Skip to content
Cura x Cura

Qing Ying Tang清营汤

Clear the Nutritive Level Decoction

Clearing Heat 清热剂Clear Ying and Cool Blood 清营凉血

Ingredients9 herbs

犀Shui Niu Jiao犀角水牛角代30g君 ChiefCools the ying and blood and resolves heat toxicity; the modern legal substitute for the rhino horn of the original text
生Sheng Di Huang生地黄15g臣 DeputyCools the blood and replenishes the ying yin the heat has burned
元Xuan Shen元参9g臣 DeputyCools, moistens and resolves toxicity in the ying level
竹Dan Zhu Ye竹叶心3g佐 AssistantClears Heart heat and leads it out through the urine
麦Mai Men Dong麦冬9g臣 DeputyNourishes yin and moistens what the heat has dried
丹Dan Shen丹参6g佐 AssistantCools the blood and moves it, preventing heat from congealing into stasis黄Huang Lian黄连5g佐 AssistantDrains Heart fire directly; omitted when there is no thirst at all
银Jin Yin Hua银花9g佐 AssistantResolves toxicity and, with Lian Qiao, vents ying heat back out to the qi level
连Lian Qiao连翘连心用6g佐 AssistantLight and dispersing — carries heat outward rather than letting it sink

Indications

Clears heat from the ying levelResolves toxicity and cools the bloodNourishes yin and vents heat back to the qi level

Heat entering the ying level: the pathogen has passed beyond the qi level into the nutritive level, harassing the Heart spirit and scorching the ying yin, with rashes just emerging as heat presses on the vessels.

Clinical Manifestations

  • Warm febrile illness with fever worse at night
  • Agitation, fitful sleep, intermittent delirious speech
  • Faint rashes beginning to surface
  • Deep red dry tongue in an acute fever
  • Encephalitis or severe systemic infection managed alongside conventional care
TongueDeep scarlet and dry
PulseThin and rapid

Health Categories

Skin HealthImmune SupportCold & Flu Relief

Modern Applications

EncephalitisSepticaemiaMeningitisScarlet feverHigh fever with rash

Common adjustments

  • Slippery white coating (damp not yet transformed) — do not use — the formula is too rich; transform the damp first
  • Impaired consciousness — combine with an orifice-opening preparation such as An Gong Niu Huang Wan 安宫牛黄丸
  • Rashes fully surfaced and purple — shift toward blood-cooling — add Chi Shao 赤芍 and Mu Dan Pi 牡丹皮
  • Convulsions from heat stirring wind — add Gou Teng 钩藤 and Di Long 地龙

Contraindications

Explicitly not for a moist white tongue coating: that signals unresolved dampness, and the formula's rich cooling herbs would trap it. Not for cold patterns, and not for Spleen deficiency with loose stools.

For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.

Pregnancy

Contraindicated in pregnancy except where a practitioner judges a severe ying-level heat pattern to justify it — the formula is intensely cold and blood-cooling, and requires supervision throughout.

Related Formulas

References

Source Wen Bing Tiao Bian 《温病条辨》 · Qing

「太阴温病，寸脉大，舌绛而干，法当渴，今反不渴者，热在营中也，清营汤去黄连主之。」
— 《温病条辨》(classical source, public domain)
  1. Classical source (public domain), cited in the source-quote section.
    2. Scheid, Bensky, Ellis & Barolet. Chinese Herbal Medicine: Formulas & Strategies, 2nd ed. — composition & dosage cross-checked.
    3. 《方剂学》（全国中医药行业高等教育规划教材）— pattern analysis cross-checked.

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.