By Eric Brand

The “Zhu Yu Tang” family of blood-moving formulas includes Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang, Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang, Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang, and Tong Qiao Huo Xue Tang.  Created by Wang Qing-Ren in the Qing dynasty, these formulas are often described based on a region of the body. For example, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang is associated with blood stasis in the chest while Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang is associated with stasis (and lumps) below the diaphragm. Tong Qiao Huo Xue Tang is associated with blood stasis in the head, and Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang is associated with blood stasis in the lesser abdomen. Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang is associated with the entire body.

However, it is important to look beyond these generalizations of body regions when looking at the Zhu Yu Tang formulas. All too often, students are too quick to memorize the body regions without understanding the special characteristics of the formulas themselves. Shen Tong Zhu Yu Tang combines the quickening the blood with treating wind-damp, and is most commonly used for impediment (bi) pain. Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang is warming and is key for combining the principles of expelling cold and quickening the blood. Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang is excellent for pain as well as abdominal masses, and its ability to treat pain makes it incredibly important in gynecology. The wide ranging applications of Ge Xia Zhu Yu Tang can be underutilized if one purely associates it with the area below the diaphragm and fails to see the unique niche it has in gynecology. Shao Fu Zhu Yu Tang is also a major formula in gynecology that is excellent for pain (in this case, pain with cold and blood stasis).

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The mother formula, Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang, has a wide range of applications because it contains the essence of Si Ni San (Counterflow Cold Powder) and Tao Hong Si Wu Tang (Peach Kernel and Carthamus Four Agents Decoction). This gives it a good ability to regulate qi while quickening the blood, and it has Si Ni San’s fundamental tendency to course liver qi while regulating upbearing and downbearing. Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang is important for a wide range of conditions spanning from gynecology to cardiology, and it occupies an important niche in formula theory. (As an aside, I remember translating a research paper for one of my teachers at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan that focused on Xue Fu Zhu Yu Tang for liver cirrhosis. The results were very promising.)