Chinese Medicine: Starting with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 140: Adapting to the Seasons

The origins of the Four-Ingredient Soup can be traced back to the *Immortal’s Secret Formula for Healing Injuries and Rejuvenation*, recorded in the personal medical notes of Daoist Lin during the Tang Dynasty.

The original text reads: "Four-Ingredient Soup. For severe injuries with blood stasis in the intestines. Take equal parts of white peony, Danggui, Dried Rehmannia Glutinosa, and Chuan Xiong. A single dose is three qian. Decoct in one and a half cups of water until it has reduced to seven-tenths of its volume. Take hot on an empty stomach."

The first official text to include the Four-Ingredient Soup was the *Taiping Hui Min Heji Ju Fang* from the Northern Song Dynasty, which also laid the foundation for the soup to become known as the "Number One Formula for Gynecology."

Blood is one of the vital substances that constitute the human body. Insufficient blood leads to blood deficiency.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is said that "blood is the foundation of a woman’s health," so replenishing and nourishing the blood is especially important for women.

A woman’s physiological cycles—menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and lactation—all rely on and consume blood. This often leaves the body in a state of blood insufficiency, making women prone to symptoms of blood deficiency.

The "blood deficiency" spoken of in traditional Chinese medicine refers to a depletion of blood, leaving the internal organs, meridians, and the body itself deprived of nourishment.

Common symptoms include a pale or sallow complexion; pale lips, tongue, and nails; dizziness and blurred vision; heart palpitations and excessive dreaming; numbness in the hands and feet; and for women, scanty and light-colored menstruation, late periods, or amenorrhea.

Thus, when it comes to a woman’s health and well-being, nourishing the blood is the top priority.

The Four-Ingredient Soup is an important formula in clinical Chinese medicine used to replenish blood and regulate menstruation.

It has the effect of replenishing and regulating blood, making it suitable for cases of blood deficiency and stagnation. Symptoms include heart palpitations, insomnia, dizziness, lackluster lips and nails, irregular menstruation with scanty flow or amenorrhea, abdominal pain around the navel, and a pale tongue.

The Four-Ingredient Soup is also an excellent formula many women keep on hand for conditioning their bodies and for use in medicinal cuisine. In clinical practice, it often serves as a base formula for creating personalized prescriptions, earning it the title "Number One Formula for Gynecology" from physicians.

"While the Four-Ingredient Soup is a common formula, adjustments are necessary to maximize its effectiveness. For example, the herbs need to be adjusted for the different seasons..." Li Xu explained.

"Huh? It’s related to the seasons?"

Wang Ruiying was baffled.

"Of course," Li Xu said.

Health preservation in traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes treatment based on pattern differentiation. This means determining the correct treatment by first identifying the specific pattern of the illness.

TCM also emphasizes "the unity of man and nature." The core idea is that people should live in harmony with nature, adapting to the changing seasons by using different dietary therapies and medicinal cuisines to condition their bodies.

The main purpose of the Four-Ingredient Soup is to regulate menstruation and replenish blood, and it can be used year-round.

However, depending on how the herbs are adjusted and prepared, the therapeutic effects will naturally vary in strength and focus. Therefore, to align with nature and the body’s physiological changes, the herbs and dosage of the Four-Ingredient Soup must be adjusted according to the climate of each season.

In spring, all of life is burgeoning. In terms of the five elements, exuberant Wood can overwhelm Earth. Women often experience symptoms of liver qi stagnation, presenting as an excess of qi but a deficiency of blood. The health focus should be on strengthening the spleen, nourishing the blood, and soothing the liver.

During this time, the Four-Ingredient Soup should be modified to include a higher proportion of Chuan Xiong, and paired with Mountain Yam to strengthen the spleen.

In the summer, the weather is hot, and people are prone to irritability and poor sleep. The health focus should be on nourishing the blood, soothing the liver, and clearing heart-fire. At this time, the amount of Chuan Xiong in the Four-Ingredient Soup should be reduced or removed entirely, and Rehmannia Glutinosa should be replaced with raw rehmannia.

In autumn, the climate is dry, and the body is prone to symptoms like a dry throat and tongue or dry, itchy skin. The health focus should be on nourishing the blood, nourishing yin, and moistening dryness. At this time, the amount of Chuan Xiong and Danggui in the Four-Ingredient Soup should be reduced or removed, and Rehmannia Glutinosa should be replaced with raw rehmannia.

In winter, the weather is cold, and the body’s Yang Qi is heavily consumed. Many women experience symptoms like an aversion to cold and painful periods. The health focus should be on nourishing and replenishing the blood, warming the Yang Qi, and tonifying the kidneys. The proportion of Danggui in the Four-Ingredient Soup can be increased.

Moreover, TCM emphasizes diagnosis based on pattern differentiation, as everyone’s constitution is different.

If you don’t have a blood-deficient constitution, but instead have abundant Yang Qi, a heat-predominant constitution, or internal damp-heat, you should not take the Four-Ingredient Soup or any formulas derived from it.

Taking it will cause symptoms of "internal heat," such as a dry mouth and throat.

This is especially true in southern regions with high humidity. The Rehmannia Glutinosa in the formula is sweet, warm, and cloying. If someone with spleen deficiency and dampness retention takes it, they are very likely to experience abdominal bloating and diarrhea.

Therefore, in clinical practice, raw rehmannia, which is sweet and neutral in nature and tonifies the blood, is often used to replace the cloying Rehmannia Glutinosa.

If there are pathogenic factors in the body, they should be expelled first before tonifying qi and blood.

Therefore, those with yin deficiency and internal heat or those with a damp-heat constitution should not take it. People are also advised to stop taking it while they have a cold or fever.

"Right now, it’s late summer and early autumn, a time that has the damp heat of summer and the dryness of autumn. I’ve adjusted the herbal proportions for you accordingly," Li Xu said.

"..."

Wang Ruiying was completely dumbfounded after listening to Li Xu’s explanation.

’I just bought some herbs online without a second thought... It wasn’t just a question of whether they were real or fake, but whether they were even the right prescription for me. Come to think of it, buying the fake herbs was actually a stroke of luck. Taking them did nothing—no benefits, but no side effects either. But if the herbs had been real, and I’d taken the wrong formula for my condition, I could have actually harmed my body.’

"I’ve prepared five doses for you. Take them for five days, then come back for a follow-up appointment."

Li Xu handed the medicine to Wang Ruiying.

"Okay, okay."

Wang Ruiying took it. "How much is it?"

"It’s thirty per dose, so one-fifty total."

"Thank you, Doctor Li."

Wang Ruiying left with the medicine.

Song Sisi, who had been listening attentively from the side, immediately sidled up to him. "Boss, if I get cramps in the future, can I drink Four-Ingredient Soup too?"

Li Xu glanced at Song Sisi. She had a healthy, rosy complexion and a radiant look, clearly someone whose periods were regular.

"Of course. But since you’re my employee, there’s an even easier way for you."

"What’s that?" Song Sisi’s eyes lit up.

"Have you forgotten? The Sandalwood Fragrance you smelled last time takes effect much faster than drinking medicine," Li Xu said with a smile.

"No, no..." Song Sisi shook her head repeatedly. "Rosewood is too expensive. I’ll just stick to the medicine."

"You’re my employee. Don’t worry about it. It’s a company perk."

...

Wang Ruiying returned home and, following Li Xu’s instructions, placed the herbs in a clay pot and added water to let them soak for half an hour.

The water gradually turned a deep brown, stained by the herbs, and released a rich, medicinal aroma—a world away from the "fake Four-Ingredient Soup" she had bought online.

She carefully controlled the heat, simmering the herbs over a low flame until the decoction was reduced to a single bowl of dark brown liquid.

"So bitter!" She grimaced and downed the entire bowl in one go.

The bitter taste spread from the tip of her tongue to her throat, making her shiver involuntarily.

But strangely, not long after she drank the medicine, a warm current spread from her stomach, like a gentle, warm hand caressing her cramping lower abdomen.

In less than half a day, the pain that had tormented her for the past few days had lessened by more than half.

"It really works!"

Wang Ruiying touched her stomach in pleasant surprise, finding it hard to believe that the painful cramps that had bothered her for days had been so significantly relieved by a single bowl of medicine.

She lay on the bed, feeling a comfort she hadn’t felt in a long time, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, when Wang Ruiying woke up, she found a small patch of dark red blood on her sanitary pad—her period had come.

But unlike before, her flow was noticeably heavier this time. The color had changed from its usual dark red to a bright, fresh red, and there were far fewer of the frightening clots.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror and was surprised to find that her complexion was no longer so pale, and the dark circles under her eyes had also faded a bit.

"Doctor Li is truly a miracle worker..."

she murmured to herself, her admiration for Li Xu growing even deeper.