Ji Sheng Shen Qi Wan

What Ji Sheng Shen Qi Wan is for

This is the eight-herb Kidney Qi pill with two draining herbs added, used where cold, pale puffiness has gathered under the skin. The base warms and nourishes the Kidney, while the additions move the fluid that has collected because the Yang is too weak to drive it. The change on the skin is slow, and the formula is taken over weeks rather than days.

The skin looks waterlogged: pale, cool and puffy, most often around the face and the legs, with a soft doughy feel under the fingers and a shine where the fluid has stretched it. Pressing leaves a shallow dent that fills slowly. The tissue is cold rather than hot, and there is no redness, no heat and no weeping. The pattern is a weak Kidney Yang that no longer drives water metabolism, so fluid collects instead of moving and the skin shows that stillness.

Fu Zi and Rou Gui warm the Yang that drives the fluid, and Shu Di Huang, Shan Zhu Yu and Shan Yao give that warmth a nourished base, so the Kidney is supported rather than pushed. Fu Ling, Ze Xie and Mu Dan Pi drain the fluid and keep the warming herbs from becoming too drying, while Niu Xi draws the action into the lower body and Che Qian Zi gives the collected water a route out. The skin softens as the fluid moves, which is why the change is gradual rather than immediate.

This is a slow formula for chronic cold puffiness on a deficient base, not a diuretic for sudden swelling. Where the skin is red, hot or tight, or where swelling appeared overnight on one side, the pattern is different and needs medical assessment first. It is also not for Yin deficiency with heat, which would show as dry, flushed, thin skin rather than pale and waterlogged tissue.

Actions

• Warms Kidney Yang
• Drains Dampness and reduces swelling
• Strengthens the lower back and legs
• Supports normal urination

Properties

• Taste and temperature: Predominantly sweet and pungent with a bland note. Sweet tonifies the Kidney, pungent and hot warm the Yang, bland drains the fluid.
• Organs: Kidney, Spleen, Bladder
• Channels: Kidney, Spleen, Bladder

The pattern behind it

The pattern is Kidney Yang deficiency with fluid retention. The Yang drives water metabolism, and when it is weak fluid accumulates while the body feels cold. The formula warms the Kidney and drains the fluid, which is why it is used for cold swelling rather than for hot or acute oedema.

Composition

The herbs in Ji Sheng Shen Qi Wan, with their role and dose.

Patterns it treats

How the formula is built

The formula warms, nourishes and drains. The warming and nourishing herbs restore the Kidney's ability to transform water, while Fu Ling, Ze Xie and Che Qian Zi give the accumulated fluid a route out. That combination is why it is used for cold swelling with deficiency rather than for simple fluid retention.

Skin conditions it is used for

Where this formula appears in the skin conditions of the library.

Preparation and use

Taken as prepared pills, two to three times a day, under professional supervision.

Modifications

• If the swelling is marked, the draining herbs are increased.
• If the Cold is severe, the warming herbs are increased carefully.
• If the Kidney deficiency dominates, the tonics are increased.
• If Heat signs appear, the warming is reduced.

Timing

Taken two to three times a day.

Duration

Four to eight weeks per course, then reassessed; not intended for unsupervised long-term use.

Diet while taking it

Warm food, reduced salt, and no cold drinks.

Safety

Interactions

Fu Zi can affect heart rhythm and interacts with cardiac medication; the draining herbs can add to diuretics. This formula requires a practitioner.

Pregnancy

Use only under direct professional supervision because the formula contains Fu Zi.

Breastfeeding

Use only under professional guidance.

Children

Used only with professional supervision.

Before you use it

Recorded from the classical record and rewritten in this project's own words. Educational only: not a prescription, and new, one-sided or progressive swelling needs medical assessment.

General safety references

General references for herbal hepatotoxicity and herb-drug interactions; they are not specific to this formula.

• Review article: Herbal hepatotoxicity - an update on traditional Chinese medicine preparations. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 2014. PMID: 24844799.
• Interactions between herbal medicines and prescribed drugs: an updated systematic review. Drugs, 2009. PMID: 19719333.
• Warfarin and food, herbal or dietary supplement interactions: a systematic review. British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, 2021. PMID: 32478963.

Origin and history

Ji Sheng Fang (济生方, Formulas to Aid the Living) by Yan Yonghe, Song dynasty, 1253, as a modification of the eight-herb Kidney Qi pill.

Yan Yonghe added two draining herbs to the classical eight-herb Kidney Qi pill in the 13th century, creating a formula that both warms the Kidney and reduces the swelling that its weakness has caused. That dual action made it a standard for chronic cold oedema.

Classical record

Related formulas

Evidence note

No controlled trial of this treatment in skin conditions was identified for this entry. What is described here rests on the classical and later materia medica record and on traditional clinical use, not on controlled trial evidence, and it is not a prediction of benefit. Where skin-specific research does exist it is linked above.