{ "slug": "li-zhong-wan", "names": { "pinyin": "Li Zhong Wan", "chinese": "理中丸", "english": "Regulate the Middle Pill", "alternate": [ "Li Zhong Tang", "Ren Shen Tang", "Ginseng and Ginger Combination" ] }, "category": "warm-interior", "source": { "text": "Shang Han Lun (Discussion of Cold Damage)", "author": "Zhang Zhong-jing", "dynasty": "Han", "year": "c. 220" }, "summary": "Four herbs that relight a cold stove. For Spleen yang deficiency: a cold belly that aches and likes a hot water bottle, watery stools, nausea, no thirst, cold hands, and tiredness. Si Jun Zi Tang's tonics with dried ginger in place of poria, which turns a tonic into a warmer.", "picture": "The Spleen is the kitchen stove. Si Jun Zi Tang feeds a weak stove. Li Zhong Wan relights one that has gone out: same cook, but with a match.", "patterns": [ { "slug": "spleen-yang-deficiency", "role": "primary", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-yang-deficiency", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-yang-deficiency" } }, { "slug": "spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency", "role": "for the gut", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency" } } ], "indications": [ "Cold belly pain that likes warmth and pressure", "Watery stools, diarrhea with undigested food", "Nausea, vomiting of clear fluid", "No thirst, no appetite", "Cold hands and feet", "Chronic cold diarrhea in a child or older person", "Excess saliva and drooling in a cold person" ], "signs": { "tongue": "Pale, wet, with a white coat.", "pulse": "Deep, slow, and weak." }, "ingredients": [ { "pinyin": "Gan Jiang", "grams": "9", "role": "chief", "job": "Dried ginger warms the middle and dispels cold.", "herb_slug": "dried-ginger", "english": "Dried Ginger", "chinese": "干姜", "latin": "Rhizoma Zingiberis", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/dried-ginger", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/dried-ginger" } }, { "pinyin": "Dang Shen", "grams": "9", "role": "deputy", "job": "Codonopsis, or ginseng in the classic, restores the 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": "assistant", "job": "Atractylodes strengthens the Spleen and dries damp.", "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": "9", "role": "envoy", "job": "Honey-fried licorice warms, tonifies, 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" } } ], "actions": [ "Warms the middle and dispels cold", "Tonifies the qi and strengthens the Spleen" ], "how_it_works": "Dried ginger is the match. The other three are the four gentlemen minus poria, since a cold wet Spleen does not need more draining; it needs warmth and strength. Equal parts, nothing fancy, and still the standard answer to a cold gut after eighteen centuries.", "modifications": [ { "for": "Deep cold with cold limbs", "add": [ "Fu Zi" ], "note": "This becomes Fu Zi Li Zhong Wan." }, { "for": "Nausea and vomiting", "add": [ "Ban Xia", "Sheng Jiang" ], "note": "Pinellia and fresh ginger settle the stomach." }, { "for": "Bloating", "add": [ "Chen Pi", "Mu Xiang" ], "note": "Qi movers." } ], "cautions": [ "Hot and drying. Not for a hot picture: thirst, a red tongue, a yellow coat, burning diarrhea.", "Not for yin deficiency with a dry mouth.", "Pause during a fever.", "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", "course": "Two to six weeks." }, "cousins": [ { "slug": "si-jun-zi-tang", "difference": "The same tonics with poria instead of dried ginger, for a weak Spleen that is not cold." }, { "slug": "zhen-wu-tang", "difference": "Warms the Kidney as well, with aconite, for cold with swelling." }, { "slug": "shen-ling-bai-zhu-san", "difference": "For damp loose stools without cold." } ], "commerce": { "store": "supplementsapothecary.com", "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary", "store_slug": "li-zhong-wan", "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/li-zhong-wan", "status": "planned", "label_check": "The box reads Li Zhong Wan with the characters 理中丸. Four ingredients: dried Ginger, Codonopsis or Ginseng, Atractylodes, and Licorice. Fu Zi Li Zhong Wan adds aconite." }, "conditions": [ "diarrhea", "abdominal-pain", "nausea", "digestive-weakness", "poor-appetite", "gastroenteritis" ], "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/li-zhong-wan", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/li-zhong-wan", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas" } }