Unstoppable Bleeding After Menopause? Doctor Zhang Xichun’s Go-To Formula from the Legendary Doctor Fu Qingzhu (Sent with Notoginseng Powder)
Opening: today’s herb is a treasure of women’s health — notoginseng
Today we continue with Doctor Zhang Xichun. Doctor Luo Dalun says that Doctor Zhang Xichun held one particular herb in very high regard — san qi, notoginseng (三七). For women looking after their bodies, notoginseng can do wonderful things. How so? Let us begin with a true case that happened in Doctor Zhang Xichun’s hometown.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Notoginseng is the core ingredient of Yunnan Baiyao (Yunnan White Medicine), and it is a regular guest in gynecological treatment. Doctor Zhang Xichun’s understanding of this herb, in fact, began with this very case.
Who was the patient? A neighbor lady in her forties whose periods had stopped — but the bleeding hadn’t
This happened in Doctor Zhang Xichun’s hometown — the kind of village that country folk call a “zhuang.” Living in that village was a woman surnamed Huang, in her forties. One day, something went badly wrong: her menstruation had already stopped, yet the bleeding simply would not stop — what Chinese medicine calls “xing jing xia xue bu zhi” (bleeding from the uterus without stopping). Her family quickly summoned Doctor Zhang Xichun — partly because he lived right next door, and partly because by then he had already studied Chinese medicine.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Notice — this woman’s case was “jing duan fu lai,” bleeding that resumes after the periods have ceased. At the age when menopause should have ended her menstruation, the blood instead would not stop. In Chinese gynecology this belongs squarely in the category of beng lou (flooding and leaking uterine bleeding), and it is a perilous condition indeed.
How ill was she? Doctor Zhang Xichun’s ordinary remedies failed — she was close to death
At that time Doctor Zhang Xichun was still young, and his medical skill had not yet reached its full maturity. He prescribed some ordinary herbs for flooding uterine bleeding. And the result? No effect. The illness grew steadily worse, the bleeding became extremely heavy, and the woman had sunk to the brink of death.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: An acute case like this is the most vexing thing a young physician can face — the blood will not stop, and the patient is visibly on the verge of collapse. What to do? The family made a decision: they went to the neighboring village to fetch an old doctor.
The old doctor arrives, Doctor Gao Luxuan: who is the greatest in gynecology? Doctor Fu Qingzhu!
In the neighboring village there lived an old physician named Gao Luxuan. The moment the old master arrived, he declared: in the field of gynecology, who treats it best? Fu Qingzhu! This Fu Qingzhu wrote a book called Fu Qingzhu’s Gynecology (Fu Qingzhu Nv Ke, 《傅青主女科》), and it is full of excellent formulas — many of which we still use to this day.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I have written the story of Fu Qingzhu before — he was a righteous man devoted to restoring the fallen Ming dynasty (fan Qing fu Ming), and a great scholar as well. Why was he so remarkably skilled in gynecology? Because in his youth he had a deeply beloved wife; the two were devoted to each other, but sadly she passed away. In his grief, Fu Qingzhu never remarried. Instead he poured all his energy into studying gynecology, and in the end he became a master of women’s medicine.
First, a distinction: what is “beng,” and what is “lou”?
The moment Doctor Gao Luxuan saw the situation, he explained a concept — this illness was beng (flooding). People often say “women’s beng lou,” but in fact beng and lou are not the same thing:
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: What is beng? Blood gushing out in great volume, streaming away — that is beng. What is lou? A trickle that never quite ends — always a small amount, but dragging on for a very long time — that is lou. This woman surnamed Huang had xue beng, blood flooding — after her period, the blood came out in such quantity that her life was in danger. Beng and lou require completely different emphases in treatment.
The prescription revealed: Doctor Fu Qingzhu’s formula, with one dose of notoginseng powder as the finishing touch
Doctor Gao Luxuan directly prescribed a formula by Fu Qingzhu — a formula that Doctor Zhang Xichun would praise for the rest of his life. What was it? Mark it down well:
Sheng Huang Qi, raw astragalus, 1 liang (about 30 g); Dang Gui, Chinese angelica, 1 liang (about 30 g); Sheng Di Huang, raw rehmannia, 1 liang (about 30 g); Sang Ye, mulberry leaf, 14 leaves — decocted into a soup. Then take the soup with 3 qian (about 9 g) of San Qi (notoginseng) powder sent down with it.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Each of the other herbs has its own job — huang qi tonifies qi, dang gui nourishes and invigorates the blood, sheng di huang cools the blood, and sang ye clears heat. But the true finishing touch is the notoginseng powder. Why use san qi to stop beng lou? Because many women have blood stasis inside them (yu xue); unless the stasis is transformed and dissolved, the bleeding cannot be stopped — this is the crucial logic of Chinese medicine in treating beng lou.
A stunning result: one dose down, and the bleeding stopped!
How did the formula perform? One dose, and the patient was well — cured with a single dose (yi ji er yu)! Doctor Zhang Xichun saw this and thought: this formula is formidable! From then on, when he wrote his Records of Chinese Medicine with Reference to Western Medicine and discussed beng lou, he always placed Doctor Fu Qingzhu’s formula at the end — why? To tell everyone: if the ordinary formulas — including Doctor Zhang Xichun’s own — finally fail to stop the bleeding, Doctor Fu Qingzhu’s formula will basically cure it in two or three doses. It is exceptionally effective.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Many Chinese medicine practitioners still use this formula today, and it works very well. Fu Qingzhu had a particular trait — he only wrote formulas, not case records, so we do not know exactly how effective the formula was in his own hands. But later generations of physicians kept practicing it and kept using it, and in time they discovered its true power. Doctor Zhang Xichun, through his own practice, likewise concluded that it truly works — for cases of flooding that ordinary remedies cannot stop, this formula performs superbly.
Why is notoginseng so miraculous? It dissolves stasis and stops bleeding — a dual-direction regulator
The formula uses 3 qian of notoginseng powder. What does it do? The other herbs take care of tonifying qi, invigorating the blood, and cooling the blood, while san qi takes charge of transforming blood stasis — because many women bleed precisely because of stasis: this is the logic of Chinese medicine. Stasis blocks the uterus (bao gong); the blood can no longer follow its proper channels, and instead runs wild and escapes.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Some friends ask: isn’t this “blocking both ends”? How can one herb both invigorate the blood and dissolve stasis, and stop bleeding? Ladies and gentlemen — this is what is called a dual-direction regulating action (shuang xiang tiao jie), and notoginseng has exactly this ability. So in the course of treating women’s blood stasis, san qi can play a wonderful role.
Why should every woman know notoginseng? Blood stasis is a great enemy of modern people
Many women who take a little notoginseng regularly notice: their complexion returns to normal, the spots on their face fade, and their periods gradually become regular again — all effects of san qi. Because women are very prone to blood stasis, and san qi, on the one hand, dissolves the stasis for you while, on the other, stopping the blood that is running wild — in this way it helps bring your qi and blood back to a normal state.
💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Even today we are still researching all the actions of notoginseng — it regulates the body in very many ways. Why is it becoming more and more important? Because modern people develop blood stasis far more often: drinking cold beverages and iced drinks, girls dressing too lightly in winter and catching cold, modern people not exercising, qi deficiency… all of these can produce blood stasis. So blood stasis is a great enemy of modern people, and notoginseng, in protecting our health, can play a very fine role — this is something everyone should understand.
All right, friends, that is all for today. Tomorrow we will continue with how Doctor Zhang Xichun used notoginseng. Thank you for listening!
What to take away: heavy, unstoppable bleeding — especially after the periods have stopped — may not be cured by ordinary hemostatic herbs alone. If blood stasis is blocking the uterus, the bleeding will not stop until the stasis is transformed. Doctor Fu Qingzhu’s formula — astragalus, angelica, raw rehmannia, and mulberry leaf, sent down with notoginseng powder — is Doctor Zhang Xichun’s ultimate recourse for such cases, and san qi’s dual action of dissolving stasis while stopping bleeding is the heart of the treatment.
Based on Doctor Luo Dalun’s commentary on Doctor Zhang Xichun’s case records; the case comes from Records of Chinese Medicine with Reference to Western Medicine (《医学衷中参西录》).