Banxia Xiexin Tang

About

Banxia Xiexin Tang is a classical remedy that already featured prominently in China’s 2nd century formula textbook, The Treatise on Disorders Caused by Cold (Shanghan lun). Along with the very similar Xiao Chaihu Tang, it is one of the representative prescriptions of the so-called harmonizing method of Chinese herbal therapy. In contrast to the more horizontally oriented Xiao Chaihu Tang (regulating Liver and Spleen functions), however, this remedy primarily affects the vertical yangming axis by harmonizing what is generally referred to as “a hot Stomach and cold Intestines”. In particular, Banxia Xiexin Tang has traditionally been considered as the main remedy for “pi syndrome”, a condition characterized by a subjective feeling of fullness and discomfort in the epigastric region. The “Heart purging” action in the formula’s name refers to the effect of clearing Stomach heat and regulating the downward flow of Stomach qi. Stomach heat can also manifest in neurological “Heart” symptoms such as restlessness or insomnia, while true heart dysfunction can be heralded by the onset of stomach pain. The formula has thus emerged as one of the main remedies for a wide variety of inflammatory syndromes of the stomach, duodenum, liver and intestines characterized by non-specific pressure sensations in the epigastric region, which are potentially also accompanied by mental-emotional symptoms such as insomnia. The relatively small amount of coptis plays a key role in the design of this formula, since it enters both the Heart and Stomach networks.