{
    "slug": "mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Mai Wei Di Huang Wan",
        "chinese": "麦味地黄丸",
        "english": "Ophiopogon, Schisandra and Rehmannia Pill",
        "alternate": [
            "Ba Xian Chang Shou Wan",
            "Eight Immortals Pill for Longevity",
            "Eight Immortals Teapills"
        ]
    },
    "category": "tonify-yin",
    "family": "di-huang-wan",
    "source": {
        "text": "Shou Shi Bao Yuan (Longevity and Life Preservation)",
        "author": "Gong Ting-xian",
        "dynasty": "Ming",
        "year": "1615"
    },
    "summary": "Liu Wei Di Huang Wan with ophiopogon and schisandra for the lungs. For Lung and Kidney yin deficiency: a dry cough that drags on, a dry throat, wheezing on effort, night sweats, and the usual sore back and dry mouth underneath. Also sold as the Eight Immortals pill.",
    "picture": "The Kidney is the root of the breath and the Lung is its leaves. When the root dries out the leaves curl. This formula waters the root and moistens the leaves at the same time.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "lung-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "with Kidney signs",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "with dry cough",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Dry cough with little or sticky phlegm, lasting weeks",
        "Dry throat and mouth, worse at night",
        "Wheezing or breathlessness on exertion",
        "Night sweats and afternoon warmth",
        "Cough with streaks of blood in a thin, dry person",
        "Sore low back, ringing ears, dizziness",
        "Chronic lung weakness after illness or smoking"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red with little coat.",
        "pulse": "Thin and rapid."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Shu Di Huang",
            "grams": "24",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Prepared rehmannia refills Kidney yin.",
            "herb_slug": "prepared-rehmannia-root",
            "english": "Prepared Rehmannia Root",
            "chinese": "熟地黄",
            "latin": "Radix Rehmanniae Praeparata",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Shan Zhu Yu",
            "grams": "12",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Cornelian cherry holds the essence and the sweat in.",
            "herb_slug": "asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit",
            "english": "Asiatic Cornelian Cherry Fruit",
            "chinese": "山茱萸",
            "latin": "Fructus Corni",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/asiatic-cornelian-cherry-fruit"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Shan Yao",
            "grams": "12",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Chinese yam supports Spleen, Lung, and Kidney.",
            "herb_slug": "common-yam-rhizome",
            "english": "Chinese Yam Rhizome",
            "chinese": "山药",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Dioscoreae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/common-yam-rhizome",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/common-yam-rhizome"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Ze Xie",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Water plantain drains damp so the tonic moves.",
            "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-oriental-waterplantain",
            "english": "Rhizome of Oriental Waterplantain",
            "chinese": "",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Alismatis",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-oriental-waterplantain",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-oriental-waterplantain"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Mu Dan Pi",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Tree peony bark clears mild rising 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": "Fu Ling",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Poria supports digestion of the tonic.",
            "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": "Mai Dong",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Ophiopogon moistens the Lung and the throat.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3",
            "english": "Mai Dong Ophiopogon Root Tuber",
            "chinese": "麦冬",
            "latin": "Radix Ophiopogonis",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-dwarf-lilyturf-3"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Wu Wei Zi",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Schisandra holds the Lung qi in to stop the cough and the sweat.",
            "herb_slug": "chinese-magnoliavine-fruit",
            "english": "Chinese Magnoliavine Fruit",
            "chinese": "五味子",
            "latin": "Fructus Schisandrae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/chinese-magnoliavine-fruit",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/chinese-magnoliavine-fruit"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Enriches Lung and Kidney yin",
        "Moistens the Lung and holds in the Lung qi"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "The six base herbs fill the Kidney, the root of the breath. Ophiopogon moistens the dry Lung and throat. Schisandra is sour and holds things in: the cough, the sweat, the leaking qi. The result is a tonic for the long, dry, tired cough rather than the fresh wet one.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Blood-streaked sputum",
            "add": [
                "Bai Ji",
                "Han Lian Cao"
            ],
            "note": "Herbs that stop bleeding from the Lung."
        },
        {
            "for": "Night sweats that soak",
            "add": [
                "Fu Xiao Mai",
                "Mu Li"
            ],
            "note": "Light wheat and oyster shell hold the sweat in."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Not for a fresh cough with a cold, a fever, or yellow phlegm. Schisandra holds things in, and in a fresh infection that traps the problem.",
        "Rich. If stools loosen or appetite drops, take it with food or reduce the dose.",
        "Pause during an acute cold or flu.",
        "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "concentrated tablets",
        "granules"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day with warm water, the usual label dose",
        "course": "Two to three months for a chronic dry cough."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "liu-wei-di-huang-wan",
            "difference": "The same base without the two Lung herbs."
        },
        {
            "slug": "bai-he-gu-jin-tang",
            "difference": "A Lung yin formula with more cooling and more cough herbs, for a dry cough with blood and a sore throat. Less Kidney, more Lung."
        },
        {
            "slug": "sha-shen-mai-dong-tang",
            "difference": "A light, moistening formula for a dry cough after a fever or in dry weather, with no Kidney tonic inside."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Mai Wei Di Huang Wan with the characters 麦味地黄丸, or Ba Xian Chang Shou Wan, the Eight Immortals pill. Eight herbs: the six of Liu Wei plus Ophiopogon and Schisandra."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "cough",
        "bronchitis",
        "pharyngitis",
        "asthma"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Listed as a modification of Liu Wei Di Huang Wan."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}