{
    "slug": "xue-fu-zhu-yu-tang",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang",
        "chinese": "血府逐瘀汤",
        "english": "Drive Out Stasis in the Mansion of Blood Decoction",
        "alternate": [
            "Xue Fu Zhu Yu Wan",
            "Stasis in the Mansion of Blood Teapills",
            "Persica and Achyranthes Combination"
        ]
    },
    "category": "invigorate-blood",
    "source": {
        "text": "Yi Lin Gai Cuo (Correction of Errors Among Physicians)",
        "author": "Wang Qing-ren",
        "dynasty": "Qing",
        "year": "1830"
    },
    "summary": "The most used blood-stasis formula. For stuck blood in the chest: fixed stabbing chest pain, a headache that stays in one spot, chronic insomnia and restlessness, palpitations, a dark complexion and lips, and a purple tongue. Si Wu Tang's blood herbs with peach kernel, safflower, and the qi movers that open the chest.",
    "picture": "Wang Qing-ren called the chest the mansion of blood. When the blood in that mansion stops moving, the pain is fixed and the mind cannot settle. The formula is a crew that clears the rooms and opens the doors.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "blood-stasis",
            "role": "primary",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/blood-stasis",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/blood-stasis"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "liver-qi-stagnation",
            "role": "when it has turned to stasis",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-qi-stagnation"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Fixed, stabbing chest pain",
        "Headache that stays in one spot, often old and stubborn",
        "Chronic insomnia and restlessness that calming formulas did not touch",
        "Palpitations, irritability, a hot feeling in the chest in the evening",
        "Dark complexion, dark lips, dark rings under the eyes",
        "Hiccups or dry heaves that will not stop",
        "Pain after an old chest injury"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Dark red or purple, with dark spots.",
        "pulse": "Choppy, or wiry and tight."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Tao Ren",
            "grams": "12",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Peach kernel breaks up stasis.",
            "herb_slug": "peach-seed",
            "english": "Peach Kernel",
            "chinese": "桃仁",
            "latin": "Semen Persicae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/peach-seed",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/peach-seed"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Hong Hua",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Safflower moves blood and opens the channels.",
            "herb_slug": "safflower",
            "english": "Safflower",
            "chinese": "红花",
            "latin": "Flos Carthami",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/safflower",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/safflower"
            }
        },
        {
            "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": "Sheng Di Huang",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Raw rehmannia cools and nourishes so the movers do not dry the blood.",
            "herb_slug": "fresh-rehmannia-root",
            "english": "Fresh Rehmannia Root",
            "chinese": "生地黄",
            "latin": "Radix Rehmanniae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fresh-rehmannia-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Chuan Xiong",
            "grams": "5",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Ligusticum moves blood and qi, especially to the head.",
            "herb_slug": "chuanxiong-rhizome-szechuan-lovage-root",
            "english": "Chuanxiong Rhizome, Szechuan Lovage Root",
            "chinese": "川芎",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Chuanxiong",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/chuanxiong-rhizome-szechuan-lovage-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/chuanxiong-rhizome-szechuan-lovage-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Chi Shao",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Red peony cools and moves the blood.",
            "herb_slug": "red-peony-root",
            "english": "Red Peony Root",
            "chinese": "赤芍",
            "latin": "Radix Paeoniae Rubra",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/red-peony-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/red-peony-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Niu Xi",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Achyranthes moves blood and guides it downward.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2",
            "english": "Niu Xi Root",
            "chinese": "牛膝",
            "latin": "Radix Achyranthis Bidentatae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-twotooth-achyranthes-2"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Jie Geng",
            "grams": "5",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Platycodon lifts the formula into the chest.",
            "herb_slug": "platycodon-root",
            "english": "Platycodon Root",
            "chinese": "桔梗",
            "latin": "Radix Platycodi",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/platycodon-root",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/platycodon-root"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Chai Hu",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Bupleurum spreads the Liver qi that was holding the blood still.",
            "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": "Zhi Ke",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Bitter orange opens the chest and moves qi.",
            "unlinked": true,
            "herb_slug": "",
            "english": "",
            "chinese": "",
            "latin": ""
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Gan Cao",
            "grams": "3",
            "role": "envoy",
            "job": "Licorice harmonizes.",
            "herb_slug": "root-of-ural-licorice",
            "english": "Raw Licorice Root",
            "chinese": "甘草",
            "latin": "Radix Glycyrrhizae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-ural-licorice",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-ural-licorice"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Invigorates the blood and dispels stasis",
        "Spreads Liver qi and unblocks the channels"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Qi moves blood, so the formula moves both. Peach kernel and safflower dredge the stuck blood; the four blood herbs supply and cool it. Platycodon lifts the action up into the chest and achyranthes draws the old blood down and out. Bupleurum and bitter orange open the qi that was holding everything still. It is the reference formula for stasis anywhere above the waist.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Chest pain from the heart",
            "add": [
                "Dan Shen",
                "San Qi"
            ],
            "note": "Salvia and notoginseng for the heart vessels."
        },
        {
            "for": "Stubborn headache",
            "add": [
                "Bai Zhi",
                "Quan Xie"
            ],
            "note": "Herbs that reach the head and stop pain."
        },
        {
            "for": "Insomnia",
            "add": [
                "Suan Zao Ren",
                "Ye Jiao Teng"
            ],
            "note": "Calming herbs."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Not for use in pregnancy.",
        "Not during active bleeding or with a bleeding disorder.",
        "Use with care alongside blood thinners.",
        "Not for chest pain that is new, crushing, or comes with breathlessness; that needs urgent care.",
        "Not for a pale, weak person with no stasis signs."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "teapills",
        "concentrated tablets",
        "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": "Two to six weeks, then reassess the tongue."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "tao-hong-si-wu-tang",
            "difference": "Stasis with blood deficiency, aimed at the cycle rather than the chest."
        },
        {
            "slug": "chai-hu-shu-gan-san",
            "difference": "Qi stagnation only: pain that moves around, no purple tongue."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "xue-fu-zhu-yu-tang",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/xue-fu-zhu-yu-tang",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Xue Fu Zhu Yu Wan or Tang with the characters 血府逐瘀. Eleven ingredients led by Peach kernel and Safflower."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "blood-stasis",
        "chest-pain",
        "angina",
        "headache",
        "insomnia",
        "palpitations",
        "cardiovascular-disease",
        "traumatic-injury"
    ],
    "sources": [
        {
            "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition",
            "note": "Composition, actions, indications, and cautions."
        },
        {
            "title": "Wang Qing-ren, Yi Lin Gai Cuo, 1830",
            "note": "Source text."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/xue-fu-zhu-yu-tang",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/xue-fu-zhu-yu-tang",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}