Got a Fever with Chills and Aches? The Ancient Anti-Plague Formula Ren Shen Bai Du San (Ginseng Toxin-Vanquishing Powder) — Doctor Luo Dalun: Support the Upright Qi, Push the Pathogen Out

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Dear friends, good morning, everyone. Today we continue talking about the epidemic, and about the formula the ancients used to fight plague. So which formula are we talking about today? Ren Shen Bai Du San — Ginseng Toxin-Vanquishing Powder.

Opening: a treasure formula the Song emperor saved up for the common people

Ren Shen Bai Du San is a very famous ancient anti-plague formula. Where does it come from?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Where is it from? It’s from the Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang (the Imperial Grace Formulary), from the Song dynasty. That is to say, it comes from the same book as Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San (Agastache Qi-Correcting Powder), Bu Huan Jin Zheng Qi San, Si Wu Tang (Four Substances Decoction), Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction), and so on — all from this one book, the Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang. In those days, the Song emperor, for the sake of the people’s health, collected formulas from among the folk — people contributed their formulas, and they were gathered into this book, which contains only especially classic formulas.

An officially sanctioned formulary assembled from proven formulas contributed by people all over the country — which is why, in later ages, whenever anyone mentioned a “Ju Fang” (Formulary) formula, it carried special weight.

Ginseng leads the charge: who says you can’t use tonics for externally contracted illness?

Ren Shen Bai Du San was widely used in later ages against plague. For ordinary externally contracted illness it works very well; and in the Ming dynasty, several famous physicians used it to treat plague with great success — Doctor Yu Jiayan was especially skilled with it, which is how it came to be so widely applied.

So what makes up this formula? The core ingredient is ginseng — the “commanding herb” that leads the charge is ginseng. Why ginseng? Doctor Luo says this is exactly where the formula’s cleverness lies:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: We still often hear people say, “Ginseng — you mustn’t use tonics for an externally contracted illness.” These are all very serious prejudices. In fact, this is precisely when we need to support the upright. Why does an external pathogen come to invade you? Because your upright qi is deficient. So what is urgently needed is to use upright qi, to tonify the upright qi — build the upright qi up until it is sufficient, and then the pathogen is pushed right out. That is the urgent task.

With ginseng inside supporting the upright qi, the moment the medicine strikes, the pathogen is pushed out.

Doctor Yu Jiayan’s plain words in the Yu Yi Cao: if the supplies run short, how can the soldiers fight their way out?

On using ginseng for external illness, Doctor Yu Jiayan spoke very clearly in his Yu Yi Cao (Herbs of Hidden Meaning):

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: He said that in shang han (externally contracted) illness, deliberately using ginseng in the prescription — this must be explained clearly. Why? Because the yuan qi (original qi) must be weak. The medicine wants to move outward — the medicinal force is dispersing, driving the pathogen out — but the qi comes from within, and within, the qi is deficient. In a mild case, the pathogen is half out, half in — it wants to leave but can’t get out, and stays inside besieging you. Your yuan qi contracts, and the pathogen follows the contracting yuan qi and comes back inside — so the fever never ends; it goes on and on.

So the reasoning is very clear: for a weak person, for someone whose upright qi is insufficient, treating an externally contracted illness must include ginseng — ginseng, definitely. A small amount of ginseng added to a sweat-inducing, exterior-releasing formula, to give a little help to the yuan qi in driving out the pathogen.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: It’s like battle: the soldiers are the ones charging out, but the supplies must keep coming from behind — the grain and the money have to keep up, or how can you fight? If the grain and money are insufficient, how can the soldiers charge out? No money, and it won’t work. So Doctor Yu Jiayan said that when the pathogen encounters the medicine, the medicinal force gives it a shove and it is pushed out. Why is it pushed out? Because ginseng is in there helping your upright qi.

So Doctor Luo sighs: the ancient physicians understood this correctly. This is absolutely not what so many medicine package inserts say today — “do not use tonics such as ginseng during a cold.” How could it be unusable? It is precisely during an externally contracted illness that it works best.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Think about it — when an external pathogen comes and invades the body, how many people are in robust health with abundant upright qi? Basically, if you’ve been invaded, you have a hole in your defenses — your upright qi is deficient. So ginseng leads the charge; ginseng leads all the other herbs in attacking the pathogen together.

Ten herbs, paired one against another: breaking down Ren Shen Bai Du San

Which herbs does ginseng lead? The formula has ten herbs in all, arranged very neatly — almost every one appears in a pair:

Qiang huo (notopterygium) + du huo (pubescent angelica): qiang huo disperses wind-pathogen in the upper burner; du huo enters the Shaoyin channel, dispelling wind-pathogen from the lower body, entering the kidney channel and clearing lurking wind. In practice both are wind herbs — they dispel wind, scatter pathogen, and move freely through the whole body.
Chai hu (bupleurum) + qian hu (hogfennel root): chai hu disperses heat and lifts the clear, especially clearing and venting pathogens of the Shaoyang type; qian hu descends qi and transforms phlegm, opens the lung qi, and can also scatter pathogen, with a heat-clearing action.
Jie geng (platycodon) + zhi ke (bitter orange): jie geng opens the lung qi and has a detoxifying action — it guides the medicinal force upward, taking the pathogen out through the upper body; zhi ke regulates qi, descending qi and transforming phlegm downward. One up, one down, opening the qi mechanism of the chest — these two regulate qi.
Chuan xiong (Sichuan lovage) + fu ling (poria): chuan xiong moves qi and invigorates blood, opens and connects qi and blood, harmonizes the liver blood and calms the liver; paired with fu ling to drain dampness. One for qi, one for blood, adjusting back and forth.
Gan cao (licorice): harmonizes all the other herbs.
Plus ginseng leading the charge — ten herbs in all.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Look: ginseng, qiang huo and du huo, chai hu and qian hu, jie geng and zhi ke — all in pairs — then chuan xiong and fu ling, plus gan cao: ten herbs in all. Ginseng is the commanding herb leading the charge; the other herbs each do their own job, venting wind-pathogen, cold-pathogen, and damp-pathogen out layer by layer.

The great Jiangnan plague in the Jiajing reign — this formula won a big victory

In ancient times this formula was often used on a large scale against plague.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: In the Jiajing reign, plague swept Jiangnan, and everyone fell ill with exactly the same symptoms — all identical. What to do? They used this formula, adding ginseng, increasing the dose of ginseng — at the time they removed qian hu and du huo — though adding them would have been fine too — and the effect was excellent. In several later Ming-dynasty plagues, this formula worked extremely well.

This is a truly classic formula. Later generations sometimes added jing jie (schizonepeta) and fang feng (saposhnikovia) — both are herbs that disperse wind and scatter pathogen, and adding them works very well too.

How to use it today: six grams of each herb, boiled in water

So how do we use it today?

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: I think if you can get hold of the herbs (many people can’t these days) — if you can, take six to nine grams of each herb; six grams is usually enough. Crush them — preferably soak them first — and boil them in water to drink.

During the Wuhan epidemic a few years ago, this formula was used on some patients:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Some people’s fever broke overnight; some in two or three days — one dose broke the fever, the effect was excellent. This was truly verified back then in Wuhan — this ancient method of treating plague is very effective.

But sadly, for some reason this formula never got promoted, there’s no ready-made patent medicine to be seen, and people can’t get it; supposedly it is produced somewhere, but it never seems to appear. So it is a real pity.

Can’t get the herbs? Jing Fang Granules plus ginseng — the simplified Ren Shen Bai Du San

If you can’t get the herbs, no problem. Doctor Luo teaches a workaround: there is a patent medicine available today called Jing Fang Granules.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Buy this Jing Fang Granules — it contains jing jie (schizonepeta) and fang feng (saposhnikovia) plus the herbs behind them. Then buy ginseng separately — for example, use six grams of ginseng each time. The kind we use now is called white ginseng, also known as sheng shai shen (sun-dried ginseng).

Let’s get ginseng straight while we’re at it: there are two kinds — one is red ginseng, the other is white ginseng (also called sheng shai shen — sun-dried).

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: Generally, for tonifying qi we use white ginseng; red ginseng tonifies both qi and blood. For externally contracted illness, we mostly use white ginseng, the sun-dried kind. Each time, take six grams of sheng shai shen — it comes in slices — boil the slices in water, and use that water to wash down the Jing Fang Granules. That completes a Ren Shen Bai Du San formula — and it even has an extra jing jie and fang feng, which is fine. Finally, eat the ginseng slices left over in the pot.

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: People say, how troublesome — wouldn’t it be better if it were made into granules? I also wish our country’s proven ancient anti-plague formulas were all made into granules, so that when plague strikes, the pharmacies would have them and everyone could buy them. But precisely nobody here is doing that work — that is the great pity; no such preparation has been made. So really, if you need it, you can buy Jing Fang Granules online yourself, add a little ginseng — that’s the Ren Shen Bai Du San, and its fever-reducing, pathogen-expelling effect is also excellent.

What symptoms does it suit best? Cases with a touch of cold pattern work especially well

So what situations is Ren Shen Bai Du San for? Doctor Luo is very specific about the indications:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: It suits an external pathogen, a plague — not the kind with a very red tongue and yellow phlegm. What else? A tongue coating that is a bit whitish, a tongue that is a bit puffy and enlarged, and then you catch an external pathogen — your body feels cold, your body aches, you have a fever — in this state the effect is excellent. That is, cases with a bit of a cold pattern, cases of catching a chill — those are especially good.

More tomorrow

At the end, Doctor Luo reminds everyone to take care in these special times:

💬 Note from Doctor Luo: We talk a little about the plague every day, and I hope it can help everyone. Tomorrow we’ll continue with the plague topic. Dear friends, see you tomorrow!

Compiled from Doctor Luo Dalun’s health lecture series (Ren Shen Bai Du San — ancient anti-plague formula special).

What to take away

Ren Shen Bai Du San is the Song dynasty’s famous anti-plague formula, from the Tai Ping Hui Min He Ji Ju Fang (the Imperial Grace Formulary) — the same government collection of folk formulas that gave us Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San, Bu Huan Jin Zheng Qi San, Si Wu Tang, and Si Jun Zi Tang. An officially curated formulary of proven formulas, it carried special weight in later ages.
The core idea is “ginseng leads the charge.” An external pathogen invades precisely because your upright qi is deficient — so the prejudice that “tonics must not be used during a cold” is exactly backwards. Support the upright qi with ginseng, build it up until it is sufficient, and the pathogen is pushed out. Doctor Yu Jiayan’s plain analogy: the soldiers charge out, but the supplies must keep coming from behind — no grain, no money, and the army cannot fight.
The ten herbs are arranged in pairs. Qiang huo + du huo clear wind from the upper and lower body; chai hu + qian hu, one rising and one descending; jie geng + zhi ke, one above and one below, opening the chest’s qi mechanism; chuan xiong + fu ling, one for qi and one for blood; gan cao harmonizes; ginseng leads. Wind, cold, and damp are vented out layer by layer.
Historical track record: during the Jiajing reign, when plague swept Jiangnan with identical symptoms, increasing the ginseng dose (qian hu and du huo removable) worked superbly — several Ming plagues were fought with this formula. Later physicians often added jing jie and fang feng to disperse wind and pathogen.
Practical use today: six grams of each herb (nine at most), crushed and boiled in water — verified during the Wuhan epidemic, when some fevers broke overnight and some after two or three doses. No herbs? Buy Jing Fang Granules plus six grams of white ginseng (sheng shai shen) per dose — boil the ginseng slices, drink the water with the granules, eat the leftover slices. That is the simplified Ren Shen Bai Du San.
Indications: an external pathogen or plague with a touch of cold pattern — whitish tongue coating, puffy tongue, chills, body aches, fever — the effect is excellent. Not for heat patterns with a very red tongue and yellow phlegm. Regrettably, this proven ancient anti-plague formula was never made into a widely available ready-made medicine.