Jack Bean … Classic Formulas
Dao Dou · Semen Canavaliae
Primary Actions
- Warms the middle and directs qi downward - Dao Dou is classically used for hiccup, nausea, belching, and weak cold digestion with counterflow.
- Supports Kidney yang and lower-back weakness - traditional use extends beyond digestion to low-back discomfort and constitutional weakness with coldness.
- Helps regulate qi and relieve pain - official pharmacopoeial descriptions include stomach-cold distention and constrained pain patterns.
Classic Formulas
- Dao Dou powder or decoction for hiccup - classic folk and materia medica use when middle-cold causes stubborn upward qi.
- Dao Dou with Sha Ren or Sheng Jiang - warming-middle strategy for nausea, poor digestion, and weak descent.
- Kidney-warming combinations with Du Zhong or Xu Duan - traditional logic when low-back weakness accompanies cold middle-burner patterns.
Classical Text References
- Pharmacopoeial and reference sources describe Dao Dou as sweet and warm, entering the Stomach and Kidney to regulate qi, warm the middle, and assist yang.
- The standard indications include stomach-cold distention, hiccup, vomiting, and lower-back weakness.
- Later summaries also preserve chronic dysentery, amenorrhea, and throat complaints among its broader ethnomedical uses, though those are less central than the descending-qi role.