today, also as a patent remedy.
The "Correction of Errors in Medicine" (1830) by Wang Qing Ren introduced the formula Xue
Fu Zhu Yu Tang Blood-Mansion Eliminating Stasis Decoction which is today one of the most
important and widely-used prescriptions to move Blood and eliminate stasis especially in the
chest.13(364)
In Chest Painful Obstruction the Root is usually a Deficiency and the Manifestation is an Excess.
It is always essential to differentiate clearly between the relative influence of Deficiency and
Excess in the clinical manifestations of Chest Painful Obstruction. Once a Deficiency has been
identified, one must further differentiate between deficiency of Qi, Yang, Blood or Yin. Once an
Excess has been identified, one must further distinguish the pathogenic factor involved, e.g.
Cold, Phlegm or Blood stasis.
Generally speaking, it is better to deal with the Manifestation first, i.e. eliminate the pathogenic
factor. This would involve either expelling Cold or resolving Phlegm or moving Blood.
Especially with herbal treatment, it is better to eliminate the obstruction of a pathogenic factor
before tonifying the body's Qi. With acupuncture, it is possible to deal effectively with both the
Root and Manifestation, i.e. tonify the body's Qi as well as eliminating the pathogenic factor.
In acute cases one must always concentrate on treating the Manifestation only (i.e. eliminate the
pathogenic factor), whilst in the chronic phase in between acute attacks, one can turn one's
attention to treating the Root (i.e. tonify the body's Qi).
Although the three main Excess conditions (Stasis of Blood, Phlegm and Cold) all derive from a
deficiency (of Yang), they will be discussed separately because they correspond to acute stages
during which one must treat the Manifestation rather than the Root.
The patterns discussed are:
EXCESS TYPE
Stagnation of Qi in the chest
Heart-Blood stasis
Turbid Phlegm stagnating in the chest
Stagnation of Cold in the chestDEFICIENCY TYPE
Heart- and Kidney-Yin Deficiency
Qi and Yin Deficiency