{
    "slug": "bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang",
        "chinese": "补中益气汤",
        "english": "Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction",
        "alternate": [
            "Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan",
            "Central Qi Pills",
            "Ginseng and Astragalus Combination"
        ]
    },
    "category": "tonify-qi",
    "source": {
        "text": "Pi Wei Lun (Discussion of the Spleen and Stomach)",
        "author": "Li Dong-yuan",
        "dynasty": "Jin",
        "year": "1249"
    },
    "summary": "The lifting formula. For Spleen qi so weak that things sag: exhaustion, a weak voice, shortness of breath, sweating on effort, a dragging feeling in the belly, prolapse, hemorrhoids, chronic diarrhea, and a low fever that comes with tiredness. It tonifies the qi and then two light herbs carry it upward.",
    "picture": "A tent with slack poles. The canvas droops, the door sags, everything hangs. Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang tightens the ropes and pushes the poles back up.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "qi-deficiency-with-sinking",
            "role": "primary",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/qi-deficiency-with-sinking",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/qi-deficiency-with-sinking"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "spleen-qi-deficiency",
            "role": "with sinking",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-qi-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-qi-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "lung-qi-deficiency",
            "role": "with tiredness",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Exhaustion, worse with effort",
        "Shortness of breath, a weak voice, no wish to talk",
        "Spontaneous sweating on effort",
        "A bearing-down or dragging feeling in the lower belly",
        "Prolapse of the rectum, uterus, or bladder",
        "Hemorrhoids that sag",
        "Chronic diarrhea",
        "A low fever that comes and goes with tiredness",
        "Headache or dizziness that is worse on standing",
        "Frequent colds in a tired person"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Pale with a thin white coat.",
        "pulse": "Weak and thin, or large and empty."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Huang Qi",
            "grams": "15",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Astragalus tonifies the qi, lifts what sags, and guards the surface against colds.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-membranous-milkvetch",
            "english": "Root of Membranous Milkvetch",
            "chinese": "黄芪",
            "latin": "Radix Astragali",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-membranous-milkvetch",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-membranous-milkvetch"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Dang Shen",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Codonopsis, or ginseng in the classic, restores the middle qi.",
            "herb_slug": "root-pilose-asiabell",
            "english": "Dang Shen Root",
            "chinese": "党参",
            "latin": "Radix Codonopsis Pilosulae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-pilose-asiabell",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-pilose-asiabell"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Bai Zhu",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Atractylodes strengthens the Spleen.",
            "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes",
            "english": "Rhizome of Largehead Atractylodes",
            "chinese": "",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Zhi Gan Cao",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Honey-fried licorice tonifies the middle and harmonizes.",
            "herb_slug": "prepared-liauorice-root",
            "english": "Honey-Fried Licorice Root",
            "chinese": "炙甘草",
            "latin": "Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparata",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-liauorice-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-liauorice-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Dang Gui",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Angelica nourishes blood so the qi has something to carry.",
            "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": "Chen Pi",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Tangerine peel keeps the tonics from bloating.",
            "herb_slug": "dried-tangerine-peel",
            "english": "Dried Tangerine Peel",
            "chinese": "陈皮",
            "latin": "Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/dried-tangerine-peel",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/dried-tangerine-peel"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Sheng Ma",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Cimicifuga, a small dose, lifts the qi upward.",
            "herb_slug": "largetrifoliolious-bugbane-rhizome",
            "english": "Largetrifoliolious Bugbane Rhizome",
            "chinese": "升麻",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Cimicifugae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/largetrifoliolious-bugbane-rhizome",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/largetrifoliolious-bugbane-rhizome"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Chai Hu",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Bupleurum, a small dose, lifts the qi and spreads it.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-chinese-thorowax",
            "english": "Chinese Thorowax Root",
            "chinese": "柴胡",
            "latin": "Radix Bupleuri",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-chinese-thorowax",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-chinese-thorowax"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Tonifies the middle and augments the qi",
        "Raises the yang and lifts what has sunk"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Astragalus, codonopsis, atractylodes, and licorice rebuild the Spleen's qi. Then two light herbs in small amounts, cimicifuga and bupleurum, carry that qi upward, which is what lifts a prolapse, stops the dragging feeling, and clears the low fever that comes from qi that has fallen. Li Dong-yuan's idea was that tiredness and sagging are the same problem seen from two angles.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Chronic diarrhea",
            "add": [
                "Lian Zi",
                "Shan Yao"
            ],
            "note": "Lotus seed and yam hold the stool."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heavy prolapse",
            "add": [
                "Zhi Shi"
            ],
            "note": "A larger dose of astragalus with bitter orange to lift harder."
        },
        {
            "for": "Frequent colds",
            "add": [
                "Fang Feng"
            ],
            "note": "Or combine with Yu Ping Feng San."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Warm and lifting. Not for a hot picture: fever with thirst, a red tongue, a yellow coat.",
        "Not for yin deficiency fever with night sweats and a peeled tongue; the lifting herbs push heat up.",
        "Not for high blood pressure with a red face and headache. Lifting is the wrong direction.",
        "Pause during an acute cold or flu.",
        "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "concentrated tablets",
        "granules",
        "decoction"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day with warm water, the usual label dose",
        "decoction": "One bag a day in two doses, with the amounts above",
        "course": "One to three months."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "si-jun-zi-tang",
            "difference": "The plain four-herb Spleen tonic without the lifting or the astragalus."
        },
        {
            "slug": "yu-ping-feng-san",
            "difference": "Three herbs to guard the surface against colds and stop sweating, without the deep tonifying."
        },
        {
            "slug": "gui-pi-tang",
            "difference": "Tonifies qi and blood with Heart-calming herbs, for the tired sleeper. No lifting."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Bu Zhong Yi Qi Wan or Tang with the characters 补中益气. Eight herbs led by Astragalus, with small amounts of Cimicifuga and Bupleurum."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "fatigue",
        "hemorrhoids",
        "diarrhea",
        "spontaneous-sweating",
        "immune-deficiency",
        "digestive-weakness",
        "dizziness"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Composition, actions, indications, cautions, and modifications."
        },
        {
            "title": "Li Dong-yuan, Pi Wei Lun, 1249",
            "note": "Source text."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}