As the saying goes, "illness comes like a mountain, and illness goes like a thread", so people in the world hope to have a "miracle medicine" to remove the root of the disease, so that the body can recover quickly. In fact, throughout the ages, many famous doctors have also been exploring and seeking "special miracle medicines", such as for the flu, the ephedra soup and guizhi soup created by the medical saint Zhang Zhongjing, if used properly, the addition and subtraction are reasonable, it can indeed play a quick-acting role such as divine help, however, due to the fault between the original work of "Treatise on Typhoid Fever and Miscellaneous Diseases" and the beacon fire, this led to the fact that later generations of doctors did not get the true transmission of Guizhi Tang and Ephedra Soup, however, eight hundred years after Zhongjing left, there was a non-Ma Gui in "Taiping Huimin and Pharmacy Formula". It is a wonderful prescription that is better than Ma Gui, and once became a universal prescription for epidemic diseases such as colds, flu, and warm epidemics at four o'clock, because it is a full prescription of ten flavors of traditional Chinese medicine, and the effect is like divine help, so it is called "Ten Divine Soup".
Shishen Tang is from the Song Dynasty official medical book "Taiping Huimin and Pharmacy Bureau" (referred to as "Bureau"), the whole recipe is composed of "Chuanxiong, licorice (burned), ephedra (to the root joint), cimicifuga four taels each, dried kudzu 14 taels, red peony, angelica, tangerine peel (to the gourd), perilla (to remove the coarse stem), fragrant aconite (pestle to remove hair) and other ten flavors of traditional Chinese medicine. According to the decoction method of the original prescription, these Chinese medicines are first ground into fine powder, each time you take the three coins of the medicine, use one and a half cups of water, and when you decoction, decoction of water to seven minutes, remove the residue, and take it while it is hot. Under normal circumstances, you can add five slices of ginger, if you have a headache and fever, you can add three white stems of green onions, and if you are full of gas, you can add a few slices of citrus aurantium and decoction together.
For the role of the Ten Divine Soup, the "Bureau" clearly pointed out that it is used to treat "irregular seasons, warm epidemics", and it is also particularly emphasized that "this medicine does not ask about the two senses of yin and yang", or encounters "wind, cold, dampness", and these Ten Divine Soups "can be taken". The "Bureau" also pointed out that if typhoid fever is treated, it can be "regardless of the appearance and the inside", and if the Ten Divine Soup is used to "guide the meridians", the yin and yang qi and blood of the human body can be "not changed", and the "efficacy of the Ten Divine Soup" is also praised. In particular, "not asking about the two senses of yin and yang" and "not distinguishing between the inside and the outside" can be effective, which is really a famous prescription for the ages.
The prescription composition of Shishen Tang is composed of ephedra and perilla leaves as the king's medicines, which mainly play the role of sweating and relieving the surface and dispel wind and cold; pueraria, cimicifuga, Chuanxiong and Angelica dahurica are the subordinate medicines, among which the pueraria lobata and cimicifuga mainly play the role of raising the yang and dissolving muscles, and the Chuanxiong and Angelica dahurica mainly play the role of dispelling wind and relieving pain; the tangerine peel, incense and peony herbs are used as adjuvants, among which the tangerine peel and incense herbs mainly play the role of opening qi and depression, and the peony herbs mainly play the role of aggravating yin and camp; licorice root is used as the medicine, which mainly plays the role of calming and neutralizing the medicine and harmonizing the medicines. The combined use of the main medicine of the whole prescription and ten flavors can make the surface relieve the cold, the lungs to recover and descend, the camp and health to move smoothly, the qi and blood to harmonize, and the evidence to remove themselves.
As for the wonderfulness of the Ten Divine Soup, some doctors believe that the most fundamental reason for its effectiveness lies in the application of the Yang Ascending and Muscle Dissolving Method, which can not only invigorate Yang Qi and improve the body's resistance, but also avoid the transformation of the disease and make the disease cured at an early stage [1]. As for the wonderful use of the Ten Divine Soup, some doctors believe that the connotation of the "Ten Gods" soup is not only its effect like the meaning of the gods, but also related to the calming of the soul and the calming of the gods; and concluded that the Ten Divine Soup is mainly used to relieve the surface and benefit the qi, and is mainly used to treat the evil of external wind and cold, the loss of the body's lung defense, and the disorder of qi and organs, which is suitable for the wide application of the early stage of the epidemic and the external wind and cold, and is good at penetrating the poison on the surface of the muscles; and it is also found that the Ten Divine Soup is more suitable for use in winter, or in early spring and late autumn [2].
The appearance of the Ten Divine Soups has changed the cumbersomeness of the Ephedra Soup and Guizhi Soup in terms of the method of resting, and it is quite special for the symptoms caused by the flu or the plague and the evil spirits! Especially in the treatment of influenza and the prevention of temperature epidemics, it can go hand in hand with the ancient Chinese medicine prescriptions that are quite effective against the invasion of the evil spirits, such as ginseng and poison powder, Qingwen poison drink, Xiao Chai Hu Tang, Shenshu San, Jing Fang and poison powder, etc., just like the evaluation of the ten gods soup by Wang Ang, a famous doctor in the Qing Dynasty. However, the core formula of the Ten Divine Tang is still dominated by cold and evil attacks and lung health failure, and the clinical manifestations are mainly headache and fever, chills without sweating, cough, nasal congestion and other symptoms, and there are also symptoms such as chest tightness and vomiting or diarrhea due to the cold evil inhibiting yang qi and qi imbalance [2].
The miraculous effect of Shishen soup is not only suitable for colds and flu, but also for gastrointestinal colds, and it is quite effective for external wind and cold, internal qi stagnation. Although it is mainly used in winter or in early spring and late autumn, it is actually a miracle medicine that can be used in all seasons, and the method of addition and subtraction varies throughout the year, generally speaking, adding nepeta in spring, Huoxiang in summer, skullcap in autumn, and honeysuckle in winter [3]. In other words, Shishen Tang is a classic prescription for treating colds, flu and temperature epidemics in a real sense, and since the creation of the formula, it has been silently contributing to human health in clinical practice for thousands of years.
Although most people believe that its earliest source is the "Bureau Fang" of the Song Dynasty, in fact, the earliest is not from the "Bureau", but from the "Qianjin Fang". At present, the pharmacological research of Shishen decoction is still insufficient, but it has also been found to have good antiviral, antipyretic, and sedative effects [2]. In the early years, Shishen Tang also had a Chinese patent medicine, namely Shishen Granule, which has been found to have enhanced analgesic and antibacterial effects [4]. However, it is very regrettable that I don't know why there is a lack of this Chinese patent medicine in modern clinical practice. Although Shishen Tang, a famous prescription for the ages, can be used normally in clinical practice, it is worth calling for the research and development of Chinese patent medicine for Shishen Tang.
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[1] Duan Chuanhao, Ji Kun, Zhao Hai.Observation on the efficacy of Shengyang muscle dissolving method in the treatment of wind-cold and cold based on the idea of "curing disease"[J].Forum of Traditional Chinese Medicine,2022,37(5):32-34.
[2] Chen Chen, Kou Milang, Chen Jianghe, et al.Shishentang Controversy Point Identification and Clinical Evidence Summary[J].Global Chinese Medicine,2021,14(9):1625-1629.
[3] Zhang Zhenyu.Shishen Tang Jiawei cures 618 cases of cold[J].Shaanxi Traditional Chinese Medicine,1987,8(4):170.
[4] Liu Huagang, Liang Guangqing, Zhang Wu.Preliminary study on the development of Shishen granule[J].Chinese patent medicine,1996,18(8):6-7.
[This graphic and text is exclusively and originally produced by "Shenxiyuan" new media. Author: Shen Xi Yuan (the spiritual home of global Chinese medicine practitioners, the museum of Chinese medicine life science), without authorization, please do not reprint or copy]