{ "slug": "huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "names": { "pinyin": "Huang Lian Jie Du Tang", "chinese": "黄连解毒汤", "english": "Coptis Decoction to Relieve Toxicity", "alternate": [ "Huang Lian Jie Du Wan", "Coptis Detox Formula", "Three Yellows and Gardenia" ] }, "category": "clear-heat", "source": { "text": "Wai Tai Mi Yao (Arcane Essentials from the Imperial Library)", "author": "Wang Tao, after Ge Hong", "dynasty": "Tang", "year": "752" }, "summary": "Four of the most bitter, cold herbs in the pharmacy, one for each level of the body. For fire everywhere: high fever, a red face, a bitter dry mouth, insomnia and agitation, hot sores and boils, bleeding from heat, and burning dysentery. A short, sharp course while the fire is put out.", "picture": "Three yellow roots and one red fruit. Scutellaria takes the upper body, coptis the middle, phellodendron the lower, and gardenia drains all three. It is a fire crew that covers every floor at once.", "patterns": [ { "slug": "stomach-fire", "role": "stronger", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/stomach-fire", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/stomach-fire" } }, { "slug": "liver-fire", "role": "with toxin", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-fire", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-fire" } }, { "slug": "heart-fire", "role": "stronger", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/heart-fire", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/heart-fire" } }, { "slug": "damp-heat-lower-burner", "role": "with fire above", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/damp-heat-lower-burner", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/damp-heat-lower-burner" } } ], "indications": [ "High fever with irritability and a dry mouth", "Insomnia and agitation from heat", "Red eyes, red face, a bitter taste", "Nosebleeds, vomiting blood, or bleeding gums from heat", "Boils, carbuncles, hot red skin eruptions", "Dysentery with burning and blood", "Jaundice with heat", "Mouth ulcers that are red and hot" ], "signs": { "tongue": "Red with a yellow coat.", "pulse": "Rapid and forceful." }, "ingredients": [ { "pinyin": "Huang Lian", "grams": "9", "role": "chief", "job": "Coptis drains fire from the Heart and Stomach.", "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2", "english": "Rhizome of Chinese Goldthread", "chinese": "黄连", "latin": "Rhizoma Coptidis", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-chinese-goldthread-2" } }, { "pinyin": "Huang Qin", "grams": "6", "role": "deputy", "job": "Scutellaria drains fire from the Lung and upper body.", "herb_slug": "baicalin", "english": "Baical Skullcap Root", "chinese": "黄芩", "latin": "Radix Scutellariae", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/baicalin", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/baicalin" } }, { "pinyin": "Huang Bai", "grams": "6", "role": "deputy", "job": "Phellodendron drains fire from the lower body.", "herb_slug": "phellodendron-bark", "english": "Phellodendron Bark", "chinese": "黄柏", "latin": "Cortex Phellodendri", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/phellodendron-bark", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/phellodendron-bark" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Zi", "grams": "9", "role": "assistant", "job": "Gardenia drains heat from all three burners out through the urine.", "herb_slug": "fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2", "english": "Gardenia Fruit", "chinese": "栀子", "latin": "Fructus Gardeniae", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-cape-jasmine-2" } } ], "actions": [ "Drains fire and relieves toxicity", "Clears heat from all three burners" ], "how_it_works": "Each herb targets a different level of the body, and together they leave no floor for the fire to hide on. Gardenia then opens the drain so the heat has somewhere to go. There is no tonic and no moistener in the formula, which is why it works fast and must be stopped fast.", "modifications": [ { "for": "Constipation with the fire", "add": [ "Da Huang" ], "note": "Rhubarb drains the heat through the bowel." }, { "for": "Bleeding", "add": [ "Sheng Di Huang", "Mu Dan Pi" ], "note": "Cooling herbs that stop bleeding." }, { "for": "Boils and skin toxin", "add": [ "Jin Yin Hua", "Lian Qiao" ], "note": "Honeysuckle and forsythia for toxic heat." } ], "cautions": [ "Very cold and very bitter. Take it for days, not weeks. Long use damages the Spleen and dries the yin.", "Not for empty heat, the quiet kind with night sweats and a peeled tongue. That is a yin problem and this formula makes it worse.", "Not for anyone with loose stools, a cold constitution, or a weak appetite.", "Stop as soon as the fever, agitation, or sores settle.", "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": "Three to seven days." }, "cousins": [ { "slug": "qing-wei-san", "difference": "Coptis aimed at the gums and Stomach only, with cooling blood herbs. Gentler and more specific." }, { "slug": "long-dan-xie-gan-tang", "difference": "Drains Liver and Gallbladder fire and damp heat: red eyes, rage, a bitter mouth, burning urine, genital itch." }, { "slug": "zhi-bai-di-huang-wan", "difference": "For the empty, quiet heat of yin deficiency. The opposite tool." } ], "commerce": { "store": "supplementsapothecary.com", "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary", "store_slug": "huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "status": "planned", "label_check": "The box reads Huang Lian Jie Du Tang or Wan with the characters 黄连解毒. Four ingredients: Coptis, Scutellaria, Phellodendron, and Gardenia." }, "conditions": [ "fever", "insomnia", "mouth-sores", "oral-ulcers", "dysentery", "carbuncle", "furunculosis", "jaundice", "hematuria" ], "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/huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/huang-lian-jie-du-tang", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas" } }