{ "slug": "spleen-qi-deficiency", "name": "Spleen Qi Deficiency", "pinyin": "Pi Qi Xu", "chinese": "脾气虚", "organ": "Spleen", "nature": "deficiency", "family": "qi-deficiency", "summary": "The digestion is too weak to turn food into energy. You are tired, especially after eating, bloated, loose in the stool, pale, and your limbs feel heavy. In Chinese medicine the Spleen is the kitchen of the whole body, and this is the kitchen running on half power.", "picture": "A kitchen with a weak stove. The food goes in, but it comes out half cooked, so the rest of the house gets thin soup instead of a meal. Every other deficiency tends to start here.", "signs": { "key": [ "Tired, worse after meals", "Bloating and a sense of fullness after eating", "Loose stools or stools that are soft and unformed", "Poor appetite", "Heavy, weak limbs" ], "common": [ "Pale face and lips", "A wish to lie down after lunch", "Easy bruising", "Weak voice, no wish to talk", "Weight gain that is soft, or weight loss with no appetite", "Craving sweets", "Catching every cold" ], "tongue": "Pale, possibly swollen with tooth marks at the edges, with a thin white coat.", "pulse": "Weak, soft, or empty." }, "causes": [ "Irregular meals, skipped meals, eating standing up or in a rush", "Cold and raw food: salads, smoothies, iced drinks, especially in cold weather", "Too much sugar and refined flour", "Worry and overthinking, which knot the Spleen", "Overwork and too little rest", "A long illness or a long course of antibiotics" ], "tell_apart": [ { "slug": "spleen-yang-deficiency", "how": "Add cold: cold hands and feet, a cold belly that likes a hot water bottle, watery stools with undigested food, worse in winter. That is Spleen yang deficiency and needs the warming formulas." }, { "slug": "spleen-dampness", "how": "When the weak Spleen lets dampness pile up, the picture gets heavy and sticky: a thick greasy coat, nausea, a heavy head, puffy limbs. The formula adds damp-draining herbs." }, { "slug": "qi-deficiency-with-sinking", "how": "When the qi is too weak to hold things up: prolapse, hemorrhoids, sagging, chronic diarrhea, a dragging sensation. That is sinking qi and needs the lifting formula Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang." }, { "slug": "heart-and-spleen-deficiency", "how": "Add poor sleep, worry, palpitations, and slow pale bleeding, and the Heart has joined in. Gui Pi Tang feeds both." } ], "formulas": [ { "slug": "si-jun-zi-tang", "role": "base", "when": "The four-herb base for plain Spleen qi deficiency. Almost every Spleen formula is built on it.", "pinyin": "Si Jun Zi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/si-jun-zi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/si-jun-zi-tang" } }, { "slug": "liu-jun-zi-tang", "role": "with phlegm", "when": "Nausea, a little phlegm, a greasy coat. The base plus two herbs that dry damp and settle the stomach.", "pinyin": "Liu Jun Zi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/liu-jun-zi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/liu-jun-zi-tang" } }, { "slug": "xiang-sha-liu-jun-zi-tang", "role": "with bloating and pain", "when": "Bloating, belching, and stomach discomfort on top of the tiredness.", "pinyin": "Xiang Sha Liu Jun Zi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/xiang-sha-liu-jun-zi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/xiang-sha-liu-jun-zi-tang" } }, { "slug": "shen-ling-bai-zhu-san", "role": "with loose stools", "when": "Chronic loose stools and dampness, in a tired pale person.", "pinyin": "Shen Ling Bai Zhu San", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/shen-ling-bai-zhu-san", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/shen-ling-bai-zhu-san" } }, { "slug": "bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang", "role": "with sinking", "when": "Exhaustion with prolapse, sagging, or a dragging feeling.", "pinyin": "Bu Zhong Yi Qi Tang", "_links": { "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/formula/bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/formula/bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang" } }, { "slug": "gui-pi-tang", "role": "with poor sleep", "when": "Tired and bloated with light sleep and worry.", "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" } } ], "herbs": [ { "pinyin": "Ren Shen", "role": "Ginseng, the strongest qi tonic. Dang Shen is the gentler everyday substitute.", "herb_slug": "ginseng", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/ginseng", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/ginseng" } }, { "pinyin": "Dang Shen", "role": "Codonopsis, the everyday Spleen qi tonic.", "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": "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": "Fu Ling", "role": "Poria drains damp and calms the mind.", "herb_slug": "indian-bread", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/indian-bread", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/indian-bread" } }, { "pinyin": "Huang Qi", "role": "Astragalus lifts the qi and guards the surface.", "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": "Shan Yao", "role": "Chinese yam gently tonifies Spleen, Lung, and Kidney.", "herb_slug": "common-yam-rhizome", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/common-yam-rhizome", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/common-yam-rhizome" } }, { "pinyin": "Zhi Gan Cao", "role": "Honey-fried licorice warms and harmonizes the middle.", "herb_slug": "prepared-liauorice-root", "_links": { "herb": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/herb/prepared-liauorice-root", "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/herb/prepared-liauorice-root" } }, { "pinyin": "Da Zao", "role": "Jujube dates nourish the Spleen and blood.", "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", "digestive-weakness", "poor-appetite", "diarrhea", "abdominal-distension", "indigestion", "dyspepsia", "immune-deficiency" ], "habits": [ "Warm cooked food at regular times. Congee, soups, stews, steamed vegetables, rice.", "Nothing iced. Nothing raw in cold weather. The Spleen likes warm and dry.", "Chew slowly, sit down, and stop at eighty percent full.", "Sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, oats, rice, dates, ginger, and a little cinnamon all feed the Spleen.", "Walk after meals. Lying down after eating is for the sick.", "Worry less at the table. The Spleen cannot digest food and problems at the same time." ], "watch": [ "Energy after meals improves within two weeks.", "Stools form and bloating eases over a month.", "The tooth marks on the tongue fade and the swelling goes down.", "Appetite returns and sweet cravings quiet.", "If the formula bloats you, the Spleen is too weak for a tonic yet. Start with warm food and half doses." ], "sources": [ { "title": "Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine, 3rd edition", "note": "Spleen qi deficiency." }, { "title": "Bensky, Scheid, Ellis and Barolet, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas and Strategies, 2nd edition", "note": "Si Jun Zi Tang and its family." } ], "meta": { "status": "published", "last_updated": "2026-10-12", "reviewed_by": null }, "_links": { "html": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/pattern/spleen-qi-deficiency", "self": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/pattern/spleen-qi-deficiency", "index": "https://www.naturalherblibrary.com/api/v1/patterns" } }