{ "slug": "qi-and-blood-deficiency", "name": "Qi and Blood Deficiency", "pinyin": "Qi Xue Liang Xu", "chinese": "气血两虚", "organ": "Spleen, Heart, and Liver", "nature": "deficiency", "family": "blood-deficiency", "summary": "Both the energy and the blood have run low. Tired and pale at the same time: short of breath, a weak voice, dizzy on standing, palpitations, poor appetite, pale lips and nails, and a light or late cycle. The usual state after a long illness, surgery, childbirth, or a long stretch of overwork.", "picture": "Qi is the worker and blood is the material. When both are short, nothing gets built. Feeding one without the other stalls, which is why the formulas for this pattern carry both.", "signs": { "key": [ "Tiredness with pallor", "Shortness of breath, weak voice", "Dizziness on standing, blurry vision", "Palpitations", "Pale lips, nails, and face" ], "common": [ "Poor appetite, loose stools", "Light sleep", "Numb limbs", "Light, late, or absent periods", "Slow healing", "Sweating on effort" ], "tongue": "Pale with a thin white coat.", "pulse": "Thin and weak." }, "causes": [ "Long illness or long recovery", "Surgery, childbirth, or blood loss", "Overwork on too little food", "Spleen weakness that cannot make qi or blood", "Chemotherapy and other draining treatments" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "blood-deficiency", "how": "Blood alone is pale with normal energy and appetite. Add the tiredness, breathlessness, and poor appetite and the qi is low too." }, { "slug": "spleen-qi-deficiency", "how": "Qi alone is tired and bloated with normal color. Add the pallor and the dizziness and the blood is low too." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "ba-zhen-tang", "role": "primary", "when": "The eight treasures: four qi herbs and four blood herbs.", "pinyin": "Ba Zhen Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/ba-zhen-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/ba-zhen-tang" } }, { "slug": "shi-quan-da-bu-tang", "role": "with cold", "when": "The same picture in a cold person, with slow-healing wounds.", "pinyin": "Shi Quan Da Bu Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/shi-quan-da-bu-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/shi-quan-da-bu-tang" } }, { "slug": "gui-pi-tang", "role": "with poor sleep", "when": "When worry and light sleep lead.", "pinyin": "Gui Pi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/gui-pi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/gui-pi-tang" } }, { "slug": "dang-gui-bu-xue-tang", "role": "after blood loss", "when": "The fast two-herb rebuild right after bleeding.", "pinyin": "Dang Gui Bu Xue Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/dang-gui-bu-xue-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/dang-gui-bu-xue-tang" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Huang Qi", "role": "Astragalus tonifies qi so blood can be made.", "herb_slug": "root-of-membranous-milkvetch", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-membranous-milkvetch", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-membranous-milkvetch" } }, { "pinyin": "Dang Shen", "role": "Codonopsis restores the qi.", "herb_slug": "root-pilose-asiabell", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-pilose-asiabell", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-pilose-asiabell" } }, { "pinyin": "Dang Gui", "role": "Angelica builds blood.", "herb_slug": "root-of-chinese-angelica", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/root-of-chinese-angelica", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/root-of-chinese-angelica" } }, { "pinyin": "Shu Di Huang", "role": "Prepared rehmannia, the heaviest blood tonic.", "herb_slug": "prepared-rehmannia-root", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-rehmannia-root" } }, { "pinyin": "Bai Zhu", "role": "Atractylodes strengthens the Spleen that makes both.", "herb_slug": "rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/rhizome-of-largehead-atractylodes" } }, { "pinyin": "Da Zao", "role": "Jujube dates nourish qi and blood together.", "herb_slug": "jujube-chinese-date", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/jujube-chinese-date", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/jujube-chinese-date" } } ], "conditions": [ "fatigue", "anemia", "blood-deficiency", "dizziness", "palpitations", "immune-deficiency", "amenorrhea" ], "habits": [ "Three warm cooked meals a day, with protein at each.", "Rest is the medicine; do less until the color returns.", "Blood-building food: eggs, red meat or liver in small amounts, dates, longan, black sesame, bone broth.", "Gentle walking, not training." ], "watch": [ "Energy returns first, within two to three weeks.", "Color in the lips and face follows over one to two months.", "Dizziness on standing fades.", "The cycle fills out over two to three cycles." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Qi and blood deficiency." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Ba Zhen Tang, Shi Quan Da Bu Tang." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/qi-and-blood-deficiency", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/qi-and-blood-deficiency", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }