The information provided here is not a replacement for a doctor. You shouldn't use it for the purpose of self-diagnosing or self-medicating but rather so you can have a more informed discussion with a professional TCM practitioner.

Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is a 3-ingredient Chinese Medicine formula with Muttons (Yang Rou) as a principal ingredient.

Invented in 220 AD, it belongs to the category of formulas that tonify Qi and Blood. Its main actions are: 1) warms the Interior and 2) nourishes the Blood.

In Chinese Medicine health conditions are thought to arise due to "disharmonies" in the body as a system. These disharmonies are called "patterns" and the very purpose of herbal formulas is to fight them in order to restore the body's harmony.

In this case Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is used by TCM practitioners to fight patterns like Interior Cold. From a Western Medicine standpoint, such patterns can give rise to a range of conditions such as postpartum weakness, hernia or leukorrhea for instance.

On this page, after a detailed description of each of the three ingredients in Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang, we review the patterns and conditions that Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang helps treat.

The three ingredients in Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang

Yang Rou is a king ingredient in Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang. Like the name indicates, it means it has more power than other ingredients in the formula.

1. Muttons (Yang Rou)

Part used: Meat

Nature: Warm

Taste(s): Sweet

Meridian affinity: SpleenStomachKidney

Category: Herbs that warm the Interior and/or expel Cold

Yang Rou is heating, sweet, and acrid in nature. Mutton strongly tonifies the Fire at the gate of vitality, nourishes the Blood, and augments the Qi.

Learn more about Muttons (Yang Rou)

Dang Gui is a deputy ingredient in Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang. This means it helps the king ingredient(s) treat the main pattern or it serves to treat a coexisting pattern.

2. Dong Quai (Dang Gui)

Part used: Dried root

Nature: Warm

Taste(s): PungentSweet

Meridian affinity: HeartLiverSpleen

Category: Tonic herbs for Blood Deficiency

Dang Gui tonifies without causing Blood Stagnation, and warms without drying. It is also an excellent herb for generating Blood, which is required in this condition.

Learn more about Dong Quai (Dang Gui)

Sheng Jiang is an assistant ingredient in Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang. This means that it either serves to reinforces the effect of other ingredients or it moderates their toxicity.

3. Fresh Ginger (Sheng Jiang)

Part used: Fresh root

Nature: Warm

Taste(s): Pungent

Meridian affinity: LungSpleenStomach

Category: Warm/Acrid herbs that release the Exterior

Sheng Jiang scatters the Cold and serves as the assistant ingredient. It also facilitates digestion of the key herbs and there by indirectly aids in tonification. Because it warms, it also assists the deputy herb in moving the Blood. The combination of these three ingredients not only nourishes the Blood, but also disperses the Cold and there by relieves the Pain.

Learn more about Fresh Ginger (Sheng Jiang)

Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is used to treat Interior Cold

It's important to remember that herbal formulas are meant to treat patterns, not "diseases" as understood in Western Medicine. According to Chinese Medicine patterns, which are disruptions to the body as a system, are the underlying root cause for diseases and conditions.

As such Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is mostly used to treat the pattern "Interior Cold" which we describe below.

But before we delve into Interior Cold here is an overview of the Western conditions it is commonly associated with:

Postpartum weakness Hernia Leukorrhea Infertility in male Thrombocytopenic purpura

Again it wouldn't be correct to say "Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang treats postpartum weakness" for instance. Rather, Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is used to treat Interior Cold, which is sometimes the root cause behind postpartum weakness.

Now let's look at Interior Cold, a pattern that TCM practitioners commonly treat with Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang.

The Interior in Chinese Medicine is one of the so-called "Eight Principles". Learn more about Interior in Chinese Medicine

Interior Cold

Pulse type(s): Hidden (Fu), Weak (Ruo), Wiry (Xian)

Symptoms: Flank pain Hernial pain Cold abdominal Postpartum abdominal pain abdominal pain relieved by presure and warmth

Dang Gui Sheng Jiang Yang Rou Tang is sometimes prescribed by TCM practitioners to treat Interior Cold. This pattern leads to symptoms such as postpartum abdominal pain, cold abdominal, hernial pain and flank pain. Patients with Interior Cold typically exhibit hidden (Fu), weak (Ruo) or wiry (Xian) pulses.

This pattern, particularly seen in the context of postpartum conditions or in individuals with constitutional Blood Deficiency, is characterized by a Deficiency of Blood and Essence leading to Interior Coldness.

After childbirth, women are especially susceptible due to the significant loss of Blood... read more about Interior Cold