Zou Runan recorded his own medical records of treating two critical cases with ginseng-containing prescriptions (Fuling Sini Decoction, Guizhi Fuzi Decoction and Lizhong Decoction) in the book Shuzheng of Ben Jing, which is rare in the whole book. It is in the analysis of all prescriptions containing ginseng in Zhongjing and their treatment syndromes that he explored the purpose of using ginseng.

Ginseng eliminates pathogenic factors

As the main indication of ginseng, this meridian has used eight verbs in succession, namely, tonifying (five internal organs), calming (spirit), calming (soul), stopping (shock), eliminating (evil), clearing (eyes), opening (heart) and benefiting (wisdom). It seems that its nourishing effect is very remarkable, so the "Ten Doses" in Compendium of Materia Medica says: "Tonifying energy and weakening, ginseng and mutton belong to the same category. 」

Bielu further publicizes and translates ginseng's "eliminating pathogenic factors", that is, it thinks that ginseng can "treat stomach cold, chest pain, fullness in chest and hypochondrium, cholera, vomiting, regulate middle energizer to quench thirst, dredge blood vessels, and break hard mass, which is unforgettable".

Zou Runan pointed out that there are corresponding prescriptions in Zhang Zhongjing's works for the diseases mentioned above, such as Fuling Sini Decoction, Wuzhuyu Decoction and Fuzi Decoction, to treat "cold gastrointestinal tract"; Dajianzhong decoction and Lizhong decoction, which are the main "heartache"; Pingjiang Huanglian Qin Huang Ginseng Chicken Soup and Maimendong Soup are responsible for "vomiting"; Pinellia ternata, Ginger Erxiexin Decoction and Dioscorea pill are the main "middle-regulating" drugs; White tiger and ginseng chicken soup for quenching thirst; Zhigancao decoction and Tongmai Sini decoction are the main methods of "promoting blood circulation"; Biejia Jianwan, etc. More than 30 prescriptions of the above peers are all effective, and ginseng can be said to have a great effect on "eliminating evil", which also shows that Zhongjing's medication, in the "classic" of favoring boys over girls, can only be adjusted in many ways to exert its greatest effect.

Distinguish the availability and unavailability of ginseng

In this regard, Zou Run An made a detailed analysis in connection with various prescriptions in Zhang Zhongjing's works.

1. Those who have superficial evidence but don't distinguish between good and evil are not available.

Zou quoted Xu Huixi as saying: "There are points and combinations of diseases, and if they are combined, evil and righteousness coexist, so it is advisable to specialize in dispersing;" Divide, evil is divided, and there is emptiness and reality. In fact, it should be diarrhea, and deficiency should be supplemented. On the one hand, it is ok to use both, which can help each other. 」

Take Xiaochaihu decoction as an example. There is a cloud behind its prescription: "If you are not thirsty, it will be slightly hot outside. If you remove ginseng and add cassia twig, you will be slightly sweaty when you are warm." This is the case. "Exogenous slight fever" and "no thirst" both indicate that exterior syndrome is unsolved and pathogenic factors are still mixed, so ginseng should be removed.

2. the external syndrome has stopped, and it is hot inside and outside, especially difficult to understand the actual situation.

In other words, ginseng can be used for those with deficiency of excess heat, but not for those with excess heat. For example, the syndrome of "three yang combined diseases, heavy abdomen, difficulty in turning sideways, poor mouth and dirty face" in Baihu decoction is not a deficiency syndrome, so ginseng is not needed. Another example is Xiaochaihu decoction, which says, "If you are bored in your chest, go to Pinellia ternata to take ginseng and add a piece of Fructus Trichosanthis", because at this time, "evil cannot be vented" (that is, it does not belong to deficiency, so ginseng is not needed.

3. For those who have turned evil into heat and those who have divided evil, ginseng can be used.

For example, White Tiger plus ginseng soup Certificate, Zhongjing specifically explained that he was "thirsty for water, without exterior evidence". Zou explained: "The exterior syndrome is not thirst, but thirst means that the cold has melted and evil is being divided. Although this fashion has a "total evil wind" or "a slight aversion to cold on the back", it is not all evil wind or cold, indicating that the exterior evil has turned into heat and has not been exhausted.

4. People who can't stand on their own feet due to stomach cold can use ginseng.

Lizhong Pill is the representative of this type. Zou Runan said: Anyone who uses ginseng should examine the symptoms from the outside to the inside. "Cholera is too cold, if you use Lizhong Pill, the abdominal pain will be worse. Although you have head and body pain and fever, you have no scruples. 」

Another example is Guizhi ginseng soup syndrome, which is difficult to distinguish between exterior and interior; Huanglian decoction syndrome and cold-heat syndrome are difficult to distinguish. The former is external heating and internal cooling, while the latter is internal heating and internal cooling. It is precisely because the qi inside can't stand on its own feet, and the cold and heat meet and don't match, which will eventually separate and aggravate the condition. Therefore, both sides must use the influence of ginseng to nourish warmth, adjust middle qi to reconcile cold and heat, and play a decisive role in coping with the environment.

5. Spleen and stomach are weak, and ginseng is essential for vomiting caused by evil.

Zou said: "People who vomit use more ginseng, while those who want to vomit use less ginseng. Because ginseng has expertise in treating vomiting. 」

Ginseng is yellow and soft, and tastes sweet and slightly bitter, but sweet is beneficial to the palace, and bitter is only virtual evil. Therefore, ginseng can be used to treat vomiting, whether it is cold, heat or yin and yang deficiency after illness. If you like to vomit after a serious illness and your stomach is cold, you should take Lizhong Pill. After the relief of typhoid fever, the people who want to vomit due to qi deficiency are mainly bamboo leaf gypsum soup. Just because ginseng is energetic, "it can turn from yin to yang, so entering the cold team can adjust the middle to quench thirst, and entering the warm team can replenish qi and settle the inverse."

6. When all drugs need to be coordinated and balanced to make the efficacy consistent, ginseng should be used.

For example, in Wu Mei Pill, Zhuyesheng Gypsum Decoction, Wenjing Decoction, Dioscorea Pill, Hou Shi Heisan and other prescriptions, either cold medicine is king, or cold medicine is widely used, or hot medicine is king, or reinforcing and reducing miscellaneous items, or collecting and dispersing in parallel, but if the prescription is not ginseng, the strength is uneven, but there are some contradictions. For example, Jiutong Pill also uses ginseng, that is, the spike and croton in the prescription are very useful and toxic. "It's a technology to turn domineering people into soldiers and supervise them with pure and upright elders."

In a word, Zou Runan believes that ginseng is the yang in the yin (its grass is back to the yin, and it doesn't like windy days, that is, it is caused by its growing environment), and it is strong in nature, mellow in nature, yellow in color and sweet in taste, so it enters the spleen first, then the lung, then the kidney, then the liver and then the heart, and the more effective it is, that is, the so-called "treating and nourishing the five internal organs". "When it is inhaled, it is harmonious and angry; Blood medicine, returning to yin and transforming qi; When I entered the wind medicine, I lost my breath when I arrived. " Even if it is sometimes not the monarch drug in the prescription, or the dosage is not much, its coordination, balance and supervision role in the prescription can not be underestimated.