{ "slug": "er-chen-tang", "names": { "pinyin": "Er Chen Tang", "chinese": "二陈汤", "english": "Two-Cured Decoction", "alternate": [ "Er Chen Wan", "Citrus and Pinellia Combination" ] }, "category": "expel-phlegm", "source": { "text": "Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang (Imperial Grace Formulary of the Tai Ping Era)", "author": "Imperial Medical Bureau", "dynasty": "Song", "year": "1078" }, "summary": "The base phlegm formula. For a wet cough with lots of white phlegm, a full chest, nausea, a heavy head, dizziness, and a greasy white tongue coat. Four herbs that dry damp and move the phlegm out, named for the two that improve with age: tangerine peel and pinellia.", "picture": "Phlegm is damp that has sat long enough to thicken. Pinellia breaks it up, tangerine peel moves it, poria drains the damp that made it, and licorice keeps the peace. Nearly every phlegm formula is built on these four.", "patterns": [ { "slug": "phlegm-damp", "role": "primary", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/phlegm-damp", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/phlegm-damp" } }, { "slug": "spleen-dampness", "role": "with phlegm", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-dampness", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-dampness" } } ], "indications": [ "Cough with copious white phlegm that is easy to bring up", "Fullness in the chest or stomach", "Nausea, vomiting", "Dizziness, a heavy foggy head", "Palpitations from phlegm", "Morning phlegm in a smoker or heavy eater", "A greasy tongue coat that will not clear" ], "signs": { "tongue": "White, greasy coat.", "pulse": "Slippery." }, "ingredients": [ { "pinyin": "Ban Xia", "grams": "12", "role": "chief", "job": "Processed pinellia dries damp, transforms phlegm, and stops nausea.", "herb_slug": "tuber-of-pinellia", "english": "Raw Pinellia Tuber", "chinese": "半夏", "latin": "Rhizoma Pinelliae", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/tuber-of-pinellia", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/tuber-of-pinellia" } }, { "pinyin": "Chen Pi", "grams": "12", "role": "deputy", "job": "Tangerine peel moves qi and dries damp so the phlegm has to move.", "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": "Fu Ling", "grams": "9", "role": "assistant", "job": "Poria drains the damp that makes the phlegm.", "herb_slug": "indian-bread", "english": "Poria", "chinese": "茯苓", "latin": "Poria", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/indian-bread", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/indian-bread" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Gan Cao", "grams": "5", "role": "envoy", "job": "Honey-fried licorice 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": "Sheng Jiang", "grams": "6", "role": "envoy", "job": "Fresh ginger settles nausea and tempers the pinellia.", "herb_slug": "fresh-ginger", "english": "Fresh Ginger", "chinese": "生姜", "latin": "Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fresh-ginger", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fresh-ginger" } }, { "pinyin": "Wu Mei", "grams": "3", "role": "envoy", "job": "One smoked plum keeps the drying herbs from scattering the Lung qi.", "herb_slug": "smoked-plum", "english": "Smoked Plum", "chinese": "乌梅", "latin": "Fructus Mume", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/smoked-plum", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/smoked-plum" } } ], "actions": [ "Dries dampness and transforms phlegm", "Regulates qi and harmonizes the middle" ], "how_it_works": "Qi moves phlegm, so tangerine peel is as important as pinellia. Poria stops new damp forming while the other two clear what is there. The single plum is the old physicians' touch: a little sourness so the Lung is not scattered by all the drying. Plain, balanced, and endlessly modified.", "modifications": [ { "for": "Yellow phlegm and heat", "add": [ "Huang Qin", "Gua Lou" ], "note": "Toward Qing Qi Hua Tan Wan." }, { "for": "Nausea and anxiety with a gallbladder picture", "add": [ "Zhu Ru", "Zhi Shi" ], "note": "This becomes Wen Dan Tang." }, { "for": "Weak digestion under the phlegm", "add": [ "Dang Shen", "Bai Zhu" ], "note": "This becomes Liu Jun Zi Tang." }, { "for": "Dizziness from phlegm", "add": [ "Tian Ma", "Bai Zhu" ], "note": "Toward Ban Xia Bai Zhu Tian Ma Tang." } ], "cautions": [ "Drying. Not for a dry cough, a cough with blood, or a red peeled tongue.", "Pinellia must be processed.", "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner." ], "forms": [ "teapills", "granules", "decoction" ], "typical_dose": { "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day, the usual label dose", "course": "One to four weeks." }, "cousins": [ { "slug": "liu-jun-zi-tang", "difference": "Er Chen Tang plus two Spleen tonics, for phlegm in a weak person." }, { "slug": "wen-dan-tang", "difference": "Er Chen Tang plus bamboo shavings and bitter orange, for phlegm with nausea, anxiety, and poor sleep." }, { "slug": "ban-xia-hou-po-tang", "difference": "Phlegm knotted with stuck qi: the lump-in-the-throat feeling." } ], "commerce": { "store": "supplementsapothecary.com", "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary", "store_slug": "er-chen-tang", "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/er-chen-tang", "status": "planned", "label_check": "The box reads Er Chen Tang or Wan with the characters 二陈. Four main ingredients: processed Pinellia, Tangerine peel, Poria, and Licorice, often with ginger." }, "conditions": [ "productive-cough", "phlegm-accumulation", "nausea", "dizziness", "bronchitis", "cough" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Composition, actions, indications, and the family of modifications." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/er-chen-tang", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/er-chen-tang", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas" } }