Xiao Chai Hu Tang [Composition]: Chai Hu, Scutellaria, Ginseng, Radix et Rhizoma, Glycyrrhiza, Ginger, Jujube. [Status] From “Treatise on Typhoid Fever”, Xiao Chai Hu Tang is highly respected by medical practitioners throughout the ages for its versatility in treating a wide range of diseases and its efficacy in combination, and is the ancestor of conciliatory formulas. Xiao Chai Hu Tang can relieve wind and heat, relieve liver and depression, and is a conciliatory formula, which is now understood as a formula that can enhance immunity. A famous ancient couplet reads: “It is best to take refuge in a deep bamboo courtyard in summer, and to use Xiao Chai Hu for typhoid fever”, which shows the merit of Xiao Chai Hu Tang in treating typhoid fever such as external fever. It is said that in the Han Dynasty, a family in the Nanyang area gave birth to twin sons, the older one was named Da Da and the younger one was named Xiao Xiao. One day, the two brothers had fever at the same time and asked the famous doctor Zhang Zhongjing to treat them. After diagnosis, Zhang Zhongjing concluded that the brothers had the same symptoms, but the causes were not exactly the same. According to the different causes of the brothers’ illness, he prescribed a prescription for each of them. The difference between the two prescriptions was that the larger one had added rhubarb and heliotrope, while the smaller one had added ginseng and licorice. Zhang Zhongjing wrote a big character on the big prescription and a small character on the small prescription in order to make a distinction. The next day, both Dada and Xiaoxiao were cured. Later, these two prescriptions were repeatedly used by Zhang Zhongjing. In his later years, when Zhang Zhongjing was writing the Treatise on Typhoid Miscellaneous Diseases, he decided to include both prescriptions in the book, considering that both prescriptions had Chai Hu as the ruling medicine, and both had Scutellaria baicalensis, Radix Panax notoginseng, ginger and jujube, and only the remaining flavors were different, so they should be named Chai Hu Tang, but how to distinguish them? I thought of one used by Da Da and one used by Xiao Xiao, so I named the one used by Da Da as Da Chai Hu Tang and the one used by Xiao Xiao as Xiao Chai Hu Tang. The same is true of the prescription for Xiao Chai Hu, but the dosage forms are different, and so are the medicinal effects. In the Song Dynasty, when Zhu Huan was practicing medicine in Nanyang, he was summoned by the governor, Sheng Jizhong, who was ill, and after examining the pulse evidence, he said it was “Xiao Chai Hu Tang evidence” and could be cured by taking three doses. Since Xiao Chai Hu Tang was already a famous formula known to the scholars in the Song Dynasty, he did not write a prescription. However, late that night, the patient’s family came to say that the illness had not been alleviated after taking the medicine, but the symptoms of abdominal fullness had increased. He went to see the patient again and examined the medicine he had taken the previous time. He immediately pointed out that the effect of soup and powder is different, soup can take effect quickly through the meridians, but when powder is used at this time, the medicine is stagnant on the diaphragm, so there are symptoms of stomach fullness. He then personally operated the decoction of Xiao Chai Hu Tang, and the patient was cured after two doses. In the early 1970’s, the Japanese Tsumura Juntendo made Xiao Chai Hu Tang into Xiao Chai Hu Tang granules, and at the same time, a Japanese professor of Chinese medicine named Ariji Shiki said that Xiao Chai Hu granules for hepatitis and liver cirrhosis were “very safe and there is no problem with long-term use”. In addition, the manufacturer strongly advertised that Xiao Chai Hu Tang could also cure various acute febrile diseases, colds, pneumonia, chronic gastrointestinal disorders, etc. People were scrambling to take Xiao Chai Hu Tang just based on the name of the disease diagnosed by Western medicine, regardless of whether it was the right disease or not. For a while, Xiao Chai Hu Tang became a hundred pills, and Tsumura Juntendo also became rich. However, things took a turn for the worse. In the 1990s, there were frequent reports of “interstitial pneumonia” caused by the abuse of Xiao Chai Hu granules in Japan. 188 cases of interstitial pneumonia were reported in five years, and 22 of them died. As a result, Tsumura Juntendo went bankrupt in 1997, and in 2000, Tsumura Juntendo president Akira Tsumura was sentenced to three years in prison. The reason for this is not that Xiao Chai Hu Tang has side effects, but that it lacks knowledge of Xiao Chai Hu Tang and violates the principles of diagnosis and treatment in Chinese medicine. The most important thing is that you should not take it casually, regardless of whether it is a classic formula or a miracle cure. The more widely used the formula is, the more it should not be abused Xiao Chai Hu Tang is a representative formula for resolving Shao Yang. According to Chinese medicine, Shaoyang disease is a half-epidemic, half-liberal evidence, meaning that the evil is between the epidrome and the lining, because it is fighting with the righteousness, so there are often symptoms of cold and heat, that is, hot and cold. In the case of fever, Xiao Chai Hu Tang can reduce fever. Chai Hu is good at reducing fever and relieving depression, while Scutellaria baicalensis calms and relieves annoyance, and also helps to regulate Qi in the liver, which can be used to reduce fever and reconcile the exterior and the interior. It will also be effective when taken at the beginning of a cold with a clear runny nose. Radix Panax notoginseng and ginger harmonize the stomach to stop vomiting and dispel cold from the surface; and ginseng, licorice and jujube replenish the right qi, which can disperse the cold evil just felt. In addition, Xiao Chai Hu has the effect of relieving symptoms of the exterior, detoxifying the liver and gallbladder, and regulating the spleen and stomach. It is also particularly suitable when suffering from gastrointestinal type cold, having cold symptoms and nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. However, it should be noted that Xiao Chai Hu Tang is suitable for people with physical deficiency, such as those who often catch colds. When people who are usually physically strong catch colds, their symptoms tend to be heavier, and this condition is not suitable for Xiao Chai Hu Tang. In addition, if the cold symptoms worsen instead after using Xiao Chai Hu Tang, stop the medicine and consult a herbalist.