was created with spicy seasoning. The gui, ginger and dates in it are still common seasonings in our kitchen today. Therefore, some scholars call Gui Zhi Soup the top of food therapy. Headache and fever, take Gui Zhi Tang Gui Zhi Tang was first described in the Treatise on Typhoid Fever, and is used to treat external wind and cold symptoms, i.e. headache, fever, spontaneous sweating, fear of wind, runny nose, dry vomiting and no thirst. Gui Zhi Tang can detoxify the muscles and publish, harmonize the Ying and Wei, and is now commonly used to treat colds and influenza, as well as hypothermia after illness and childbirth. Gui Zhi is pungent and warm, relieving the muscles and Yang, generating sweat and relieving the surface, which is the main herb; supplemented by Bai Shao to astringent Yin and harmonize Ying, and can curb the effect of Gui Zhi to prevent sweating too much and injuring Yin. The combination of Gui and Shao, one dispersing and one collecting, harmonizes Ying and Wei, so that the surface is relieved and the inside is harmonized. Ginger helps Gui Zhi to disperse the evil in the surface of the body, and jujube helps peony to nourish the camp. The combination of ginger and jujube strengthens the function of Gui and Shao in harmonizing the Ying and Wei, and is an adjuvant medicine. Glycyrrhiza glabra harmonizes all the medicines as a make up medicine. The combined use of the herbs together can release the muscle and harmonize the Ying and Wei. After taking the medicine, the sweating can be stopped. After the decoction of Gui Zhi Tang, the aroma of Gui Zhi is emitted. In the “Treatise on Typhoid Fever”, it is written that “after taking the medicine, sip hot thin porridge for more than one liter to help the medicine.” It means that after taking the medicine, you should eat some hot porridge or drink a small bowl of boiling water. This is because Gui Zhi Tang is an agent for relieving the muscles, and it is intended to nourish the spleen and stomach to nourish the source of sweat and nourish the source of sweat to support the external evil, which can help the strength of the medicine and enhance its efficacy. The “Treatise on Typhoid Fever” also records that “warming the medicine to make a moment, all over the body tie up slightly seems to have sweat is good, do not make like water flowing dripping, the disease will not be removed”. After taking the medicine slightly sweating, you can stop the medicine, so that the spleen and stomach qi and, Ying and Wei qi regulation. Sweating should not be excessive, a slight sweat can get rid of the disease, but a big sweat will hurt the body and is not conducive to cure the disease. At the same time, it is necessary to abstain from eating cold, spicy and greasy things, and not to drink alcohol. Gui Zhi Tang has “three forbidden” Gui Zhi Tang has “three forbidden”: one for those who have no sweat; two for those who are addicted to alcohol and have a lot of damp heat; three for those who take Gui Zhi Tang and vomit in Yang heat. Therefore, the ancients had the warning “Gui Zhi down the throat, Yang Sheng will die”.