Dec 03 2007
半夏體質
In Chinese medicine school we learned that ban xia is a premier herb for dispersing phlegm, a great medicinal for those kinds of people that were soggy and damp, phlegmy and with the accompanying lethargy that comes from fluids gone rubbery with stagnation.But, none of my books in school made mention of the constitutional type that benefits from this herb.Indeed, while I learned about how people can fall into the roulette wheel slots of the Five Phases, I did not even have a clue that us human beings had a tendency to fall into a certain herb category.Now, us human beings love to divide up the world into categories, and then take those maps and try to make sense of our experience. Are you a wood type? A water person? A year of the Rat Sagittarian? An Enigram number 7, or Meyers-Briggs ENTP? The list goes on and on. And not without merit, so long as we remember that we laying our maps onto reality.Look at any group of people, and it is clear that some of us are more alike and others quite different. I suspect we inhabit groups and types. Whether it is influence or destiny is a question to which I’ve no answer. But, in my recent clinical experience, I am beginning to see that understanding the herb that confirms a person’s constitutional type is useful when selecting formulas to treat them.
I am beginning to understand this.That there are constitutional types who respond well to particular herbs.
As Dr Huang outlines in The Ten Major Formula Families there are a number of different families of which we tend to be a part. Those of the Ban Xia family are a most interesting part of the family tree.Ban xia types, unlike my original concept of a person phlegmy and dull with fatigue, according to Huang these people are lively, vivacious and extremely emotional. They have big, expressive eyes that spark like those of a movie star. Their presence is felt when they enter a room. They tend to be rather photogenic too.And they are sensitive. Very sensitive. Often, they are artists. They make good actors, performers and speakers. They are that kinds of people that are very involved with their own emotions. These are the people that have odd symptoms for which no amount of blood work, CAT scans or X-rays will show a cause. They often experience problems with the throat, and easily get worked up into insomnia.There are some kinds of phlegm that are not substantial. For these people the ban xia based formulas are a tremendous benefit.
5 responses so far
[...] And it helps if you understand something about Ban Xia Constitution, which was talked about here. [...]
Interesting, but nothing at all about fluids, except the tendency to plum-pit qi. Does Dr. Huang ignore the conventional indications of Ban Xia in favor of the constitution, or apply Ban Xia to both?
Carl, you are right. Dr Huang does not talk specifically about fluids. I would not say he ignores conventional indications, but more that he includes “constitution” as part of the picture. In my limited experience of working with him, I would say that people who he would consider to be a “ban xia constitution” usually have issues with phlegm and fluid metabolism.
But, don’t take my work for it. Consider the patients you see in the clinic and see if this way of thinking rings true.
Thanks for the reply. I’m trying to make connections using conventional TCM theory. Do you find this helpful or harmful?
For instance, from what you wrote in the post, a Ban Xian personality would seem to fall more into the category of a Liver qi, slightly firey kind of person. Things like them being emotional, having many strange complaints, lively, and tending towards insomnia all make me think this way.
On the other hand, if the tongue was thick and sticky then the signs would fall more easily into the “insubstantial phlegm” category. Does Dr. Huang, or your experience, say anything about the Ban Xia tongue?
But in the end, you are right, it comes down to what you see clinically. I’ll keep my eyes open!
Great insights, Michael!
This works very nicely with the type of SanJiao theory we were discussing last night. BanXia is classified as a 温散 herb, whose primary action is one of 开通. I conceptualize the middle burner of a BanXia type as being closed, or blocked in a manner that prevents the energy of the shangjiao from properly sinking - like a wall of thick mud, hardened by the sun’s heat on the surface, but still damp beneath.
Energy trapped in the shangjiao, leads to an over-activity of the lung and heart systems in what many may mistake to be a presentation of excessive (liver) heat. It also leads to an overabundance of energy in the outermost layer of the external sanjiao - basically, a person whose energy is trapped in a pattern of constant upward and outward motion. Thus, the artist-type who is very cerebral, overly sensitive, possibly hypochondriatic, and yet very creative in their desire to share some this energy with the outside world, as well as very fashionable and photogenic with a palpable aura in that their consciousness is also focused, to a certain degree, at the surface level. I would guess that constipation and a host of allergies are also common symptoms for these types.
BanXia opens the way through the zhongjiao in formulas such as BanXiaXieXin Tang, which was originally used in the ShangHanLun for treating 心下痞, or a painless sensation of obstruction, together with the rising, outward symptoms of heat and dry heaving. Or, for conditions a few steps lower on the scale of severity, ErChenTang. The next important question, however, is to examine the deficiency of the xiajiao, and if need be address that as well - whether concurrently in the same script, or subsequent scripts. Classical sources tell us that BanXia is both 燥 drying and 润 moistening at the same time! I understand this as a transformative action that in opening the zhongjiao, converting dampness into perfectly healthy water, or kidney essence.
That is a bit more on how I am learning to view energy pattens of individuals and herbs, though far from complete. I think this type of thought combined with your ideas on tizhi really inform each other well - interested to hear your thoughts.