Xing Jun San行军散
Marching Powder
Ingredients8 herbs
Indications
Summerheat with turbid epidemic qiblocking the qi dynamic and beginning to cloud the spirit. The presentation is abrupt and comes on in hot, crowded or unsanitary conditions.
Clinical Manifestations
- Summerheat collapse with dizziness and clouding of the mind
- Sudden vomiting and diarrhoea with abdominal pain in hot weather
- Oppression in the chest with unbearable restlessness
- Mouth and throat ulceration (applied topically)
- Red, swollen, painful eyes (applied topically)
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Consciousness is fully lost, phlegm-heat sealing the orifices — the parent formula Zhi Bao Dan, or An Gong Niu Huang Wan where heat toxin dominates, is the correct step up
- Vomiting and diarrhoea severe with fluid loss — rehydration comes first as a medical matter; herbally the treatment turns to harmonizing the middle and transforming turbidity
- Applied for throat ulceration — a very small amount is insufflated onto the lesion and must not be swallowed — the realgar content makes ingestion of the topical amount unsafe
Contraindications
Contraindicated in collapse patternsand in vomiting or diarrhoea from cold or deficiency. Not for prolonged, repeated or preventive use in any circumstance: realgar is an arsenic mineral and its effects accumulate. It must never be heated or decocted, since heating converts realgar to a far more toxic arsenic oxide. Avoid in known liver or kidney impairment. When used topically, the amount applied is minimal and is not to be swallowed. Do not combine it with other realgar- or cinnabar-containing preparations, and do not take alcohol with it.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Contraindicated in pregnancy. She Xiang musk strongly moves the blood and is a classical abortifacient, and Xiong Huang realgar makes up the bulk of the powder — arsenic crosses the placenta and is toxic to the fetus. Not for use while breastfeeding. Summerheat illness in pregnancy is treated with an entirely different, gentler prescription chosen by the practitioner.
Related Formulas
References
Source 《随息居霍乱论》 · Qing
- Classical source (public domain) — 《随息居重订霍乱论》, Qing dynasty.
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）— listed with the cool-opening formulas as an appended formula (附方).
4. Pharmacopoeial monograph on 雄黄 realgar (arsenic content, prohibition on heating) and CITES Appendix I listing for musk deer.
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.