Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang (Clear Summerheat and Augment the Qi Decoction)

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Indications

Western Uses:

• What is Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang used for in modern practice?

  In modern practice this formula is referenced for heat-exhaustion and heat-stroke-type presentations — fever, heavy sweating, thirst, and fatigue following heat exposure — and for depleted, dehydrated states more broadly where Western medicine recognizes fluid loss and exhaustion. Contemporary lab research (see research) has specifically tested it in models of exertional heat stroke.

  These biomedical correlates are offered as a reference to the formula's traditional use, not as a claim that it treats any disease. Any use for a diagnosed condition (including heat stroke, which is a medical emergency) belongs with a qualified practitioner and appropriate medical care.

  Source: traditional-use correlates summarized from Bensky & Barolet, Formulas & Strategies, and the research findings cited below; reference only, not a treatment claim.

Originally Appeared In:

• Warp and Woof of Warm Febrile Diseases (Wen Re Jing Wei)

Notes:

• Is this the same formula as Li Dongyuan's Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang?

  No — the name is shared by two distinct classical formulas, and this record is Wang Mengying's version. Li Dongyuan's Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang, from his Jin-Yuan dynasty text Pi Wei Lun, is a 15-herb formula built around Huang Qi, Ren Shen, Bai Zhu, and Cang Zhu that dries dampness and tonifies Spleen qi for summerheat complicated by dampness and Spleen deficiency (fatigue, loose stools, heaviness). Wang Mengying's version, from Wen Re Jing Wei (1852), is the 10-herb formula in this record: it has no Huang Qi, Bai Zhu, or Cang Zhu, and instead pairs Xi Yang Shen with Xi Gua to clear heat while nourishing yin and generating fluid, without a damp-drying strategy.

  • Choose Wang's version (this formula) when summerheat has injured qi and fluids without significant dampness — dry mouth/tongue, thirst for cold drinks, scanty dark urine.
  • Choose Li Dongyuan's version when summerheat coincides with dampness and Spleen-qi deficiency — heaviness, loose stools, poor appetite, a greasy tongue coating.
  • Relationship to Sheng Mai San: the qi-and-yin-tonifying strategy (ginseng-type herb + Mai Men Dong) echoes Sheng Mai San, but this formula substitutes cooling, heat-clearing herbs (Xi Gua, Huang Lian, Zhi Mu, Dan Zhu Ye) for Sheng Mai San's astringent Wu Wei Zi, making it suited to active heat rather than pure qi-yin deficiency with sweating.

  Source: Bensky & Barolet, Formulas & Strategies (both formulas listed under formulas that relieve summerheat) + Sacred Lotus sources & references confirming this record matches Wang's 10-herb formula, not Li Dongyuan's 15-herb formula.

Clinical Studies & Research:

• Is there modern research on Qing Shu Yi Qi Tang?

  Yes, but it is preclinical — animal and cell studies testing the formula's traditional "clears summerheat" role against heat-related injury, plus one cachexia study using it in combination with another herb. The most directly relevant recent study found the decoction reduced intestinal barrier injury in rats with exertional heat stroke.

  • Exertional heat stroke (preclinical): Qingshu Yiqi decoction significantly reduced hyperthermia and multi-organ injury and protected the intestinal barrier in a rat heat-stroke model, acting via the NF-κB/MLC pathway and gut microbiota changes (PMID 40339554).
  • Cancer cachexia, in combination (preclinical): Qing-Shu-Yi-Qi-Tang combined with Scutellaria baicalensis reduced tumor mass and muscle wasting and improved immune markers in tumor-bearing mice undergoing chemotherapy (PMID 21782419).
  • Heat-stress protection, modified tea-form preparation (preclinical): a "Qingshu Yiqi tea prescription" — a modified formulation, not the classical decoction — reduced oxidative liver/intestinal damage and blunted the heat-shock response in a mouse heat-stress model (PMID 40992336).

  Sources: PubMed 40339554; PubMed 21782419; PubMed 40992336. Research context, not a therapeutic claim; direct clinical trial evidence is not yet established.