🌿 Folk Prescriptions

Viral hepatitis is a global medical challenge, with complex etiology, pathogenesis, and symptoms that vary widely. Its causes are difficult to identify, and treatment is challenging, posing serious threats to human health.
To overcome this issue, after over 30 years of clinical practice, meticulous exploration, and dedicated research, I have developed a relatively complete theoretical system and formulated a highly effective formula, *Chen’s Hepatitis Spirit Capsules*, for treating hepatitis B.
Based on my extensive clinical experience and symptom analysis, I believe hepatitis B falls within the TCM categories of liver depression, flank pain, jaundice, epidemic febrile disease, and accumulation. Main clinical manifestations include fatigue, poor appetite, nausea, epigastric distension, flank pain, and jaundice. Viral hepatitis fundamentally stems from "toxin" as the root, with "stagnation and stasis" as the basic pathogenesis, transmitted via infection. Overall, the etiology lies in damp-heat epidemic toxins invading and trapping the spleen and stomach, causing middle-jiao stagnation. Dampness transforms into heat, consuming body fluids, leading to liver and kidney yin deficiency. Thus, the pathological basis is imbalance among the liver, spleen, and kidney yin-yang, with pathogenic factors obstructing, damp-heat blocking qi and blood stasis.
Treatment principle focuses on detoxification, regulating qi, and resolving stasis, combined with syndrome differentiation based on disease progression. It also integrates enhancing immune function, suppressing viruses, improving hepatic circulation, resisting liver fibrosis, and promoting hepatocyte repair. Therapeutic methods include nourishing the liver, softening the liver, soothing the liver, regulating qi, resolving stasis, reinforcing the body, clearing heat, drying dampness, and detoxifying.
Formula: My self-developed empirical formula, *Chen’s Hepatitis Spirit Capsules*, demonstrates significant efficacy in treating viral hepatitis. It gradually eliminates clinical symptoms and positive laboratory indicators, achieving recovery. It is an excellent TCM remedy for addressing the root cause of hepatitis B virus, bringing substantial social and economic benefits.
Liver Physiology
As recorded: "East generates wind, wind generates wood, wood generates sour, sour generates liver. The liver corresponds to spring, where yang energy activates and yin responds, giving rise to wind. Spring represents wood in the five elements; wood has a sour taste, and humans derive the liver from this." The liver governs ascending and dispersing, regulates blood volume, and its meridians ascend to the brain. When the liver functions normally, it resembles spring trees—flexible, flourishing, full of vitality. The liver has yin essence but yang function ("essence" refers to physical structure, "function" to activity). As the liver stores blood, which is yin, its essence is yin. The liver governs free flow, harbors congenital fire, and is the organ of wind and wood, prone to generating wind and fire. The liver also controls tendons. These functions and pathological states, analyzed from a yin-yang perspective, lean toward motion and heat—yang in nature—thus the saying "liver has yin essence but yang function." The liver is a rigid organ; it enjoys flexibility and freedom, dislikes depression and sudden anger. The "rigid nature" of the liver primarily reflects its qi aspect. When emotionally stimulated, people easily become irritable and angry—this is excessive liver qi. Conversely, insufficient liver qi leads to fear and anxiety. The liver and gallbladder are mutually related; the liver’s rigid function requires the gallbladder’s cooperation to manifest. Tang Rongchuan said: "The liver stores blood. Blood originates from the heart, descends into the uterus—the sea of blood. All bodily blood depends on the sea of blood for regulation. If the sea of blood is undisturbed, all blood throughout the body remains stable. Since the liver meridian governs this part, the liver stores blood." The liver is the organ of blood storage and governs wind and wood. The gallbladder houses congenital fire and is connected to the liver. Thus, the liver and gallbladder clearly involve blood and fire. Blood arises from heart fire, and fire shines through heavenly yang upon wood. Human spirit, mind, blood, and qi remain peaceful, without anger, because the liver wood is not depressed and the gallbladder fire is not excessive. Therefore, regulating blood begins with regulating qi, extinguishing fire especially by harmonizing blood. When blood is affected by pathogenic factors, it becomes scorched and congealed. Thus, smooth blood circulation, remaining latent and inactive, entirely relies on harmonious liver and gallbladder blood and qi. If wood becomes depressed and turns into fire, blood becomes disharmonious; fire erupts as anger, causing blood to surge uncontrollably—upward: hematemesis, epistaxis; downward: hematochezia, hematuria. Tang Rongchuan said: "Liver fire stagnation causes stabbing pain in the chest and flanks," illustrating how blood affected by heat disrupts harmony between liver and gallbladder.
Summarizing the liver’s main functions:
① Regulating Free Flow: "Free flow" means dispersing and facilitating. The liver has the function of dispersing and promoting smoothness. Ancient people likened the liver’s normal function to the gentle, flexible growth of wood. Thus, free flow represents the liver’s harmonious, comfortable physiological state—neither depressed nor hyperactive. The liver’s free-flow function primarily relates to the smoothness of the body’s qi movement. Qi movement refers broadly to the dynamic changes of qi, affecting organ functions. If the liver fails to regulate free flow, qi movement becomes disordered, leading to emotional abnormalities—either depression or hyperactivity. Conversely, emotional disorders can also cause liver qi stagnation and disordered qi movement. Hence, the liver enjoys flexibility and dislikes depression and sudden anger.
② The liver’s free-flow function not only regulates qi movement but also assists in the ascending and descending of spleen and stomach qi and bile secretion. Liver dysfunction impairs digestion and bile secretion, causing indigestion. Liver qi invading the stomach leads to abdominal distension and lack of appetite. Normal liver free flow also facilitates the triple burner and unblocks water passages. Liver dysfunction causes qi stagnation, blood stasis, and blocked meridians, leading to fluid retention and ascites.
③ Liver Stores Blood: The liver has the function of storing blood and regulating blood volume. Liver blood deficiency leads to various disorders. Blood circulation also depends on the liver’s free-flow function. If free flow is impaired, qi stagnation and blockage occur.
Hepatitis B Etiology and Pathogenesis
Viral hepatitis is primarily caused by viruses, transmitted via infection. From an etiological standpoint, it involves both internal and external factors. External factors often stem from exposure to seasonal pathogens, epidemic evils, or improper diet. Internal factors arise from weakened vital energy or emotional injury, leading to yin-yang imbalance and disordered qi movement. Internal and external factors interact causally, making disease progression complex.
1. Invasion by Seasonal Pathogens
Natural climate anomalies—extreme heat, misty fog, dampness, cold-dampness, poor environment, unclean diet, and epidemic toxins—cause the body to absorb external pathogens either from the exterior inward or directly into the interior. These pathogens become trapped, obstructing the middle jiao, impairing spleen and stomach transformation and transportation. This leads to liver dysfunction, disordered qi movement, disrupted ascent and descent, bile overflow, infiltration of skin, upward staining of eyes, downward flow into bladder, resulting in jaundice, yellow eyes, and yellow urine.
2. Damage from Diet and Fatigue
Patients with pre-existing spleen-stomach weakness or deficient vital energy, overwork, post-illness spleen yang damage, impaired fluid metabolism, inadequate postnatal source of nourishment, irregular eating habits, excessive alcohol consumption, or indulgence in rich, fatty foods damage the spleen. Impaired spleen function fails to transform and distribute nutrients, instead generating dampness and turbidity, which accumulates and transforms into heat, scorching the liver and gallbladder, leading to liver yin and blood deficiency or liver dysfunction.
3. Epidemic Febrile Disease
Epidemic febrile disease is neither wind nor cold, neither summer heat nor dampness—it is caused by a unique atmospheric anomaly called "pestilential qi." The transmission route is air and contact through mouth and nose.
4. Liver Qi Stagnation
The liver is the "General Official," governing free flow, favoring flexibility and disliking depression. Emotional depression or sudden anger causes qi stagnation, which transforms into fire. Excessive liver fire leads to gallbladder fire surging, liver fire rising, yang excess disturbing nerves. Fire pathogens easily force fluids outward, deplete body fluids, and deprive tendons of nourishment, causing internal liver wind. Qi is the master of blood, blood is the mother of qi. Qi moves, blood moves; qi stagnates, blood stagnates. If the liver fails to maintain flexibility, prolonged qi stagnation or heavy physical strain damages the flank meridians, leading to impaired blood and qi circulation, blood stasis obstructing the meridians, causing flank pain, abdominal distension, and ascites.
Understanding and Diagnosis of Viral Hepatitis
For viral hepatitis, the etiology centers on "toxin" as the root, with "stagnation and stasis" as the fundamental pathogenesis.
TCM believes acute hepatitis often presents with jaundice, which mostly results from internal damp-heat. Hepatitis A tends to have more heat than dampness, whereas hepatitis B has a longer course and is more stubborn, so dampness predominates over heat. However, acute hepatitis is contagious, so it cannot be explained solely by ordinary damp-heat. It is caused by a unique atmospheric anomaly—thus, the concept of "epidemic toxin" is essential to understanding and revealing the essence of acute hepatitis. Thus, the etiology of acute hepatitis is primarily pathogenic toxin, often of damp-heat nature. Therefore, damp-heat epidemic toxins invade and accumulate in the middle jiao, causing qi and blood stagnation, manifesting as jaundice, flank pain, and liver enlargement.
After the acute phase, although damp-heat symptoms subside, epidemic toxins persist, unresolved, and qi movement remains unsmooth, blood circulation remains stagnant. Over time, qi and blood deficiency leads to liver deficiency, evolving into chronic hepatitis. Chronic hepatitis, a persistent condition, gradually progresses into accumulation, distension, liver fixation, liver failure, and liver cancer.
Due to the scorching effect of pathogenic toxins, coma may occur.
Pathogenesis Transformation in Viral Hepatitis
Overall, damp-heat epidemic toxins are trapped in the spleen and stomach, causing middle-jiao stagnation. Dampness transforms into heat, consuming body fluids, leading to liver and kidney yin deficiency. Thus, the pathological foundation is imbalance among the liver, spleen, and kidney, with pathogenic factors obstructing, damp-heat blocking, and qi-blood stasis. Chronic hepatitis carriers remain in a persistent viral state, often due to deficient vital energy, liver yin insufficiency, combined with internal invasion and lingering of epidemic toxins, consuming qi and blood, leading to spleen-kidney yang deficiency, qi and yin deficiency, liver yang deficiency, and latent epidemic toxins. Thus, liver diseases can be either deficient or excess. Deficient patterns often include liver blood deficiency, liver yin deficiency, and liver yang deficiency. Excess patterns involve surplus qi-fire or invasion by damp-heat pathogens, with internal wind and yang disturbance—these are considered true deficiency with false excess.
Regarding treatment of viral hepatitis, I believe since the etiology centers on "toxin" as the root and "stagnation and stasis" as the basic pathogenesis, treatment naturally focuses on detoxification and regulating qi to resolve stasis—targeting the fundamental disease mechanism. Combined with disease progression, syndrome differentiation, and principal symptoms, treatment proceeds accordingly. Clinically, it also integrates enhancing immune function, boosting immunity to suppress viruses, improving hepatic circulation, resisting liver fibrosis, promoting hepatocyte repair, and improving liver function, ultimately aiming to enhance the body’s immune capacity and eliminate viruses. In summary, TCM treatment of hepatitis B, based on the liver’s function and nature and the pathogenesis of epidemic toxin invasion, follows the principle of nourishing the liver, softening the liver, soothing the liver, regulating qi and resolving stasis, reinforcing the body, clearing heat, drying dampness, and detoxifying.
Syndrome Differentiation and Treatment
1. Epidemic Toxin Invasion:
Symptoms: Pathogenic toxin scorching the body, feverish skin, limb fatigue, chest and flank fullness, apathy, lack of appetite, bitter mouth, dry throat, dizziness, string-like pulse, pale coating.
Treatment: Dispel pathogenic heat from the primitive layer.
Formula: Da Yuan Yin (Origin-Dispersing Decoction)
Formula Explanation: Areca nut and cardamom seed disperse pathogenic heat from the primitive layer; Scutellaria and Anemarrhena clear heat from the upper jiao; Bupleurum soothes Shaoyang and disperses stagnated heat; White peony and licorice relieve tension and pain, and soften the liver; Magnolia bark eliminates distension and removes fullness.
2. Damp-Heat Obstructing the Middle Jiao:
Symptoms: Chest distension, epigastric fullness, nausea, aversion to greasy food, poor appetite, yellowing of skin and eyes, bright yellow complexion, sticky mouth, bitter taste, dark yellow urine, yellow greasy tongue coating, string-like rapid pulse.
Formula: Long Dan Xie Gan Tang (Dragon Liver-Detoxifying Decoction), Yin Chen Hao Tang (Capillary Wormwood Decoction)
Treatment: Clear heat and drain dampness.
Formula Explanation: Gentiana clears damp-heat from the liver and gallbladder—primary herb; Gardenia and Scutellaria clear heat and dry dampness—secondary herbs; Plantain seed, Coix seed, and Herba Lycopodii promote diuresis and remove dampness; Rehmannia and Angelica nourish blood and clear heat; Bupleurum promotes free flow; Licorice harmonizes all herbs; Capillary wormwood clears dampness and reduces jaundice.
3. Liver Qi Stagnation with Spleen Deficiency:
Symptoms: Flank distension and pain, chest tightness and sighing, epigastric fullness and abdominal distension, depression, reduced appetite, bland taste, fatigue, loose stools, pale tongue with tooth marks on edges, thin coating, deep string-like pulse.
Treatment: Soothe the liver, regulate qi, strengthen the spleen.
Formula: Xiao Yao Tang (Free and Easy Wanderer Decoction)
Formula Explanation: Bupleurum soothes the liver and resolves stagnation; White peony and licorice relieve tension and pain and soften the liver; Angelica nourishes blood; Atractylodes and Poria strengthen the spleen and drain dampness; Mint disperses exterior and penetrates the skin.
4. Liver-Kidney Yin Deficiency:
Symptoms: Dull flank pain, worse with exertion, soreness in waist and flanks, dizziness, blurred vision, dry eyes, dry throat, insomnia, vivid dreams, five-palm heat, emaciation, gum bleeding, red tongue with little moisture, fine rapid weak pulse.
Treatment: Nourish the liver and kidneys.
Formula: Yi Guan Jian (Unchanging Decoction)
Formula Explanation: Rehmannia and Goji berries nourish the liver and kidneys; Sandpart and Ophiopogon nourish yin and soften the liver; Cyperus root soothes the liver, regulates qi, and relieves pain.
5. Spleen-Liver-Kidney Yang Deficiency:
Symptoms: Cold stomach preferring warmth, cold limbs, fatigue, lower abdominal and lumbar-sacral pain, poor appetite, loose stools, edema in lower limbs, cold scrotum or impotence, pale swollen tongue with tooth marks, white coating, deep slow or deep slow pulse.
Treatment: Nourish blood, dispel cold, support yang.
Formula: Nuan Gan Jian (Warm Liver Decoction), Dang Gui Si Ni Tang (Four-Reversal Decoction with Angelica)
Formula Explanation: Ginger warms the meridians and dispels cold; Angelica and white peony nourish blood and harmonize the nutritive essence; Cinnamon enters the liver, acts on blood, and promotes vital energy; Aconite warms the kidneys and supports yang.
6. Blood Stasis Blocking Collaterals:
Symptoms: Dull complexion, visible red threads or spider veins, stabbing pain in both flanks, enlarged liver and spleen with hard texture, spider nevi, palmar erythema, dark tongue or ecchymosis, fine wiry pulse.
Treatment: Remove stasis and unblock collaterals.
Formula: Xuan Fu Hua Tang (Spinning Flower Decoction)
Formula Explanation: Rubia root activates blood and unblocks collaterals; Salvia miltiorrhiza resolves stasis and activates blood; Spinning flower soothes the liver, regulates qi, and relieves pain; Green onion promotes circulation and disperses nodules; Honeysuckle, Forsythia, Viola, and Dandelion clear heat, detoxify, and reduce swelling; Angelica and white peony nourish blood and support the liver.
Summary: After over 30 years of clinical practice, careful exploration, and dedicated research, I have developed the self-formulated, highly effective formula *Chen’s Hepatitis Spirit Capsules*.
This formula enables clinical symptoms and positive lab markers to gradually disappear, achieving recovery. It is an excellent TCM remedy for eradicating hepatitis B virus, bringing great social and economic benefits.
Deputy Chief Physician: Chen Hua
Address: Old TCM Clinic, Yanyuan Community, Lu Nan District, Tangshan City, Hebei Province
Phone: 0315—2220343 Home: 0315—2565993