{
    "slug": "zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
    "names": {
        "pinyin": "Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan",
        "chinese": "知柏地黄丸",
        "english": "Anemarrhena, Phellodendron and Rehmannia Pill",
        "alternate": [
            "Zhi Bo Di Huang Wan",
            "Eight Flavor Rehmannia Teapills",
            "Ba Wei Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan"
        ]
    },
    "category": "tonify-yin",
    "family": "di-huang-wan",
    "source": {
        "text": "Yi Zong Jin Jian (Golden Mirror of the Medical Tradition)",
        "author": "Wu Qian and the Imperial Academy",
        "dynasty": "Qing",
        "year": "1742"
    },
    "summary": "Liu Wei Di Huang Wan with two cooling herbs added. For Kidney yin deficiency that has started to run hot: night sweats, hot palms and soles, a dry mouth that wakes you, loose teeth with gums that bleed a little, and red cheeks in the afternoon.",
    "picture": "A pot with an inch of water spits and hisses. This formula adds water and turns the flame down at the same time.",
    "patterns": [
        {
            "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat",
            "role": "primary",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency-with-empty-heat"
            }
        },
        {
            "slug": "kidney-yin-deficiency",
            "role": "with heat signs",
            "_links": {
                "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/kidney-yin-deficiency"
            }
        }
    ],
    "indications": [
        "Night sweats",
        "Hot palms, hot soles, a warm chest in the evening",
        "Dry mouth and throat at night",
        "Loose teeth and bleeding gums from empty heat",
        "Steaming-bone sensation, a heat that feels deep",
        "Nocturnal emissions",
        "Ringing in the ears",
        "Sore low back and knees",
        "Dark scanty urine, or burning urination from damp heat on a yin-deficient base",
        "Restless sleep, irritability"
    ],
    "signs": {
        "tongue": "Red, often peeled, with little or no coat.",
        "pulse": "Thin and rapid."
    },
    "ingredients": [
        {
            "pinyin": "Shu Di Huang",
            "grams": "24",
            "role": "chief",
            "job": "Prepared rehmannia refills Kidney yin and essence.",
            "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 in and stops the leaking sweat.",
            "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 steadies the Spleen 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 dampness so the tonic does not stagnate.",
            "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 cools the blood and clears 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 leaches dampness and supports digestion.",
            "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": "Zhi Mu",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Anemarrhena clears empty heat while moistening.",
            "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-common-anamarrhena",
            "english": "Rhizome of Common Anamarrhena",
            "chinese": "知母",
            "latin": "Rhizoma Anemarrhenae",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-common-anamarrhena",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-common-anamarrhena"
            }
        },
        {
            "pinyin": "Huang Bai",
            "grams": "6",
            "role": "assistant",
            "job": "Phellodendron drains heat from the lower body and the Kidney.",
            "herb_slug": "phellodendron-bark",
            "english": "Phellodendron Bark",
            "chinese": "黄柏",
            "latin": "Cortex Phellodendri",
            "_links": {
                "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/phellodendron-bark",
                "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/phellodendron-bark"
            }
        }
    ],
    "actions": [
        "Enriches yin and clears empty heat",
        "Drains deficiency fire from the Kidney"
    ],
    "how_it_works": "The six base herbs fill the Kidney and keep the tonic moving. Zhi Mu and Huang Bai are the cooling pair. They clear the heat that flares when yin is too low to hold it down, without the harshness of the strong fire-draining herbs, so the formula can be taken for weeks rather than days.",
    "modifications": [
        {
            "for": "Loose teeth and receding gums",
            "add": [
                "Gu Sui Bu",
                "Niu Xi"
            ],
            "note": "The bone mender firms the tooth socket; Niu Xi carries the formula down to the teeth and low back."
        },
        {
            "for": "Heavy night sweats",
            "add": [
                "Fu Xiao Mai",
                "Mu Li"
            ],
            "note": "Light wheat and oyster shell hold the sweat in."
        },
        {
            "for": "Insomnia with the heat rising to the Heart",
            "add": [
                "Suan Zao Ren",
                "Bai Zi Ren"
            ],
            "note": "Settles the Heart for sleep."
        }
    ],
    "cautions": [
        "Cooling. Not for a cold picture: cold hands and feet, pale face, clear urine, loose stools. That person needs the warming cousin.",
        "If stools loosen or appetite drops, the Spleen is objecting. Take it with food, and if that does not settle it, step down to plain Liu Wei Di Huang Wan.",
        "Once the night sweats and hot palms are gone, step down to the plain base formula. The cooling pair is for the heat, not for the long run.",
        "Pause during an acute cold or flu.",
        "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",
        "decoction": "One bag a day in two doses, with the amounts above",
        "course": "Two to three months, then reassess the tongue and step down to Liu Wei when the heat signs are gone."
    },
    "cousins": [
        {
            "slug": "liu-wei-di-huang-wan",
            "difference": "The same formula without Zhi Mu and Huang Bai. Use it once the heat signs clear, or from the start when there are no heat signs."
        },
        {
            "slug": "da-bu-yin-wan",
            "difference": "Heavier on both sides: tortoise shell for deep yin and the same cooling pair in larger amounts. For strong steaming heat and night sweats that soak the sheets."
        },
        {
            "slug": "yu-nu-jian",
            "difference": "For heat in the Stomach channel on a yin-deficient base: toothache and bleeding gums with real thirst. Yu Nu Jian cools the Stomach; Zhi Bai cools the Kidney."
        },
        {
            "slug": "jin-gui-shen-qi-wan",
            "difference": "The opposite cousin: warming herbs instead of cooling ones. Some boxes label it Ba Wei Di Huang Wan, and Zhi Bai is sometimes called Eight Flavor too, so read the ingredient list."
        }
    ],
    "commerce": {
        "store": "supplementsapothecary.com",
        "store_name": "Supplements Apothecary",
        "store_slug": "zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
        "store_url": "https://www.supplementsapothecary.com/supplement/zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
        "status": "planned",
        "label_check": "The box reads Zhi Bai Di Huang Wan with the characters 知柏地黄丸. The ingredient list shows eight herbs and the two that matter are Anemarrhena (zhi mu) and Phellodendron (huang bai). If it lists Cinnamon and Aconite instead, that is the warming cousin and the wrong bottle for a hot, dry picture. Plum Flower, made by Lanzhou Foci, is the widely sold tested brand."
    },
    "conditions": [
        "receding-gums",
        "toothache",
        "insomnia",
        "tinnitus",
        "low-back-pain",
        "frequent-urination",
        "urinary-tract-infection"
    ],
    "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 with composition and indications."
        },
        {
            "title": "Yi Zong Jin Jian, 1742",
            "note": "Source text."
        }
    ],
    "meta": {
        "status": "published",
        "last_updated": "2026-10-12",
        "reviewed_by": null
    },
    "_links": {
        "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
        "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/zhi-bai-di-huang-wan",
        "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formulas"
    }
}