A "bitter-cold fire-draining" formula targeting the head and face, one of the most heavily stocked "fire-draining" OTC pills in Chinese pharmacies, used for short courses of pronounced "upper burner heat".
Cultural reference - how this formula has been discussed in Chinese medical tradition. Not medical advice.
Background & origin
Compiled in the Ming dynasty compendium "Curing All Diseases" (《万病回春》) as a heavy "fire-draining" formula for head and face symptoms. In Japan, Oren-joshinto-adjacent formulas appear in the Kracie and Tsumura OTC lines as remedies for mouth ulcers, sore gums, and red eyes. In Korea it is sold as Hwangryeon-sangcheong-hwan (황련상청환) by Kyungdong. The formula's reliance on rhubarb and borneol makes it noticeably more purgative and "cold" than most Chinese household remedies.
From the source text
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
From the source text · 《万病回春》内·上焦门·黄连上清丸条
Classical text
据《万病回春》：黄连上清丸，治上焦风热，头晕目眩，眼痛齿痛，口舌生疮，咽喉肿痛，耳鸣耳痛，大便秘结，小便短赤。黄连、黄芩、黄柏、栀子、菊花、蔓荆子、薄荷、连翘、大黄、桔梗、甘草。
Modern Chinese rendering
本方用于"上焦风热、肺胃热盛"系列证候：风热上攻所致的头晕目眩、暴发火眼、牙齿疼痛、口舌生疮、咽喉肿痛、耳痛耳鸣；或肺胃热盛所致的便秘尿黄、满面烘热。方以黄连、黄芩、黄柏、栀子"三黄 + 栀子"苦寒清泻三焦实火为君；菊花、蔓荆子、薄荷、连翘疏散上焦风热、清利头目为臣；大黄泻下通便、导热外出为佐；桔梗载药上行、甘草调和诸药为使。整体上，是明代"苦寒直折、火郁发之"思路下"上焦头面清火重剂"代表方，临床用于"上焦实热壅盛"之头面五官急性炎症。
Editorial translation
This formula is used for "upper-burner wind-heat, lung-stomach heat excess" patterns: wind-heat attacking upward causing dizziness, sudden red painful eyes, toothache, mouth and tongue ulcers, sore swollen throat, ear pain and tinnitus; or lung-stomach heat excess causing constipation, dark urine, and a flushed hot face. The Huáng Lián Shàng Qīng Wán uses Huáng Lián, Huáng Qín, Huáng Bǎi, and Zhī Zǐ (the "three yellows + gardenia") as a bitter-cold group to drain triple-burner excess fire as sovereign; Jú Huā, Màn Jīng Zǐ, Bò He, and Lián Qiào disperse upper-burner wind-heat and clear the head and eyes as minister; Dà Huáng purges downward, opens the bowels, and guides heat out as assistant; Jié Gěng carries the medicine upward and Gān Cǎo harmonizes the formula as envoy. It is, in short, the Ming-dynasty representative formula for "bitter-cold direct attack + fire constraint released" of the "upper-burner excess heat congesting" head-face acute-inflammation register.
In tradition
In TCM tradition, associated with pronounced "upper burner heat" patterns: red, swollen, painful eyes; swelling or pain of the gums; mouth ulcers; sore throat; headache; tinnitus; constipation with dark urine; and a sensation of heat across the face. It is one of the strongest "head-and-face fire-clearing" OTC options available without prescription.
Formula composition
Monarch4
- Coptis root (Huáng Lián / 黄连)
- Gardenia fruit, ginger-processed (Zhī Zǐ / 栀子)
- Scutellaria root (Huáng Qín / 黄芩)
- Phellodendron bark, wine-processed (Huáng Bǎi / 黄柏)
Minister7
- Forsythia fruit (Lián Qiào / 连翘)
- Vitex fruit, stir-baked (Màn Jīng Zǐ / 蔓荆子)
- Saposhnikovia root (Fáng Fēng / 防风)
- Schizonepeta spike (Jīng Jiè Suì / 荆芥穗)
- Angelica dahurica root (Bái Zhǐ / 白芷)
- Chrysanthemum flower (Jú Huā / 菊花)
- Mint leaf (Bò He / 薄荷)
Assistant4
- Rhubarb root, wine-processed (Dà Huáng / 大黄)
- Chuanxiong rhizome (Chuān Xiōng / 川芎)
- Gypsum fiber (Shí Gāo / 石膏)
- Inula flower (Xuán Fù Huā / 旋覆花)
Envoy2
- Platycodon root (Jié Gěng / 桔梗)
- Licorice root (Gān Cǎo / 甘草)
International availability
Japan (Kampo)
- KracieクラシエOTC黄連上清丸Ōren-jōsei-gan
Korea (Hanbang)
- Kyungdong경동OTC황련상청환Hwangryeon-sangcheong-hwan
Taiwan & Hong Kong
- 順天堂OTC黃連上清丸Huang Lian Shang Qing Wan
Cautions & context
- A "bitter-cold" formula, long-term daily use is considered inappropriate in TCM framing; it is intended for short courses of clearly "hot" symptoms.
- Contains rhubarb (Dà Huáng), a stimulant laxative. It can cause loose stools or cramping in sensitive individuals.
- People with what TCM describes as "spleen yang deficiency" (loose stools, cold limbs) or "qi deficiency" are typically advised to avoid it.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding people should consult a qualified practitioner before use, rhubarb and borneol have specific contraindications in pregnancy.
Related formulas
Other formulas from this text· "Curing All Diseases"
Other formulas by this contributor· Gong Tingxian
Related concerns
Concern · immune
Immune Support
The everyday language of "wanting to stay well", a sense of being run down, the change of seasons, occasional mouth ulcers, the slow recovery after a cold.
Editorial note
Compiled from "Curing All Diseases" (1587).
Last reviewed: July 18, 2026
Three layers of evidence
Classical source
≈ 400 years · "Curing All Diseases" (1587)
Pharmacopoeia indication
"Clear heat and free the bowels, disperse wind and stop pain. Used for internal heat and excess fire: dizziness and head distension, swollen and painful gums, ulcers of the mouth and tongue, redness and swelling of the throat, ear pain and tinnitus, sudden red eye, dry stool, and dark yellow urine."
Modern research status
As of 2026-07-18, a PubMed search using the formula name and the Latin / Korean / Japanese transliterations together with "systematic review" and "meta-analysis" did not identify a dedicated systematic review for this formula. Any clinical evidence that does exist is fragmented across small individual trials or covered in broad herbal-medicine umbrella reviews, which do not allow a per-formula evidence assessment; the absence of a dedicated SR is itself the relevant editorial fact here.
References
References reviewed on July 18, 2026 · PubMed search on 2026-07-18
- 01ClassicalGōng Tíngxián (龚廷贤), 《万病回春》 (Wàn Bìng Huí Chūn / Curing All Diseases), Ming-dynasty physician, compiled ca. 1587 (Wanli 15th year), the "upper burner" (上焦) section, the entry for Huáng Lián Shàng Qīng Wán (黄连上清丸), the representative "bitter-cold direct attack + fire constraint released" formula of the "upper-burner excess heat congesting" head-face acute-inflammation register; editorial adaptation from the 1587 edition, pending scholarly verification of exact textual wording.
- 02TextbookDuān Fùjīn (段富津) et al. (eds.), 《方剂学》 (Fāngjìxué / Science of Formulas), 2nd edition, Shanghai Scientific and Technical Publishers, 2011, the standard modern university-level formula textbook in mainland China, with Huáng Lián Shàng Qīng Wán analysed in the "heat-clearing formulas" (清热剂) chapter as a representative "upper-burner head-face fire-draining" formula, the canonical entry for the "head-face acute inflammation" register.
- 03TextbookKracie (クラシエ) and Tsumura (ツムラ), Oren-joshin-tō (黄連瀉心湯) and Seijō-fūbō-tō (清上防風湯) prescription family product documentation, Japan's leading Kampo manufacturers, the Japanese Kampo "head-face fire-clearing" prescription families adjacent to the late-Ming 《万病回春》 line, sold in Japanese drugstores for mouth ulcers, gum pain, and red eyes; mirrored in Korean hanbang 황련상청환 (Hwangryeon-sangcheong-hwan) preparations in Kyungdong (경동) product line.
- 04PharmacopoeiaPharmacopoeia Commission of the PRC, 《中华人民共和国药典》 2020 edition, vol. 1 (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Yàodiǎn, Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, 2020 ed., vol. 1), China Medical Science Press, 2020, the official national monograph for Huáng Lián Shàng Qīng Wán (丸 / 水丸), "functional indication" reads "clear heat and free the bowels, disperse wind and stop pain, used for internal heat and excess fire: dizziness and head distension, swollen and painful gums, ulcers of the mouth and tongue, redness and swelling of the throat, ear pain and tinnitus, sudden red eye, dry stool, and dark yellow urine".