<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<record type="formula" updated="2026-09-18T16:35:27.378762+00:00">
  <source>Bencao Index</source>
  <source-url>https://bencaoindex.com/</source-url>
  <canonical>https://bencaoindex.com/formulas/san-ao-tang/</canonical>
  <licence>Free to use and republish with visible attribution and a link back to the source page. The catalogue is a reference work and is knowingly incomplete; nothing in it is medical advice.</licence>
  <attribution-html>&lt;a href=&quot;https://bencaoindex.com/formulas/san-ao-tang/&quot;&gt;Bencao Index&lt;/a&gt;</attribution-html>
  <names>
    <name type="pinyin">san ao tang</name>
    <name type="english">Three-unbinding Decoction</name>
  </names>
  <category>Release Exterior Cold</category>
  <actions>
    <action>
      <summary>Releases the Exterior</summary>
      <indication>Wind-Cold contracted from outside</indication>
      <indication>Aversion to cold without sweating</indication>
      <indication>Aching head and body, with distending headache</indication>
      <indication>Blocked nose and sneezing</indication>
      <indication>Tongue normal with a thin white coat; pulse superficial or normal</indication>
    </action>
    <action>
      <summary>Spreads Lung Qi</summary>
      <indication>Cough and wheezing with lots of thin, white sputum</indication>
      <indication>Gasping, and a full, distended chest</indication>
      <indication>Hoarse voice</indication>
    </action>
    <action>
      <summary>Modern uses</summary>
      <indication>Common cold</indication>
      <indication>Influenza</indication>
      <indication>Cough</indication>
      <indication>Pertussis</indication>
      <indication>Bronchitis</indication>
      <indication>Pneumonia</indication>
      <indication>Asthma</indication>
      <indication>COPD</indication>
      <indication>Gasping</indication>
      <indication>Hoarseness</indication>
      <indication>Loss of voice</indication>
      <indication>Headache</indication>
      <indication>Arthralgia</indication>
    </action>
  </actions>
  <constituents>
    <herb>ma huang</herb>
    <herb>xing ren</herb>
    <herb>gan cao</herb>
  </constituents>
</record>
