Its function is to clear away dryness and moisten lung, and it is mainly used for treating lung injury caused by warm dryness, headache, body heat, dry cough without phlegm, dyspnea due to adverse qi, dry throat, dry nose, chest pain, vexation and thirst, dry tongue without coating, and pulse deficiency.
The symptoms treated by Qingzao Jiufei Decoction are relatively serious. Because the pathogen of external temperature dryness is relatively serious, there is headache and body heat. In addition, the dryness in it is particularly obvious. There is no phlegm in the dry cough, and at the same time, the qi is against the asthma. Not only that, the throat, lips and nose feel dry, and there is also the phenomenon of being upset and thirsty, which shows that the dryness and heat inside are heavier. It is precisely because of the heavy heat and dryness that the lungs can neither spread nor descend, so they can't breathe, so they are full of pain in the chest and hypochondrium. This chest and hypochondriac pain is caused by the failure of lung qi to descend. From the five elements, it means that gold does not make wood, and wood qi goes up. In fact, lung qi is injured by dryness and evil, and its own qi can't be released and can't be depressed, so the qi can't be relieved. Its evidence is that it not only has cough, but also breathes against qi, so chest tightness and hypochondriac pain is an overall qi problem, and the key lies in the lung, so the key treatment is the lung.
In addition, the tongue is dry without moss, and the tongue quality is red. Although it is not easy to see sometimes, it is because it is injured by dryness and evil, and the body fluid accumulates as phlegm. Although it is dry cough without phlegm, there is actually phlegm inside, so the whole tongue is thin and white. Therefore, you are not allowed to see the edge and tip of the tongue. This thin white coating should pay attention to whether the tongue coating is dry or wet. It should be dry. According to these circumstances, the use of Qingzao Jiufei Decoction is what Huangdi Neijing said: "All qi stagnation belongs to the lung". This is because there is a problem of lung qi inside. Because it is warm and dry, there is still heat inside, and the body fluid in the lungs is injured, so this situation marks a big injury to the lung, so it is called saving the lung.
The main drugs in the prescription are mulberry leaves and gypsum, which are used to clear away the heat in the lungs. The weight of these two medicines should be considered here. Mulberry leaves are very light and bulky. Gypsum is very heavy and small. Why the dosage of gypsum is smaller than that of mulberry leaves? What is the key point of this prescription, what is it mainly for, and what is the difference between the two drugs?
Mulberry leaves can disperse wind and heat in the lungs, and have the effect of promoting fluid production and quenching thirst. Mulberry leaves can enter not only the lung meridian but also the liver meridian. Gypsum mainly enters the stomach meridian and can also enter the lung meridian. But under such circumstances, where do the body fluid in the lungs and the qi in the lungs come from? It comes from the spleen and stomach. The lung is hot and dry. If the stomach is injured by severe cold, how can the body fluid be produced? So the dosage of mulberry leaves here is larger than gypsum. In addition, there are a large number of drugs for nourishing yin and moistening dryness, including drugs for nourishing stomach and benefiting qi, as well as Ejiao, Ophiopogon japonicus and flax seed. Hemp seed is black sesame, which is a medicine that can tonify yin and qi, mainly nourishing yin. Ginseng and licorice are also used, and it should be noted that the dosage of ginseng here is also very small, because first, the cause is mainly the invasion of foreign evils, and a large amount of ginseng cannot be used; Secondly, it treats the lung, focusing on lung dryness and yin injury and dryness-heat, so qi is the second, yin is the first, and eliminating dryness-heat and moistening the lung are the first priority. Therefore, ginseng and licorice are used to nourish stomach qi and produce body fluid, and then it is transported to the lung through the body fluid and qi of the stomach to help the lung dryness recover. What are the functions of almonds and loquat leaves here? Loquat leaves are bitter, sweet and slightly cold, and it mainly has the function of clearing lung and lowering qi. It is precisely because it can relieve qi, so it can relieve cough and eliminate phlegm. Together with almond, it can treat asthma due to adverse qi.
This prescription has a good therapeutic effect on cough caused by heat and dryness in spring and autumn, but we should grasp its characteristics, grasp its dry cough without phlegm and adverse qi, and feel thirsty, upset and dry nose, and use it by grasping these characteristics. If patients usually have lung yin deficiency, or because of lung diseases, or because of lung dryness and yin deficiency caused by liver fire, such people often suffer from external evil, especially dryness and evil, which is very easy to turn into heat, then this prescription is still very good.