Bai Ye Tang柏叶汤
Arborvitae Leaf Decoction
Ingredients3 herbs
Indications
Deficiency-cold of the middle burner failing to hold blood, with bleeding upward. The Spleen and Stomach yang is too weak to govern blood, so it escapes upward and the bleeding recurs without heat signs.
Clinical Manifestations
- Vomiting of blood that will not stop, in a cold pattern
- Coughing of blood with cold limbs and a pale face
- Persistent nosebleed from deficiency-cold
- Chronic upper bleeding with a pale tongue
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Marked qi deficiency and collapse — add Ren Shen 人参 urgently to hold the qi that holds the blood
- Bleeding continuing — add Xian He Cao 仙鹤草 and Bai Ji
- Bleeding below rather than above — use Huang Tu Tang instead — it is built for the lower pattern
- unavailable — omit it; the three remaining herbs are the working formula in modern practice
Contraindications
Not for bleeding from heat, which is the far commoner cause of haematemesis — bright red blood in a flushed, thirsty patient is the opposite pattern and the warm herbs will worsen it. Vomiting of blood is a medical emergency: it needs urgent assessment and often endoscopy, and no decoction substitutes for that. The classical is not used today.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Used only under a practitioner's direction in pregnancy. Ai Ye has a place in pregnancy prescribing at controlled doses, but Gan Jiang is strongly warming and the formula as a whole is not designed for pregnancy. Vomiting or coughing of blood at any stage of pregnancy is an emergency requiring immediate medical assessment. No significant interaction with anticoagulant medication is established, but a patient bleeding on such a drug must be reviewed by the prescriber.
References
Source Jin Gui Yao Lue 《金匮要略》 · Eastern Han
「吐血不止者，柏叶汤主之。」
- Classical source (public domain) — 《金匮要略·惊悸吐衄下血胸满瘀血病脉证治》, Eastern Han, Zhang Zhong-jing.
2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — composition & dosage cross-checked; the omission of 马通汁 in modern use is noted there.
3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）— appended alongside 黄土汤 in 理血剂 · 止血.
Professional reference notice. Entries are scholarly references for licensed TCM practitioners and students — not medical advice, and not a recommendation to self-prescribe. Chinese herbal formulas should be used under the guidance of a qualified practitioner. Content is an original editorial compilation by Cura x Cura, cross-checked against the cited references.