{
    "slug": "bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Bai He Gu Jin Tang",
        "chinese": "百合固金汤",
        "english": "Lily Bulb Decoction to Preserve the Metal",
        "alternate": [
            "Bai He Gu Jin Wan",
            "Lily Preserve Metal Pill"
        ]
    },
    "category": "treat-dryness",
    "source": {
        "text": "Yi Fang Ji Jie (Medical Formulas Collected and Analyzed)",
        "author": "Wang Ang, after Zhou Zhi-gan",
        "dynasty": "Qing",
        "year": "1682"
    },
    "summary": "For the long dry cough of Lung and Kidney yin deficiency with heat: a dry sore throat, sticky or blood-streaked phlegm, wheezing, hot palms and soles, and night sweats. Metal is the Lung. The formula preserves it by refilling the Kidney that waters it.",
    "picture": "Metal, the Lung, is kept bright by water, the Kidney. When the water runs low the metal rusts: a scratchy throat, a dry cough, a fleck of blood. The formula refills the water and polishes the metal.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "lung-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "primary",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat",
            "role": "with cough",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Chronic dry cough with sticky, scant phlegm",
        "Blood-streaked sputum",
        "Dry, sore throat, hoarse voice",
        "Wheezing in a dry, thin person",
        "Hot palms and soles, night sweats, afternoon warmth",
        "Chronic bronchitis or recovery after a lung illness with dryness"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red with little coat.",
        "pulse": "Thin and rapid."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Bai He",
            "grams": "12",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Lily bulb moistens the Lung, stops the cough, and calms the mind.",
            "herb_slug": "bulb-of-greenish-lily",
            "english": "Lily Bulb",
            "chinese": "百合",
            "latin": "Bulbus Lilii",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/bulb-of-greenish-lily",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/bulb-of-greenish-lily"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Sheng Di Huang",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Raw rehmannia cools the blood and nourishes yin.",
            "herb_slug": "fresh-rehmannia-root",
            "english": "Fresh Rehmannia Root",
            "chinese": "生地黄",
            "latin": "Radix Rehmanniae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Shu Di Huang",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Prepared rehmannia fills Kidney yin.",
            "herb_slug": "prepared-rehmannia-root",
            "english": "Prepared Rehmannia Root",
            "chinese": "熟地黄",
            "latin": "Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Mai Dong",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Ophiopogon moistens the Lung and throat.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3",
            "english": "Mai Dong Ophiopogon Root Tuber",
            "chinese": "麦冬",
            "latin": "Radix Ophiopogonis",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Xuan Shen",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Scrophularia cools the throat and clears empty heat.",
            "herb_slug": "figwort-root",
            "english": "Figwort Root",
            "chinese": "玄参",
            "latin": "Radix Scrophulariae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/figwort-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/figwort-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Chuan Bei Mu",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Fritillary bulb moistens and loosens the sticky phlegm.",
            "herb_slug": "bulb-of-tendrilleaf-fritillary",
            "english": "Sichuan Fritillary Bulb",
            "chinese": "川贝母",
            "latin": "Bulbus Fritillariae Cirrhosae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/bulb-of-tendrilleaf-fritillary",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/bulb-of-tendrilleaf-fritillary"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Dang Gui",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Angelica nourishes blood and moistens.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-chinese-angelica",
            "english": "Root of Chinese Angelica",
            "chinese": "当归",
            "latin": "Radix Angelicae Sinensis",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-chinese-angelica",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-chinese-angelica"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Bai Shao",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "White peony nourishes yin and blood.",
            "herb_slug": "white-peony-root",
            "english": "White Peony Root",
            "chinese": "白芍",
            "latin": "Radix Paeoniae Alba",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/white-peony-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/white-peony-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Jie Geng",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Platycodon opens the Lung and carries the formula to the throat.",
            "herb_slug": "platycodon-root",
            "english": "Platycodon Root",
            "chinese": "桔梗",
            "latin": "Radix Platycodi",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/platycodon-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/platycodon-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Gan Cao",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Licorice soothes the throat and harmonizes.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-ural-licorice",
            "english": "Raw Licorice Root",
            "chinese": "甘草",
            "latin": "Radix Glycyrrhizae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-ural-licorice",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-ural-licorice"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Nourishes yin and moistens the Lung",
        "Transforms phlegm and stops cough",
        "Clears empty heat from the throat"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Lily bulb, ophiopogon, and the two rehmannias wet the Lung and refill the Kidney behind it. Scrophularia cools the throat. Fritillary loosens the glue-like phlegm that dryness leaves behind. Platycodon lifts the whole formula into the chest and throat where the trouble is.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "More blood in the sputum",
            "add": [
                "Bai Ji",
                "Ou Jie"
            ],
            "note": "Herbs that stop bleeding from the Lung."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heavy night sweats",
            "add": [
                "Fu Xiao Mai",
                "Mu Li"
            ],
            "note": "Light wheat and oyster shell."
        },
        {
            "for": "A loud, persistent cough",
            "add": [
                "Kuan Dong Hua",
                "Zi Wan"
            ],
            "note": "Coltsfoot and aster to settle the cough."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Moist and cool. Not for a fresh cough with chills, or a wet cough with thick white or yellow phlegm.",
        "Not for a weak Spleen with loose stools.",
        "A cough with blood needs a cause found. The formula treats the dryness; it does not diagnose.",
        "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "granules",
        "decoction"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day, the usual label dose",
        "decoction": "One bag a day in two doses, with the amounts above",
        "course": "Two to six weeks for a dry cough; longer for chronic lung weakness."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
            "difference": "More Kidney, less Lung. Choose it when the sore back and ringing ears sit under the cough."
        },
        {
            "slug": "sha-shen-mai-dong-tang",
            "difference": "Lighter and cooler, for a short dry cough after a fever or in dry weather, with no Kidney tonic inside."
        },
        {
            "slug": "yang-yin-qing-fei-tang",
            "difference": "For a dry, burning sore throat with heat, where the throat rather than the cough is the complaint."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Bai He Gu Jin Tang or Wan with the characters 百合固金. Ten ingredients beginning with Lily bulb and the two Rehmannias."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "dry-cough",
        "cough",
        "hemoptysis",
        "bronchitis",
        "pharyngitis",
        "tuberculosis",
        "wheezing"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Composition, actions, indications, and cautions."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}