{
    "slug": "jia-wei-xiao-yao-san",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Jia Wei Xiao Yao San",
        "chinese": "加味逍遥散",
        "english": "Augmented Rambling Powder",
        "alternate": [
            "Dan Zhi Xiao Yao San",
            "Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan",
            "Free and Easy Wanderer Plus",
            "Bupleurum and Peony Formula"
        ]
    },
    "category": "harmonize",
    "source": {
        "text": "Nei Ke Zhai Yao (Summary of Internal Medicine)",
        "author": "Xue Ji",
        "dynasty": "Ming",
        "year": "1529"
    },
    "summary": "Xiao Yao San with two cooling herbs added. For Liver qi stagnation that has sat long enough to heat up: irritability tipping into anger, a red face, hot flashes, a dry bitter mouth, acne, restless sleep, and periods that come early or heavy. The go-to for stressed heat, including the menopausal kind.",
    "picture": "A dammed river that has started to steam. Xiao Yao San opens the dam. The two extra herbs, peony bark and gardenia, cool the water before it goes downstream.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "liver-qi-stagnation-with-heat",
            "role": "primary",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation-with-heat",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation-with-heat"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "liver-qi-stagnation",
            "role": "with heat",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "liver-overacting-on-spleen",
            "role": "with heat",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-overacting-on-spleen",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-overacting-on-spleen"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Irritability, anger, moods that flare",
        "Red face, hot flashes, a feeling of heat in the chest",
        "Dry mouth, bitter taste",
        "Restless sleep, waking hot",
        "Headache at the temples, red eyes",
        "Early, heavy, or painful periods",
        "Premenstrual anger and breast pain",
        "Acne that flares with stress or the cycle",
        "Menopausal flushing with tension"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red, especially the sides, with a thin yellow coat.",
        "pulse": "Wiry and rapid."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Chai Hu",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Bupleurum opens the Liver.",
            "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"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Dang Gui",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Angelica nourishes and moves blood.",
            "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": "deputy",
            "job": "White peony softens the Liver and nourishes 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": "Bai Zhu",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "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": "Fu Ling",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Poria drains damp and calms.",
            "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": "Bo He",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Mint helps spread the Liver qi.",
            "herb_slug": "mentha-peppermint",
            "english": "Peppermint",
            "chinese": "薄荷",
            "latin": "Herba Menthae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/mentha-peppermint",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/mentha-peppermint"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Sheng Jiang",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Ginger warms 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": "Mu Dan Pi",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Tree peony bark cools the blood and clears Liver heat.",
            "herb_slug": "tree-peony-bark",
            "english": "Tree Peony Bark",
            "chinese": "牡丹皮",
            "latin": "Cortex Moutan",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/tree-peony-bark",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/tree-peony-bark"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Zhi Zi",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Gardenia clears heat and irritability and drains it 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": [
        "Spreads Liver qi and clears Liver heat",
        "Strengthens the Spleen and nourishes blood"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Everything Xiao Yao San does, plus two herbs for the heat that long stagnation creates. Peony bark cools the blood, which is why it settles heavy and early periods. Gardenia clears the restless, irritable heat and sends it out through the urine. Most people who reach for Xiao Yao San actually need this version, because stress rarely stays cool for long.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Hot flashes with night sweats",
            "add": [
                "Zhi Mu",
                "Huang Bai"
            ],
            "note": "Or combine with Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heavy periods",
            "add": [
                "Sheng Di Huang",
                "Di Yu"
            ],
            "note": "Cooling herbs that stop bleeding."
        },
        {
            "for": "Acne",
            "add": [
                "Jin Yin Hua",
                "Lian Qiao"
            ],
            "note": "Honeysuckle and forsythia for skin heat."
        },
        {
            "for": "Insomnia",
            "add": [
                "Suan Zao Ren",
                "Ye Jiao Teng"
            ],
            "note": "Calming herbs."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Cooler than Xiao Yao San. If there is no heat, use the plain version; the extra herbs can loosen the stools.",
        "Not for yin-deficiency heat with a peeled tongue and night sweats as the main picture; that needs a yin tonic first.",
        "Pause during a 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. Mint goes in for the last few minutes.",
        "course": "Two to four weeks for stress and heat; two to three cycles for menstrual use."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "xiao-yao-san",
            "difference": "The same without the two cooling herbs. For stagnation without heat."
        },
        {
            "slug": "long-dan-xie-gan-tang",
            "difference": "For Liver fire, not just heat: splitting headache, red eyes, rage, burning urine. Much colder and shorter."
        },
        {
            "slug": "zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
            "difference": "For menopausal heat from empty Kidney yin rather than stuck Liver qi. Often used together."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "jia-wei-xiao-yao-san",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/jia-wei-xiao-yao-san",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Jia Wei Xiao Yao Wan or Dan Zhi Xiao Yao Wan with the characters 加味逍遥 or 丹栀逍遥. Ten ingredients: Xiao Yao San plus Moutan and Gardenia."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "liver-qi-stagnation",
        "stress",
        "anxiety",
        "depression",
        "menopausal-syndrome",
        "menorrhagia",
        "dysmenorrhea",
        "breast-pain",
        "insomnia",
        "headache"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Listed as a modification of Xiao Yao San with composition and indications."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/jia-wei-xiao-yao-san",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/jia-wei-xiao-yao-san",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}