Bark of Officinal Magnolia Classic Formulas

Primary Actions

Moves Qi and resolves focal distention - a key herb for fullness, bloating, abdominal pain, epigastric oppression, and food stagnation when stagnant Qi knots in the middle burner.
Dries Dampness and harmonizes the Spleen-Stomach - used when damp obstruction causes poor appetite, nausea, greasy coating, sluggish digestion, loose stool, and heavy obstructed sensation.
Descends rebellious Qi and transforms phlegm - classically used for wheezing, cough, chest congestion, plum-pit Qi, and phlegm-damp obstruction of the throat and chest.
Opens constrained downward movement in the intestines - especially helpful in constipation where Qi stagnation and fullness predominate more than severe dryness or blood deficiency.

Ban Xia Hou Pu Tang (半夏厚朴汤) - from Jin Gui Yao Lue, combining Hou Pu with Ban Xia, Fu Ling, Sheng Jiang, and Zi Su Ye for plum-pit Qi, throat obstruction, nausea, and emotional constraint with phlegm.
Ping Wei San (平胃散) - the classic dampness-transforming formula in which Hou Pu helps move Qi, dry damp, and relieve epigastric and abdominal fullness.
Hou Pu San Wu Tang (厚朴三物汤) - from Jin Gui Yao Lue, using Hou Pu with Zhi Shi and Da Huang for abdominal fullness, pain, and constipation driven by severe Qi stagnation.
Ma Zi Ren Wan (麻子仁丸) - includes Hou Pu to move constrained Qi and assist bowel opening in dry constipation with abdominal distention.

Classical materia medica consistently describe Hou Pu as bitter, acrid, warm, and aromatic, entering the Spleen and Stomach to move Qi, dry dampness, and direct stagnation downward.
Zhang Zhongjing's formulas use Hou Pu repeatedly when fullness, phlegm, and impaired descent are central, especially in Ban Xia Hou Pu Tang and Hou Pu San Wu Tang.
Sacred Lotus preserves the standard caution that Hou Pu should be used carefully in pregnancy and in clear Qi-deficiency states because its descending, moving action is relatively strong.