Catch a Cold at the First Breath of Wind, Sweat at the Slightest Movement, Fear Wind and Cold? Gui Zhi Ke Li (Cinnamon Twig Granules): The Classic Cold-Dispelling Formula from the Shang Han Lun

Opening: the exterior-illness series — keep a few patent medicines at home

These days people keep asking Doctor Luo Dalun the same question online: if you had to make a list, what should we stock up on? His answer is very practical — you don’t need to hoard anything, but keeping one or two boxes at home is well worth it.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Why am I doing this series? Because right now, with this epidemic, the situation may keep changing. It’s very important that everyone masters some knowledge of the patent medicines used for exterior-contraction illnesses and keeps a little supply at home. Then, in a pinch, you can treat and prevent on your own. There’s no need to hoard — just buy a box and keep it at home. Whether or not an epidemic comes, I think every family should have a box. When trouble really arrives, “having grain in hand calms the heart” — with traditional Chinese medicine protecting us, we should be fine.

So who is today’s subject? Gui Zhi Ke Li (Cinnamon Twig Granules) — Doctor Luo says it’s a great pity that so few manufacturers produce it.

What is Gui Zhi Ke Li? — Zhang Zhongjing’s Gui Zhi Tang made into granules

Gui Zhi Ke Li is simply the patent-medicine form of Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction). The formula is very simple: gui zhi (cinnamon twig), bai shao (white peony root), and zhi gan cao (honey-fried licorice) — just these three herbs, taken with sheng jiang (fresh ginger) and da zao (red dates).

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When Gui Zhi Ke Li is made, the ginger and dates are already included in the granules. But when you brew it, you can add three slices of ginger and two red dates (broken open) yourself — boil them in water and use that water to dissolve the granules. The effect is even better.

And what is this formula for?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: It is for the moment the body encounters cold evil — because your upright qi is insufficient, especially the yang qi at the body surface, which lets the evil in. When you first catch cold, it’s usually people who are yang-deficient, qi-deficient, yang-weak and so on. Under these circumstances, when cold evil arrives and exterior symptoms appear, the very first stage is what the Shang Han Lun calls the surface deficiency pattern (biao xu zheng).

Two formulas, two roads: Ma Huang Tang for surface excess, Gui Zhi Tang for surface deficiency

When the evil first reaches the body surface and enters the Taiyang channel, the Shang Han Lun offers two main formulas: Ma Huang Tang (Ephedra Decoction) and Gui Zhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction) — both used when cold evil attacks. What’s the difference?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: With Ma Huang Tang, your upright qi is still a little stronger, still able to resist the external cold. So the whole body tightens up — no sweat, fear of wind, truly afraid of cold, but no sweat, with that blazing-heat feeling. That’s the surface excess pattern (biao shi zheng) — upright qi and evil locked in battle. The Gui Zhi Tang pattern? That’s surface deficiency — insufficient upright qi. When the cold wind blows, you fear wind and cold, and you sweat — move slightly and you sweat more than usual. What does that show? The nutritive and defensive qi (ying qi and wei qi) that guard the body surface have gone wrong.

Doctor Luo explains this mechanism thoroughly:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Especially the defensive qi (wei qi) — that bold, fierce force at the body surface, the power that represents yang. It has become deficient — it was already insufficient, and fighting the cold evil has consumed it further. Normally ying qi and wei qi embrace each other and fight together; now wei qi is insufficient, the yang side shows a surplus, and ying qi leaks out through the surface — because nothing is holding it in anymore. So the person sweats — this is called spontaneous sweating (zi han). What does spontaneous sweating mean? It means qi deficiency, weak defensive qi — so this person has a surface deficiency pattern; it’s a deficient condition.

So the question arises — in modern society, how many people are really that robust?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: When people catch an exterior illness and cold evil arrives, how many burn with blazing fever, heat all over and no sweat? What I see is that most are deficient. So Gui Zhi Tang is used countless times more often than Ma Huang Tang. The true Ma Huang Tang pattern — body burning with high fever, not a drop of sweat, shivering with cold — you might only see that in the deep northeast winter; it’s very rare. Modern people generally sneeze and get a clear runny nose when the wind blows, fear wind and cold, some get headaches or even a little fever — but the obvious sign is sweating at the slightest movement.

What does the surface deficiency pattern look like? — Seize on “sweating at the slightest movement”

The core symptom of the Gui Zhi Tang pattern, the one Doctor Luo keeps stressing, is that word “sweat.”

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Headache, fever, sweating with fear of wind (han chu e feng) — these are the Gui Zhi Tang pattern symptoms. Within them, “sweating” must be grasped firmly — if you sweat at the slightest movement, you know this is surface deficiency. What else? Nasal congestion with a whistling sound, and dry retching (bi ming gan ou) — the nose is blocked, and when air finally gets through it makes a “fsss” sound; that’s nasal congestion. There’s also a nauseous feeling. What about the tongue? It’s usually pale and swollen, with scalloped edges — not a bright red tongue — and covered with a lot of saliva. All of this proves: this person’s yang qi is insufficient, the defensive yang is not secure, ying and wei are out of harmony — and above all, the deficiency is in the defensive qi.

How does Gui Zhi Tang cure the disease? — Harmonize ying and wei, replenish the upright qi

So what do you do? Use Gui Zhi Tang.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Gui Zhi Tang harmonizes the nutritive and defensive qi — it warms the yang and replenishes the qi of ying and wei, changing the state where they are out of harmony back into cooperation. As long as you seize the moment — feeling afraid of wind and cold, sneezing with a clear runny nose, sweating at the slightest movement, nose slightly blocked, pale tongue with scalloped edges and lots of saliva — cold evil has arrived, and you use Gui Zhi Tang. Saying “harmonize ying and wei” is really tonifying the yang qi: gui zhi warms and frees the channels, tonifies yang qi, and restores the wei qi; bai shao gathers the ying qi; zhi gan cao tonifies the middle; sheng jiang and da zao both tonify the middle and regulate the spleen and stomach, while sheng jiang also has a warm sweating action. That’s why the formula is called Gui Zhi Tang.

Doctor Luo’s practical experience: seize the moment, one dose is usually enough

Doctor Luo has his own personal experience using this formula for exterior illnesses — the key is acting at “the very first moment.”

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: In treating exterior-contraction diseases, if you catch these symptoms at the very first moment — sweating at the slightest movement, a bit of fear of wind and cold — then you take Gui Zhi Tang, even in its original form; you can buy the herbs at the pharmacy and prepare it. Basically one dose solves the problem. In everything I’ve encountered, one dose is usually enough; two or three doses happens, but generally once does it. That is the secret of Gui Zhi Tang.

What if it’s inconvenient to have a prescription filled? There’s Gui Zhi Ke Li.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Sometimes in my life it’s inconvenient to have a prescription written — though having the raw herbs at home is even better, they can attract bugs or spoil if kept too long. Gui Zhi Ke Li keeps well, and you can buy it online. When brewing it, I suggest cutting two slices of ginger and breaking open a few red dates (three or five is fine), boiling them in water and using that water to dissolve the granules — the effect is excellent too.

The way to take it matters: a bowl of hot congee, sweat slightly — this is Zhang Zhongjing’s secret

How do you drink Gui Zhi Ke Li? Doctor Luo gives special instructions — hidden inside are the secrets of Zhang Zhongjing’s Gui Zhi Tang.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: First, after drinking the granules, you must eat a bowl of hot congee — a bowl of warm congee is essential. What is this? It’s the secret of Zhang Zhongjing’s Gui Zhi Tang — using congee to boost the stomach qi, so the ying and wei qi have the motive force to start working. This is very important — without the congee, the effect drops a lot.

After the congee, watch the sweat:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: After drinking it, you need to reach slight sweating (wei wei chu han). If you haven’t sweated, take another dose, and keep going until you do. This is different from how we usually take medicine — it’s not a fixed one sachet a day or two sachets a day; it’s drinking continuously until the body reaches a slight sweat. Slight sweating shows the channels are open and ying and wei are united — then you can stop; if not, you drink another large bowl.

But there is a great taboo — never sweat profusely:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Don’t think, “oh, I need to sweat — I’ll gulp hot congee and sweat as hard as I can” — that’s wrong. Zhang Zhongjing said that if you sweat too much, “like water flowing away, the disease will not depart” (han chu ru shui liu li, bing bi bu chu) — if sweat pours down like water, the disease actually cannot be removed. Because your fluids are badly injured and your yang qi is lost instead. So a light sweat over the whole body is the ideal state. And remember after sweating: don’t let the wind blow on you, wrap up in clothes, don’t go outside immediately — rest indoors and recover slowly. That’s all you need.

There are also dietary prohibitions:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Zhang Zhongjing said that while taking this medicine you should avoid raw and cold foods, sticky and slippery foods, meat and noodles, the five pungent vegetables, alcohol and dairy, and foul-smelling things. In my own experience, I don’t think all of these are equally important — but raw and cold foods matter enormously. For the rest, just remember them and eat lightly; don’t eat anything too heavy. Eating big meat dishes or braised pork while on this medicine won’t do — you must protect the spleen and stomach and keep the stomach qi harmonious, so be a little careful with your diet.

Why not start with heat-clearing, toxin-removing medicines? — Yang deficiency and qi deficiency need warming yang

Why does Doctor Luo introduce this formula specially? Because it embodies a principle he has explained again and again — the same evil produces different reactions in different people.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: The same epidemic, the same evil (viruses and bacteria are all external evils), produces different reactions in different places, at different times, in different seasons, in different people. Some people are yang-deficient and qi-deficient; when the cold wind blows outside, it creates the conditions for evil invasion, and the evil enters. At this point it’s yang-qi deficiency meeting cold evil — if you reach immediately for Lian Hua Qing Wen (Lotus Clear Epidemic capsules), antiviral oral liquids, cold sheng shi gao (raw gypsum), or the heat-clearing, toxin-removing Ban Lan Gen (isatis root) — that won’t do. You need to make the body warm up and disperse the cold evil through warming yang. Gui Zhi Tang goes down, the channels open, ying and wei harmonize, the wei qi is replenished, and the evil is pushed straight out — effect is immediate.

Of course, different states call for different formulas:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Some people have a heat pattern — sore throat, high fever, throat pain so severe it feels like being cut with a knife. That kind of heat pattern of course calls for cool medicines — sheng shi gao and the like all come out; you use cool medicines to change that state. Different states, different formulas. For medicines like Gui Zhi Tang and Gui Zhi Ke Li — among today’s patent medicines, warm, yang-strengthening, cold-dispelling medicines are really few. Think about it — Gui Zhi Ke Li isn’t sold in most pharmacies, and people don’t know how good it is. Yet with this thing on hand, 70 to 80 percent of common colds should be controlled at the very beginning — so I think it’s a real pity.

How to tell whether to use it? — Let the tongue decide

How does an ordinary person judge whether they have surface deficiency and can use Gui Zhi Tang? Doctor Luo gives the simplest test:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: It’s the sweating — if your forehead beads with sweat at the slightest movement, you know this person has surface deficiency, and the formula works superbly — immediate effect. But if the tongue is bright red and the person is frozen cold with no sweat, don’t use it — this is different; that’s a heat pattern, and the warm Gui Zhi Tang would backfire. So everyone should learn to distinguish, and keep several kinds of medicines at home — cold, hot, warm and cool, all covered.

Behind this is the principle of Chinese medicine that Doctor Luo always stresses:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Facing different evils, in different body states, under different climate conditions, you need to know how to adjust. Chinese medicine is absolutely not “one formula cures all diseases,” and it’s not possible for everyone to boil one giant pot of the same decoction and all drink it — that was only a method of last resort in the old days when there was no alternative. Conditions are better now, with so many patent medicines available; people should truly apply the thinking of Chinese medicine to epidemic prevention — use Chinese medicines more precisely. Many people love Chinese medicine but don’t understand it deeply enough; chanting “big pot of Chinese medicine is great” actually shows room for improvement. Different states require different formulas.

Can Gui Zhi Tang treat epidemics? — The Shang Han Lun was written for plagues

Someone asks: can Gui Zhi Tang treat epidemics? Doctor Luo’s answer is categorical:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Let me tell you — the Shang Han Lun (Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases), when Zhang Zhongjing wrote it, was written for plagues. So many of his family members died — they died of plague. So Zhang Zhongjing wrote the Shang Han Lun in fury and determination — it is precisely a treatment for epidemic disease. When you meet this pattern, you can use it with confidence. Today I’ve introduced Gui Zhi Ke Li — keep a box at home. Even for an ordinary cold, once you distinguish it and it’s the surface deficiency pattern, one dose basically solves the problem.

Bonus: prepare it yourself — Doctor Luo’s reference dose

Those familiar with classical formulas can also prepare Gui Zhi Tang themselves:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: If you prepare it yourself — gui zhi 20 g, bai shao 20 g, zhi gan cao 10 g, then cut a few slices of fresh ginger yourself and break open a few red dates, and boil it. Don’t drink it all at once — it should make about a small bowl; drink a small bowl first and see whether you sweat, then drink some congee; if no sweat, keep drinking. Once you do sweat, stop. I don’t strictly follow Zhang Zhongjing’s instruction that you should stop drinking after that; I usually catch the next meal — for instance, if I drink it in the morning and sweat slightly, then at noon I add one booster dose, and another in the evening. Basically, for this kind of surface deficiency pattern, one round solves the problem.

Finally, Doctor Luo reminds everyone again: Gui Zhi Ke Li is available online as a patent medicine — it’s just that people don’t know about it.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: This should be a patent medicine every Chinese family keeps at home. Learn about it gradually, understand it gradually. At this time tomorrow, we’ll continue introducing more patent medicines for preventing and treating exterior illnesses.

Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s public-health lecture series on treating exterior-contraction diseases. Gui Zhi Tang originates from Zhang Zhongjing’s Eastern Han-dynasty Shang Han Lun, and later generations of physicians honored it as the “crown of all formulas.”