{
    "slug": "yin-chen-hao-tang",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Yin Chen Hao Tang",
        "chinese": "茵陈蒿汤",
        "english": "Artemisia Yinchenhao Decoction",
        "alternate": [
            "Yin Chen Hao Wan",
            "Capillaris Combination"
        ]
    },
    "category": "dispel-dampness",
    "source": {
        "text": "Shang Han Lun (Discussion of Cold Damage)",
        "author": "Zhang Zhong-jing",
        "dynasty": "Han",
        "year": "c. 220"
    },
    "summary": "Three herbs for damp-heat jaundice: bright yellow eyes and skin, dark tea-colored urine, nausea, a full belly, thirst, and constipation, with a yellow greasy coat. Capillaris is the jaundice herb, and this is the formula built around it.",
    "picture": "Damp heat has blocked the Liver's drains, and the yellow backs up into the skin. The formula opens two drains, the bladder and the bowel, and the yellow runs out.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "liver-gallbladder-damp-heat",
            "role": "with jaundice",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/liver-gallbladder-damp-heat",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/liver-gallbladder-damp-heat"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "damp-heat-lower-burner",
            "role": "when the Liver is involved",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/damp-heat-lower-burner",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/damp-heat-lower-burner"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Bright yellow eyes and skin, the warm kind of jaundice",
        "Dark, tea-colored urine",
        "Nausea, no appetite, a full belly",
        "Thirst, constipation",
        "Hepatitis or gallbladder inflammation with heat, when prescribed",
        "Itching with the yellow"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red with a yellow greasy coat.",
        "pulse": "Slippery and rapid, or deep and forceful."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Yin Chen Hao",
            "grams": "18",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Capillaris clears damp heat from the Liver and Gallbladder and treats jaundice.",
            "herb_slug": "capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2",
            "english": "Capillary Wormwood (Yin Chen Hao)",
            "chinese": "茵陈蒿",
            "latin": "Herba Artemisiae Scopariae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/capillaris-oriental-wormwood-2"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Zhi Zi",
            "grams": "9",
            "role": "deputy",
            "job": "Gardenia clears heat 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"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Da Huang",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Rhubarb drains the heat through the bowel.",
            "herb_slug": "root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb",
            "english": "Raw Rhubarb Root",
            "chinese": "大黄",
            "latin": "Radix et Rhizoma Rhei",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-and-rhizome-of-sorrel-rhubarb"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Clears heat and resolves dampness",
        "Reduces jaundice"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "Capillaris cools and unblocks the Liver. Gardenia opens the bladder; rhubarb opens the bowel. Two exits for the damp heat, which is why the urine clears and the yellow fades. Simple, old, and still the base of every jaundice formula.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Strong nausea",
            "add": [
                "Zhu Ru",
                "Ban Xia"
            ],
            "note": "Stomach settlers."
        },
        {
            "for": "Pain under the ribs",
            "add": [
                "Chai Hu",
                "Yu Jin"
            ],
            "note": "Liver movers."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "For the warm, bright yellow kind of jaundice only. Dull, dark, cold jaundice with a pale tongue needs warming, not this.",
        "Jaundice always needs its cause found. The formula helps the drainage; it does not diagnose.",
        "Rhubarb loosens the bowels. Reduce it if stools go loose.",
        "Not for use in pregnancy."
    ],
    "forms": [
        "granules",
        "decoction",
        "teapills"
    ],
    "typical_dose": {
        "decoction": "One bag a day in two doses, with the amounts above",
        "course": "One to three weeks, with the cause under care."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "long-dan-xie-gan-tang",
            "difference": "Broader: Liver fire and damp heat along the whole channel, with ten herbs."
        },
        {
            "slug": "wu-ling-san",
            "difference": "With capillaris added it becomes the formula for jaundice with heavy water retention."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "yin-chen-hao-tang",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/yin-chen-hao-tang",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Yin Chen Hao Tang or Wan with the characters 茵陈蒿. Three ingredients: Capillaris, Gardenia, and Rhubarb."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "jaundice",
        "hepatitis",
        "cholecystitis",
        "nafld"
    ],
    "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/yin-chen-hao-tang",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/yin-chen-hao-tang",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}