Exploring the Tang Ye Jing


Exploring the Tang Ye Jing 湯液經


This is the navigation page for my ongoing series exploring the Decoction Classic, or Tang Ye Jing (湯液經), and its materia medica of twenty five herbs. This page will be periodically updated as I complete new articles. Eventually, you'll be able to find articles on all twenty five herbs here.


Click on the graphic to enlarge


Introductory Articles: If you're new to the series, I suggest beginning with these three articles. 


If you're looking for a specific single herb, such as zhi shi 枳实, you'll be able to navigate there from here as well. The series is ongoing so if you can't find an herb here, it means I haven't gotten to writing an article on it yet.

Wood Articles

Gui Zhi 桂枝 Wood of Wood
Chuan Jiao 川椒 Fire of Wood
Sheng Jiang 生姜 Earth of Wood
Xi Xin 细辛 Metal of Wood
Fu Zi 附子 Water of Wood


Fire Articles



Da Huang 大簧 Wood of Fire
Xuan Fu Hua 旋覆花 Fire of Fire
Ze Xie 泽泻 Earth of Fire
Hou Po 厚朴 Metal of Fire
Xiao Shi 硝石 Water of Fire

Earth Articles

Gan Cao 甘草 Wood of Earth
Da Zao 大棗 Fire of Earth
Ren Shen 人參 Earth of Earth
Mai Men Dong 麥門冬湯 Metal of Earth
Fu Ling 茯苓 Water of Earth

Metal Articles


Zhu Ye 竹葉 Metal of Water
Di Huang 地黄 Water of Water

Interview on Qiological Podcast
References & Further Reading

 Foundations of Theory for Ancient Chinese Medicine by Liu Guohui

 “Introducing the Fu Xing Jue (Extraneous Secrets) and Tang Ye Jing (Decoction Classic) Translation Project” by Heiner Fruehauf and Michael Dell'Orfano

 "Introduction on Fu Xing Jue: Passages from Tang Ye Jing” by Hui Zhang, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen translated by Paul Unschuld

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Tang Ye Jing: Flavor Theory

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This blog entry is Part Two of Exploring the Tang Ye Jing . If you haven't already, check out Part One  here.  And when you're finished, you can move on to Part Three . In the first part of this article series, I introduced the Tang Ye Jing, its mysterious history, and its relevance to the contemporary practice of Chinese Medicine. In this next article, we're going to dive right into the Tang Ye Jing's theory of flavor, how that differs from the standard TCM theory of flavor, and how we can understand both by looking at the Nei Jing. As I mentioned previously, Tang Ye Jing's materia medica consists of twenty five herbs, grouped in sets of five according to Flavor and Phase identification. Thus there are five Acrid herbs belong to Wood, five Salty herbs, which belong to to Fire, five Sweet herbs which belong to Earth, five Sour herbs which belong to Metal and five Bitter herbs, which belong to Water. Nested within each of the five phases, this five fold pattern repea
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Tang Ye Jing: Introduction

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This is Part One of the series  Exploring the Tang Ye Jing . The Decoction Classic, or Tang Ye Jing (湯液經), is an ancient text of Chinese Medicine that describes Chinese herbs and their interactions in terms of the Five Phases (五行) and the dynamics of the Five Flavors (五味). It contains a set of twenty five herbs, which it organizes in groups of five according to flavor (one group for each of the Five Phases), and also contains formulas composed of these herbs to tonify and drain each of the Phases. It is the first text we know of solely devoted to herbal formulas, and it is said to be one of the major influences on Zhang Zhong Jing ( 張仲景 ), author of the Shang Han Za Bing Lun ( 傷寒雜病論 ). To say that the Tang Ye Jing is a mysterious text is an understatement. Despite its status as a foundational text of Chinese Medicine, very little is known about it. Attributed to an author called Yin Yi ( 伊尹 ), we have no exact date for its composition, although it is referenced in many other c
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Tang Ye Jing: Flavor, Season & Direction

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This article is Part Three of the Introduction to Exploring the Tang Ye Jing . If you haven't already, check out Part One  and Part Two . What does it mean to say that a particular flavor “tonifies” an organ? In general, I find it most helpful to understand “tonification” as optimizing the function of a given organ. From a classical perspective, the functions of the Five Zang Organs are described in terms of space, or direction, and time, or season. They are correlated with the a given direction or season because in some fundamental way, the functioning of the organ system is in resonance with these phenomena. The Five “Phases” or Movements are functional descriptions of physiological processes, and so to say that a flavor tonifies an organ according to the Five Phases is to say that it also resonates with these associations in particular way. Let's make this more concrete. In the Su Wen, the seasons are each associated with a specific movement; These associations are menti
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