{
    "slug": "sheng-mai-san",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Sheng Mai San",
        "chinese": "生脉散",
        "english": "Generate the Pulse Powder",
        "alternate": [
            "Sheng Mai Yin",
            "Sheng Mai Wan",
            "Ginseng and Ophiopogon Formula"
        ]
    },
    "category": "tonify-qi",
    "source": {
        "text": "Yi Xue Qi Yuan (Origins of Medicine)",
        "author": "Zhang Yuan-su",
        "dynasty": "Jin",
        "year": "1186"
    },
    "summary": "Three herbs for qi and yin lost together. For the person who is short of breath, sweating, dry-mouthed, and worn out, with a thin weak pulse: after summer heat, a fever, a long cough, or a long illness. One herb restores the qi, one the fluid, and one holds both in.",
    "picture": "A runner at the end of a hot race: breath gone, mouth dry, sweat pouring, pulse thin. Ginseng gives back the breath, ophiopogon the water, and schisandra closes the pores so neither leaks away again.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "lung-qi-deficiency",
            "role": "with dryness",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-qi-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "lung-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "with weakness",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/lung-yin-deficiency"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "heart-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "with palpitations and sweating",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/heart-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/heart-yin-deficiency"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Shortness of breath with a weak voice",
        "Sweating that will not stop, especially in heat",
        "Dry mouth and throat, thirst",
        "Chronic cough with little sticky phlegm in a weak person",
        "Palpitations and a thin weak pulse",
        "Exhaustion after summer heat or a fever",
        "Recovery from a long illness with dryness"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red and dry with little coat.",
        "pulse": "Thin, weak, or empty."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Ren Shen",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Ginseng restores the qi. American ginseng is used when heat is strong; codonopsis when the case is mild.",
            "herb_slug": "ginseng",
            "english": "Ginseng",
            "chinese": "人参",
            "latin": "Radix Ginseng",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/ginseng",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/ginseng"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Mai Dong",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Ophiopogon restores the fluids and moistens the Lung.",
            "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 in the qi 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": [
        "Augments the qi and generates fluids",
        "Holds in the yin and stops sweating"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Qi and fluid are lost together in heat, fever, and long illness, and the sweating keeps draining both. Ginseng rebuilds the qi, ophiopogon the fluid, and schisandra's sourness closes the leak. Three herbs, one job each, and the pulse comes back, which is where the name comes from.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Strong heat",
            "remove": [
                "Ren Shen"
            ],
            "add": [
                "Xi Yang Shen"
            ],
            "note": "American ginseng is cooler."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heavy sweating",
            "add": [
                "Huang Qi",
                "Fu Xiao Mai"
            ],
            "note": "Astragalus and light wheat."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Not during an active fever, cold, or cough with lots of phlegm. Schisandra holds things in, including an infection.",
        "Not for exhaustion from heat stroke with a high fever; that needs cooling first.",
        "Pregnancy: use only under a qualified practitioner."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "granules",
        "oral liquid",
        "decoction"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "teapills": "8 pills, three times a day, the usual label dose",
        "oral liquid": "As the label directs; the liquid form is common in summer",
        "course": "One to four weeks."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "mai-wei-di-huang-wan",
            "difference": "The same Lung herbs on the Liu Wei base, for a chronic dry cough with Kidney signs."
        },
        {
            "slug": "yu-ping-feng-san",
            "difference": "Stops sweating by guarding the surface in a weak person without the dryness."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "sheng-mai-san",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/sheng-mai-san",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Sheng Mai San, Sheng Mai Yin, or Sheng Mai Wan with the characters 生脉. Three ingredients: Ginseng, Ophiopogon, and Schisandra."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "fatigue",
        "spontaneous-sweating",
        "dry-cough",
        "palpitations",
        "cough",
        "wheezing"
    ],
    "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/sheng-mai-san",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/sheng-mai-san",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}