{ "slug": "spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency", "name": "Spleen and Kidney Yang Deficiency", "pinyin": "Pi Shen Yang Xu", "chinese": "脾肾阳虚", "organ": "Spleen and Kidney", "nature": "deficiency", "family": "yang-deficiency", "summary": "Both fires are low: the stove in the gut and the pilot light in the Kidney. Diarrhea at dawn, a cold belly and a cold back, cold limbs, swelling, frequent clear urine, exhaustion, and a pale puffy face. The deep cold pattern of old age, long illness, or a lifetime of cold food.", "picture": "A house where the furnace and the kitchen stove have both gone out. Nothing is warm, nothing cooks, and the pipes start to leak. Both fires must be relit.", "signs": { "key": [ "Diarrhea at dawn, the cock-crow diarrhea", "Cold belly and cold low back together", "Cold limbs, dread of cold", "Swelling of the legs or face", "Exhaustion, a wish to sleep" ], "common": [ "Frequent clear urine, night urination", "Pale puffy face", "Undigested food in the stool", "Low drive, infertility with cold", "Weak knees" ], "tongue": "Pale, swollen, wet, with a white coat.", "pulse": "Deep, slow, and weak." }, "causes": [ "Long Spleen yang deficiency reaching the Kidney, or the reverse", "Aging", "Chronic illness", "Years of cold food and cold living", "Long courses of cold medicines" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "spleen-yang-deficiency", "how": "Spleen alone: a cold belly and watery stools without the cold back, the night urination, or the dawn diarrhea." }, { "slug": "kidney-yang-deficiency", "how": "Kidney alone: a cold back and bladder without the gut signs. When both show, both fires need lighting." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "zhen-wu-tang", "role": "with water", "when": "Swelling and watery stools from cold. Warms and drains.", "pinyin": "Zhen Wu Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/zhen-wu-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/zhen-wu-tang" } }, { "slug": "you-gui-wan", "role": "deep", "when": "Long-standing deficiency with weak bones and infertility.", "pinyin": "You Gui Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/you-gui-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/you-gui-wan" } }, { "slug": "jin-gui-shen-qi-wan", "role": "base", "when": "The base Kidney warmer, often combined with Li Zhong Wan.", "pinyin": "Jin Gui Shen Qi Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/jin-gui-shen-qi-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/jin-gui-shen-qi-wan" } }, { "slug": "li-zhong-wan", "role": "for the gut", "when": "When the cold belly and diarrhea lead.", "pinyin": "Li Zhong Wan", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/li-zhong-wan", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/li-zhong-wan" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Fu Zi", "role": "Processed aconite relights both fires; always in a formula.", "herb_slug": "common-monkshood-daughter-root-2", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/common-monkshood-daughter-root-2", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/common-monkshood-daughter-root-2" } }, { "pinyin": "Gan Jiang", "role": "Dried ginger warms the Spleen.", "herb_slug": "dried-ginger", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/dried-ginger", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/dried-ginger" } }, { "pinyin": "Rou Gui", "role": "Cinnamon bark warms the Kidney.", "herb_slug": "cassia-bark", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/cassia-bark", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/cassia-bark" } }, { "pinyin": "Bu Gu Zhi", "role": "Psoralea warms the Kidney and stops dawn diarrhea.", "herb_slug": "fruit-of-malaytea-scurfpea", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/fruit-of-malaytea-scurfpea", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/fruit-of-malaytea-scurfpea" } }, { "pinyin": "Bai Zhu", "role": "Atractylodes strengthens the Spleen and dries damp.", "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": "Tu Si Zi", "role": "Cuscuta seed warms and holds the Kidney.", "herb_slug": "dodder-seed", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/dodder-seed", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/dodder-seed" } } ], "conditions": [ "diarrhea", "edema", "kidney-yang-deficiency", "frequent-urination", "fatigue", "chronic-kidney-disease", "infertility" ], "habits": [ "Warm cooked food only. Lamb, ginger, cinnamon, walnuts, chestnuts, cooked grains.", "Keep the belly, back, and feet warm, day and night.", "Rest; this pattern has no reserve to spend.", "A hot water bottle on the low back in the evening." ], "watch": [ "The dawn diarrhea settles within one to two weeks of warming.", "Cold limbs and the cold back warm over a month.", "Swelling drains and night urination drops.", "Warming formulas with aconite are a practitioner's call for dose and length." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Spleen and Kidney yang deficiency." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Zhen Wu Tang, Si Shen Wan, Li Zhong Wan." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-and-kidney-yang-deficiency", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }