Formulation Rules in Medical Heart Enlightenment for Treatment of Heart Pain from Perspective of "Tangye Jingfa Tu" / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

ObjectiveTo explore the formulation rules for the treatment of heart pain in the Medical Heart Enlightenment （《医学心悟》） from the perspective of the "Tangye Jingfa Tu"， thereby providing a way of thinking about the treatment of heart pain in traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） and the study of the Medical Heart Enlightenment. MethodThe "Tangye Jingfa Tu" contained in the Secrets for Auxiliary Cultivation Life： The Essential Method of Using Herbal Medicine for the Differential Treatment of the Five Zang Organs （《辅行诀五脏用药法要》） was used to analyze the nine prescriptions for heart pain in Volume Ⅲ of the Medical Heart Enlightenment by CHENG Guopeng in the Qing dynasty. A "table for analyzing the formulation of the nine prescriptions for heart pain" was developed. The analysis diagrams for decoction and meridian rules in nine prescriptions for heart pain were plotted and the compatible structure of the medicinal flavors was analyzed. ResultThe composition of Chenxiang Jiangqisan for the treatment of Qi-induced heart pain is "five pungent， four bitter， and two sweet drugs"， the composition of Shouniansan for the treatment of blood-induced heart pain is "five bitter， four pungent， three sweet， and one salty drugs"， the composition of Qingzhongtang for the treatment of heat-induced heart pain is "six bitter， three pungent， and two sweet drugs”， the composition of Jiangfutang with Cinnamomi Cortex for cold-induced heart pain is "three pungent and two sweet drugs"， the composition of Xiaobanxia modified with Fuling Tang for treating fluid retention-induced heart pain is "two pungent and two sweet drugs"， the composition of Baohetang for treating heart pain due to dietary stagnation is "five sweet， four pungent， four bitter， and one sour drugs"， the composition of Guipitang for the treatment of deficiency-induced heart pain is "eight sweet， four bitter， three pungent， and one sour drugs"， the combination of Huachongwan for the treatment of worm-induced heart pain is "seven bitter， six pungent， and four sweet drugs"， the composition of Shenzhusan， Congbaijiu， and Shengjiangtang for the treatment of resistance-induced heart pain is "eight pungent， four bitter， and two sweet drugs". ConclusionFrom the perspective of the "Tangye Jingfa Tu"， the Medical Heart Enlightenment is based on the compatibility principle of "pungent-bitter-sweet drugs" in the treatment of heart pain， with heart deficiency treated with salty drugs for tonifying， or bitter-sweet-salty drugs， and heart excess treated with bitter drugs for purging， or sweet-pungent-bitter drugs， mostly applying the transformation rules of five medicinal flavors， i.e.， "sweet-pungent-bitter drugs" and promoting the action of the pungent and sweet drugs acting on the spleen into the heart to relieve and purge the heart. In most cases， the treatment focuses on harmonizing the heart， liver， spleen， and kidneys， with an emphasis on the mother-child relationship and the application of the principles of the five elements generating and controlling each other. If the progression of the disease involves both the mother and child organs， the formulation should adhere to the compatibility rule of "the child organ makes the mother organ excess and the mother organ makes the child organ deficient".