The First Recipe for Amomi Semen to the Kampo Formula, Anchu-san / 日本東洋医学雑誌

ABSTRACT

Anchu-san is included in the ‘Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang’ (a Song dynasty pharmacopoeia), with the constituent crude drugs listed as Kanzo (Glycyrrhizae Radix), Gengosaku (Corydalis Tuber), Ryokyo (Alpiniae Officinarum Rhizoma), Kankyo (Zingiberis Siccatum Rhizoma), Uikyo (Foeniculi Fructus), Nikkei (Cinnamomi Cortex) and Borei (Ostreae Testa). However, in modern-day Japan, the same formula usually contains Keihi (Cinnamomi Cortex), Borei, Shukusha (Amomi Semen), Engosaku (Corydalis Tuber), Uikyo, Kanzo and Ryokyo. The ‘Futsugo-yakushitsu-hokan, ’ (late 19th century) lists the latter formula in the section on decoctions and the former formula in the section on powdered medicines. In the ‘Shochitekiyo’ of the late Edo period (1603-1867), it is said that Hara Nanyo added Shukusha to the pharmacopoeia prescription, for a total of eight ingredients, and tripled the amount of Borei as another device. In ‘Sokei-tei-iji-shogen, ’ (1820) the latter device is included with the note that it is effective for treating pyloric stenosis. The former device may well have been a secret formula of his family of physicians.<br>In many texts, uses of the formula, Anchu-san, were not limited to the directions given in the pharma copoeia, and decocting the formula was relatively common. For severe cases of stagnation, the addition of Bushi (Aconiti Tuber) was recommended, and Shinra (river snail) was also used inplace of the Borei.<br>Anchu-san appears primarily in texts from the late Edo period onwards. If copies of books with unclear dates are not considered, Anchu-san was not used significantly as a prescription until the 19th century.