Pinellia decoction · banxia tang

Also rendered: Pinellia soup (plain, and 湯 is a decoction rather than a soup) · Banxia tang (the pinyin, and it tells a reader nothing) · The pinellia decoction (keeps the drug and the form, the site's convention)

Physiology

Reviewed · 2026-10-26

At a glance

Pinyin: bàn xià tāng
Simplified: 半夏汤
Literal: 半夏 bàn xià — pinellia, the tuber that dries dampness and settles the stomach; 湯 tāng — a decoction, hot water in which drugs have been boiled. Together: the one prescription in the chapter, and the only drug formula in the whole of the Lingshu given with weights and cooking instructions.
Shuowen: 《說文》：湯，熱水也。从水昜聲。古以湯爲沸水，秦漢方書乃以藥汁稱湯。半夏之名，《禮記·月令》作半夏生，鄭注謂藥草；《神農本草經》列於草部上品，主傷寒寒熱、心下堅、下氣、喉咽腫痛。此方以半夏爲君，故名。

In brief

The decoction Bo Gao prescribes for the eye that will not shut. The reasoning is given first: the defending qi cannot enter the yin, so it stays outside and the yang tract is full; fill the deficiency and drain the excess, open the road, and the drink finishes the work — 飲以半夏湯一劑，陰陽已通，其臥立至. The formula itself is a piece of kitchen craft: water drawn from a stream a thousand li away, lifted and poured ten thousand times, five sheng of the clear part boiled over a reed fire, one sheng of sorghum millet and five ge of prepared pinellia added, simmered down to one and a half sheng, strained, and drunk a small cup at a time three times a day until it takes effect. The chapter’s interest is not the drug but the making: the water is agitated to break its heaviness, the fire is of reeds to keep it light, and the dose is 以知爲度 — until the patient knows it, not until the cup is empty.

Senses in the classical corpus

方名飲以半夏湯一劑

給他服一劑半夏湯

Drink one dose of pinellia decoction — the chapter's single prescription.

半夏湯 — 靈樞·邪客

主治陰陽已通，其臥立至

陰陽一通，躺下就能睡著

Once yin and yang are through, sleep comes as soon as the head is down.

陰陽已通，其臥立至 — 靈樞·邪客

煎法其湯方以流水千里以外者八升

方用千里以外的長流水八升

The method: water from a stream a thousand li off, eight sheng.

其湯方 — 靈樞·邪客

服法日三稍益，以知爲度

一日三次，逐漸加量，以見效爲度

Three times a day, increasing a little, until it is felt — 以知爲度.

以知爲度 — 靈樞·邪客

Occurrences in the classics

Passages where the term does real work, with the original, pinyin and English on the same line.

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1 passages

靈樞·邪客 Read in context →

伯高曰：補其不足，寫其有餘，調其虚實，以通其道，而去其邪。飲以半夏湯一劑，陰陽已通，其臥立至。黃帝曰：善。此所謂決瀆壅塞，經絡大通，陰陽和得者也。願聞其方。伯高曰：其湯方以流水千里以外者八升，揚之萬遍，取其清五升煮之，炊以葦薪，火沸，置秫米一升，治半夏五合，徐炊，令竭爲一升半，去其滓，飲汁一小杯，日三稍益，以知爲度。故其病新發者，覆杯則卧，汗出則已矣。久者三飲而已也。伯高曰：补其不足，写其有余，调其虚实，以通其道，而去其邪。饮以半夏汤一剂，阴阳已通，其卧立至。黄帝曰：善。此所谓决渎壅塞，经络大通，阴阳和得者也。愿闻其方。伯高曰：其汤方以流水千里以外者八升，扬之万遍，取其清五升煮之，炊以苇薪，火沸，置秫米一升，治半夏五合，徐炊，令竭为一升半，去其滓，饮汁一小杯，日三稍益，以知为度。故其病新发者，覆杯则卧，汗出则已矣。久者三饮而已也。

Bó Gāo yuē: bǔ qí bù zú, xiè qí yǒu yú, tiáo qí xū shí, yǐ tōng qí dào, ér qù qí xié. yǐn yǐ bàn xià tāng yī jì, yīn yáng yǐ tōng, qí wò lì zhì. Huáng Dì yuē: shàn. cǐ suǒ wèi jué dú yōng sāi, jīng luò dà tōng, yīn yáng hé dé zhě yě. yuàn wén qí fāng. Bó Gāo yuē: qí tāng fāng yǐ liú shuǐ qiān lǐ yǐ wài zhě bā shēng, yáng zhī wàn biàn, qǔ qí qīng wǔ shēng zhǔ zhī, chuī yǐ wěi xīn, huǒ fèi, zhì shú mǐ yī shēng, zhì bàn xià wǔ hé, xú chuī, lìng jié wéi yī shēng bàn, qù qí zǐ, yǐn zhī yī xiǎo bēi, rì sān shāo yì, yǐ zhī wéi dù. gù qí bìng xīn fā zhě, fù bēi zé wò, hàn chū zé yǐ yǐ. jiǔ zhě sān yǐn ér yǐ yě.

Bo Gao said: Tonify what is insufficient, drain what is excessive, adjust the empty and the full, open its course and remove the evil. Give one dose of pinellia decoction; once yin and yang are open, sleep arrives at once. The Emperor said: Good. This is what is called breaking open the blocked sluice, so that the vessels and network vessels are greatly opened and yin and yang are harmonised. I should like to hear the prescription. Bo Gao said: The prescription takes eight sheng of water from a stream a thousand li away, lifts it ten thousand times, takes five sheng of the clear part and boils it over a reed fire. When it boils, put in one sheng of glutinous millet and five ge of prepared pinellia; simmer slowly until reduced to one and a half sheng; remove the dregs and drink a small cup of the liquid three times a day, gradually increasing, taking awareness as the measure. If the illness is newly arisen, the cup is set down and he sleeps; when sweat comes he is finished. If it is of long standing, three drinks and it is done.

「半夏湯」本篇1見，自補其不足寫其有餘至久者三飲而已，方名、煎法、服法俱備，故引全段為證。

Compounds built on this term

秫米

shú mǐ

sorghum millet

黏黍，此方用一升

治半夏

zhì bàn xià

prepared pinellia

炮製過的半夏，此方用五合

How it has been translated

Every rendering below is a decision about which reader is being addressed. There is no neutral option.

This site	the pinellia decoction	drug plus preparation
Literal	pinellia hot water	exact, and it misleads
Clinical	the insomnia formula of chapter 71	clear, and it narrows the sense

Entry status

Review pending — who reviews this?

2026-10-26

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Reading path

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