Souroe: Taiping Huimin Hejiju Fang (Benevolent Prescriptions from Taiping Pharmaceutical Bureau).

Ingredients:
No. 1 Chuangxiong (Rhizoma Ligustici Chuanxiong) 120 g;
No. 2 Jingjie (Herba Schizonepetae) 120 g;
No. 3 Baizhi (Radix Angelicae Dahuricae) 60 g;
No. 4 Qianghuo (Rhizoma seu Radix Notopterygii) 60 g;
No. 5 Zhigancao (Radix Glycyrrhizae Praeparatae) 60 g;
No. 6 Xixin (Herba Asari) 30 g;
No. 7 Fangfeng (Radix Ledebouriellae) 45 g;
No. 8 Bohe (Herba Menthae) 240 g.
 

Administration:
Grind the above drugs into fine powder, take 6 g each time and twice daily with tea. Or decoct the above drugs in water with dosages in proportion to the original recipe.

Actions: Dispelling wind to relieve pain.

Clinical Application:
This recipe is indicated for headache due to attack of exogenous wind, marked by headache, hemicrania, or pain on top of the head, aversion to cold with fever, dizziness, nasal obstruction, thin whitish fur, and superficial pulse. It is applicable to headache generated from migraine, angioneurotic headache or chronic rhinitis that is accompanied by nasal obstruction and superficial pulse and ascribed to attack by exogenous wind. In case of attack by wind-cold with aversion to cold, increase the dosage of No. 1 and add Suye (Folium Perillae) and Shengjiang (Rhizoma Zingiberis Recens) to enhance the effect of dispelling wind and cold.

In case of attack by wind-heat with fever or dry mouth and reddened tongue, subtract No. 4 and No. 6 and add Manjingzi (Fructus Viticis) and Juhua (Flos Chrysanthemi) to expel wind-heat. In case of protracted headache, add Quanxie (Scorpio), Jiangcan (Bombyx Batryticatus) and Taoren (Semen Perisicae) to expel wind and promote blood circulation for alleviating pain.

Elucidation:
The syndrome arises when exogenous wind invades head and obstructs the lucid yang-qi. It should be treated by dispelling wind and alleviating pain. No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 have the effect of expelling wind and alleviating pain, among which No. 1 is good at relieving pain and treating headache of shaoyang meridian or jueyin meridian (i. e. pain on top of the head or in the temples), No. 4 is effective for headache of taiyang meridian (pain on the rear of the head radiating to the neck) and No. 3 is specially good for headache of yangming meridian (pain over the forehead). These three drugs supplement one another in effect and function as monarch drugs.

No. 6 is capable of dispelling cold and alleviating pain and No. 8 expelling wind and refreshing mind, acting as minister drugs. No. 2 and No. 7 strengthen the effect of both monarch and minister drugs in dispelling wind and are used as adjuvant drugs. No. 5 is the guiding drug, which mediates the properties of the drugs. Since most ingredients are warm or dry with expelling effect, tea is used to prevent impairment of body fluid and consumption of qi because tea is cold and bitter in nature with descending effect. This makes the recipe warm but not dry, has ascending and descending effects, and expels pathogenic factors without impairing healthy qi.

Cautions:
This recipe is contraindicated for headache due to deficiency of qi and blood, or due to wind generated from hyperactive yang.