You Gui Wan右归丸
Restore the Right [Kidney] Pill
Ingredients10 herbs
Indications
Kidney yang deficiency with essence and blood depleted: the fire that warms and transforms has failed, and because essence is empty as well, warming alone would have nothing to hold onto.
Clinical Manifestations
- Persistent cold with cold hands and feet, worse in winter
- Aching, weak lower back and knees
- Impotence, seminal emission, low libido
- Dawn diarrhea and undigested food in the stool
- Frequent copious pale urination or incontinence
- Infertility with a cold lower abdomen
Health Categories
Modern Applications
Common adjustments
- Qi exhausted along with yang — add Ren Shen 人参 — the author's first modification
- Loose stools or seminal leakage — add Bu Gu Zhi 补骨脂 and omit Dang Gui 当归, as the original text directs when stools are loose
- Dawn diarrhea that will not stop — add Wu Wei Zi 五味子 and Rou Dou Kou 肉豆蔻
- Poor appetite, nausea or acid reflux from Spleen-Stomach cold — add dry-fried Gan Jiang 干姜
- Lower back and knees aching badly — add He Tao Ren 核桃仁
- Impotence with essence also depleted — add Ba Ji Tian 巴戟天 and Rou Cong Rong 肉苁蓉
Contraindications
Not for yin deficiency with flaring fire — night sweats, heat in the palms and soles, a red tongue with no coating — where the warming herbs make the heat worse; and not for damp-heat or any excess pattern. Fu Zi is toxic unless correctly processed, so only properly prepared Zhi Fu Zi belongs here, whether in a manufactured product or a decoction cooked as directed. The formula is rich and cloying, so someone with weak digestion, a greasy tongue coating or loose stools may need it modified or preceded by Spleen support. Lu Jiao Jiao is an animal-derived gelatin — relevant for vegetarian patients and for anyone checking sourcing.
For licensed practitioners’ reference only — not a self-treatment guide.
Pregnancy
Contraindicated in pregnancy. Fu Zi is a toxic herb that is contraindicated in pregnancy and Rou Gui is strongly hot; neither is appropriate while pregnant, and warming the Kidney during pregnancy is done with other, safer formulas under supervision.
Related Formulas
References
Source Jing Yue Quan Shu 《景岳全书》 · Ming
「治元阳不足，或先天禀衰，或劳伤过度，以致命门火衰，不能生土，而为脾胃虚寒。」
- 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.