What Qing Wei San is for
This small formula is aimed at one region: the redness, oiliness and greasy scaling that settles around the mouth, the nose and the cheeks, along the path of the Stomach channel.
The skin picture is concentrated in the centre of the face. Redness and inflammation sit around the mouth, beside the nose and across the cheeks, with greasy scaling or seborrhoeic patches that return to the same places. Small papules and a hot, tight feeling are common, and the oiliness is often worst in the folds beside the nose. The gums can swell or bleed at the same time, because the same channel supplies them, which is why the face and the mouth so often flare together. The rest of the skin is comparatively quiet.
The herbs are chosen for that channel. Huang Lian clears the Fire at its source in the Stomach, which is what makes the redness settle rather than merely fade. Sheng Ma lifts the action up to the face and the gums, so the clearing arrives where the lesions are. Sheng Di Huang and Mu Dan Pi cool the Blood that carries the heat to the surface, and Dang Gui keeps that Blood moving so the cooling does not leave the tissue stagnant and dull. It is a short, focused course rather than a long one.
The formula is not for every red face. Pale redness from deficiency, where the skin is thin and dry and the colour comes and goes, is the wrong picture, and so is facial pain or toothache from cold, where warming rather than cooling is needed. The distinguishing feature is the quality of the redness: hot, oily and greasy-looking, in the central face, rather than dry and diffuse. Persistent facial redness or gum disease needs medical assessment, because the pattern describes the skin rather than diagnosing what causes it.
Actions
- Clears Stomach Fire
- Cools the Blood
- Relieves inflammation of the face, mouth and gums
- Nourishes and moves Blood so cooling does not cause stasis
Properties
- Taste and temperature: Predominantly bitter and sweet with a pungent lifting note. Bitter clears Heat, sweet protects fluids, the lifting quality brings the action to the face.
- Organs: Stomach, Large Intestine, Heart
- Channels: Stomach, Large Intestine
The pattern behind it
The pattern is Stomach Fire rising along its channel to the face and mouth. The Fire produces the redness, the greasy patches and the gum symptoms, while the Blood carries the heat to the surface. The formula clears the Fire and cools the Blood, which is why it is used for facial and oral heat rather than general skin heat.
Composition
The herbs in Qing Wei San, with their role and dose.
| Role | Herb | Dose | Properties | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King | Huang Lian | 6 to 9 g | Cold, Bitter | Clears Stomach Fire directly, the central action of the formula. |
| Sheng Ma | 3 to 6 g | Slightly cold, Sweet, pungent | Lifts the clearing action to the face and gums and clears Heat there. | |
| Sheng Di Huang | 6 to 12 g | Cold, Sweet, bitter | Cools the Blood and nourishes Yin, addressing the heat carried in the Blood. | |
| Assistant | Mu Dan Pi | 6 to 9 g | Slightly cold, Bitter, pungent | Cools the Blood and moves it, so the cooling does not cause stagnation. |
| Dang Gui | 6 to 9 g | Warm, Sweet, pungent | Nourishes and moves Blood, protecting it while the fire is cleared. |
Patterns it treats
Stomach Fire
Redness, oiliness and greasy scaling concentrated around the mouth, the nose and the cheeks, often with small papules and a hot, tight feeling. The gums can swell or bleed at the same time, because the same channel supplies the face and the mouth.
How the formula is built
One herb clears the fire, one lifts the action to the face, two cool the Blood and one protects it. That is a precise design for a channel-specific problem: the fire is cleared where it is, the blood that carries it is cooled, and the movement of that blood is preserved.
Skin conditions it is used for
Where this formula appears in the skin conditions of the library.
Preparation and use
Taken as a powder in warm water, or decocted, in two divided doses.
Modifications
- If the gums bleed heavily, hemostatic herbs are added.
- If the redness is marked, more Blood-cooling herbs are added.
- If constipation is present, a draining herb is added.
- If the pattern is Wind-Cold, this formula is not used.
Timing
Taken in two divided doses.
Duration
Acute use: three to seven days, reassessed as symptoms resolve, and not intended for long-term use.
Diet while taking it
Avoid alcohol, fried and hot spicy food and excess sugar, which feed Stomach Fire.
Safety
Contraindications
Avoid in Wind-Cold toothache or facial pain, where the pain is from cold rather than fire. Avoid in deficiency patterns without Stomach Fire signs.
Interactions
Berberine from Huang Lian can affect drug metabolism and blood sugar, so coordination with a prescriber is needed.
Pregnancy
Use with caution in pregnancy. Mu Dan Pi has Blood-moving and Blood-cooling properties that may theoretically affect the uterus.
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 persistent facial redness or gum disease 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.
Selected PubMed records
Real PubMed records for the modern, non-TCM discussion of this formula. They are references, not a claim that the formula is proven for any skin condition.
- Using computational pharmacology and experimental verification to decode mechanism of Qing-Wei-San in treating periodontitis.. BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2025. PMID: 40634925.
Origin and history
Lan Shi Mi Cang (兰室秘藏, Secret Record of the Orchid Chamber) by Li Dongyuan, Jin dynasty, 13th century.
Li Dongyuan, who also created formulas for Spleen and Stomach deficiency, wrote this one for the opposite problem: Fire in the Stomach channel. Its focus on the face and gums reflects the channel pathway, and it remains the reference formula for that regional pattern, including the perioral and seborrhoeic skin presentations.
Classical record
Li Dongyuan recorded the powder for Stomach Fire rising to the face and gums, with redness, swelling and bleeding, cleared by cooling the Stomach and the Blood.
Lan Shi Mi Cang (兰室秘藏, Secret Record of the Orchid Chamber), Li Dongyuan, Jin dynasty.
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.
Common questions
Why is it used for facial redness?
Because the Stomach channel runs through the face and gums. Stomach Fire shows there, and the formula clears it specifically.
How do I know it is Stomach Fire?
Strong appetite, bad breath, thirst, gum problems and a red tongue with a yellow coat. Without those, it is a different pattern.
Can it help perioral dermatitis?
Where the Stomach Fire signs are present. Perioral dermatitis also often needs the aggravating products identified.
How long is it taken?
Three to seven days, reassessed as symptoms resolve.