{ "slug": "gui-zhi-tang", "names": { "pinyin": "Gui Zhi Tang", "chinese": "桂枝汤", "english": "Cinnamon Twig Decoction", "alternate": [ "Gui Zhi Wan", "Cinnamon Combination" ] }, "category": "release-exterior", "source": { "text": "Shang Han Lun (Discussion of Cold Damage)", "author": "Zhang Zhong-jing", "dynasty": "Han", "year": "c. 220" }, "summary": "The first formula in the oldest formula book. For a cold with chills, a mild fever, a stiff neck, and sweating that does not make you feel better, in a person who dislikes wind. Five kitchen herbs that harmonize the body's defenses rather than forcing a sweat. Take it hot, then eat rice porridge and go under the blankets.", "picture": "Most cold formulas kick the door open and push the invader out. Gui Zhi Tang is for the person whose door is already ajar and leaking: it steadies the frame, warms the hall, and lets the body finish the job.", "patterns": [ { "slug": "exterior-deficiency-spontaneous-sweating", "role": "during a cold", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/exterior-deficiency-spontaneous-sweating", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/exterior-deficiency-spontaneous-sweating" } }, { "slug": "lung-qi-deficiency", "role": "during a cold", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency" } } ], "indications": [ "Chills and mild fever with sweating that brings no relief", "Dislike of wind and drafts", "Headache and stiff neck", "Stuffy nose, dry heaves", "Sweating for no reason in a weak person, outside of a cold", "A cold in someone who is tired, elderly, or just recovered from illness", "Muscle aches after exposure to wind" ], "signs": { "tongue": "Thin white moist coat.", "pulse": "Floating and relaxed." }, "ingredients": [ { "pinyin": "Gui Zhi", "grams": "9", "role": "chief", "job": "Cinnamon twig warms the surface and disperses the cold.", "herb_slug": "cassia-twig", "english": "Cassia Twig", "chinese": "桂枝", "latin": "Ramulus Cinnamomi", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/cassia-twig", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/cassia-twig" } }, { "pinyin": "Bai Shao", "grams": "9", "role": "deputy", "job": "White peony holds the nutritive layer so the sweating stops; it balances the cinnamon.", "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": "Sheng Jiang", "grams": "9", "role": "assistant", "job": "Fresh ginger helps the cinnamon disperse and settles the stomach.", "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": "Da Zao", "grams": "12", "role": "assistant", "job": "Jujube dates help the peony nourish.", "herb_slug": "jujube-chinese-date", "english": "Chinese Date", "chinese": "大枣", "latin": "Fructus Jujubae", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/jujube-chinese-date", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/jujube-chinese-date" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Gan Cao", "grams": "6", "role": "envoy", "job": "Honey-fried licorice harmonizes everything.", "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" } } ], "actions": [ "Releases the exterior and harmonizes the nutritive and defensive layers", "Warms and disperses wind-cold in a person who is already sweating" ], "how_it_works": "Cinnamon opens and warms; peony closes and nourishes. The pair is the whole formula: it pushes the cold out and holds the body together at the same time, which is why it treats both a cold with sweating and plain sweating with no cold. The porridge and blankets afterward are part of the prescription.", "modifications": [ { "for": "Stiff neck and shoulders", "add": [ "Ge Gen" ], "note": "This becomes Gui Zhi Jia Ge Gen Tang." }, { "for": "Wheezing with the cold", "add": [ "Hou Po", "Xing Ren" ], "note": "Magnolia bark and apricot kernel." }, { "for": "Cold belly pain and tiredness", "add": [ "Yi Tang" ], "note": "With double the peony this becomes Xiao Jian Zhong Tang." } ], "cautions": [ "Not for a cold with a sore throat, thirst, and a yellow coat; that is wind-heat and needs Yin Qiao San.", "Not for a cold with chills and no sweating at all; that is the stronger Ma Huang Tang picture.", "Warm. Stop if a fever climbs or heat signs appear.", "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner." ], "forms": [ "teapills", "granules", "decoction" ], "typical_dose": { "decoction": "One bag, drunk hot, followed by a bowl of hot rice porridge and rest under covers. Repeat in a few hours if there is no light sweat.", "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day with hot water, the usual label dose", "course": "One to three days for a cold." }, "cousins": [ { "slug": "yu-ping-feng-san", "difference": "Prevents the cold in the same kind of person; Gui Zhi Tang treats it once it has arrived." }, { "slug": "yin-qiao-san", "difference": "For wind-heat colds: sore throat, thirst, a yellow coat." } ], "commerce": { "store": "supplementsapothecary.com", "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary", "store_slug": "gui-zhi-tang", "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/gui-zhi-tang", "status": "planned", "label_check": "The box reads Gui Zhi Tang or Wan with the characters 桂枝汤. Five ingredients: Cinnamon twig, White peony, Ginger, Jujube, and Licorice." }, "conditions": [ "common-cold", "wind-cold", "spontaneous-sweating", "headache", "upper-respiratory-infection" ], "sources": [ { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Composition, actions, indications, and the porridge instruction." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/gui-zhi-tang", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/gui-zhi-tang", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas" } }