A traditional "summer-damp" formula, widely carried in Chinese households for travel and the hot, sticky season, typically reached for at the first sign of digestive unease or "summer cold".
Cultural reference - how this formula has been discussed in Chinese medical tradition. Not medical advice.
Background & origin
The original "Huoxiang Zhengqi San" formula is attributed to the Song dynasty "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine" (《太平惠民和剂局方》). The modern 藿香正气水 liquid is one of the most familiar Chinese OTC preparations: small brown glass vials, strong herbal-licorice taste, and a reputation for being carried in handbags and glove compartments across the country.
From the source text
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
From the source text · 卷二·治伤寒·藿香正气散
Classical text
治伤寒头疼，憎寒壮热，上喘咳嗽，五劳七伤，八般风痰，五般膈气，心腹冷痛，反胃呕恶，气泻霍乱，脏腑虚鸣，山岚瘴疟，遍身虚肿，妇人产前产后，血气刺痛，小儿疳伤，并宜治之。
Modern Chinese rendering
本方用于伤寒头痛、畏寒发热、喘咳，以及五劳七伤、诸般风痰、膈气、心腹冷痛、反胃呕逆、霍乱吐泻、脏腑虚鸣、山岚瘴疟、周身浮肿、妇女产前产后血气刺痛、小儿疳积等多种病证。藿香正气散一方能在《局方》"治伤寒"门下列如此宽的适应范围，正是宋代医家把它定位为"外感内伤并治、化湿和胃兼顾"代表方的依据。
Editorial translation
This formula is used for cold disorders with headache, aversion to cold and high fever, panting and cough, the five overstrains and seven damages, the eight forms of wind-phlegm, the five forms of diaphragm-qi, cold pain in the heart and abdomen, regurgitation and retching, qi diarrhea and cholera, hollow rumbling in the zang-fu, miasmic mists and mountain fevers, generalized swelling, women's pre- and post-partum blood-qi prickling pain, and infantile malnutrition damage — all appropriate to address. The unusually broad indication list under the "addressing cold disorders" section of the Formulary is precisely what established Huoxiang Zhengqi San as the Song-era representative of a formula that simultaneously addresses the exterior and the interior, transforming dampness while harmonizing the stomach.
In tradition
In TCM tradition, often associated with patterns described as "external summer-damp" or "internal dampness": traveler's digestive unease, a heavy head, mild diarrhea or loose stools, a sensation of fullness in the chest and abdomen, nausea, mild fever with chills, and a general "off-color" feeling during humid weather. It is also one of the most commonly discussed remedies for what Chinese people call "空调病", the malaise attributed to moving between hot outdoors and cold air-conditioned interiors.
Formula composition
Monarch1
- Agastache / patchouli (Huò Xiāng / 藿香)
Minister1
- Perilla leaf (Zǐ Sū Yè / 紫苏叶)
Assistant7
- White atractylodes (Bái Zhú / 白术)
- Poria (Fú Líng / 茯苓)
- Pinellia (Bàn Xià / 半夏)
- Platycodon (Jié Gěng / 桔梗)
- Cyperus (Xiāng Fù / 香附)
- Citrus peel (Chén Pí / 陈皮)
- Magnolia bark (Hòu Pò / 厚朴)
Envoy3
- Licorice (Gān Cǎo / 甘草)
- Ginger (Shēng Jiāng / 生姜)
- Jujube (Dà Zǎo / 大枣)
In modern life
In modern Chinese life, 藿香正气 is as much a seasonal marker as a sun hat or a thermos of cold tea. It sits in the glove compartment of intercity buses, in the side pocket of suitcases headed for southern China, and in the kitchen cabinet next to the rice cooker, a small brown vial that signals "summer is here". Office workers in Shanghai and Guangzhou discuss it in the same breath as the air-conditioning setting, and family WeChat groups exchange tips on which formulation (liquid, softgel, pill) is easiest to take on a plane. The alcohol-based 藿香正气水 liquid has gradually been joined by alcohol-free 藿香正气口服液 and 藿香正气软胶囊 softgels, the latter marketed explicitly at drivers, children, and those who simply cannot stomach the bitter, spirituous original.
International availability
Japan (Kampo)
- KracieクラシエOTC藿香正気散Kakkō-seiki-san
Korea (Hanbang)
- Kyungdong경동OTC곽향정기산Gwakhyang-junggisan
Taiwan & Hong Kong
- 順天堂OTC藿香正氣散Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San
Common confusions
- 保济丸 (Baoji Wan): a Hong Kong OTC classic with a similar "dampness + travel" reputation, but its composition leans toward digesting food stagnation (hawthorn, malt) rather than resolving exterior summer-damp. Often preferred for overeating on trips; Huoxiang Zhengqi leans toward the weather-induced malaise.
- 十滴水 (Shi Di Shui): also an alcohol-based summer liquid, but its tradition is oriented toward the acute moment of heatstroke collapse, and it is frequently applied externally to the temples or nape. Huoxiang Zhengqi is taken orally and addresses a broader, slower summer-damp pattern.
- 六一散 (Liu Yi San): a two-ingredient powder (talc, licorice) for milder summer-heat with scant urine, used as a beverage stirred into water. Huoxiang Zhengqi is more complex and addresses digestive and exterior symptoms together.
- 藿香正气水 vs 藿香正气口服液 vs 藿香正气软胶囊: same name, different dosage forms: the 水 contains alcohol, the 口服液 is alcohol-free, and the 软胶囊 is a softgel. They share the formula's intent but suit different users (drivers, children, those avoiding alcohol).
Cautions & context
- Contains a meaningful percentage of alcohol in the classic 藿香正气水 liquid form, important to know for children, people avoiding alcohol, those on alcohol-sensitive medications, and Muslim consumers (alcohol-free capsules and pills exist).
- Considered unsuitable during a "wind-heat" type common cold in TCM framing, practitioner guidance is needed to distinguish "wind-cold summer-damp" from "wind-heat".
- Stop use and seek care for high fever, severe abdominal pain, or persistent vomiting.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding people should consult a qualified practitioner before use.
Related formulas
Other formulas from this text· "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine"
Other formulas by this contributor· Imperial Medical Bureau (Song)
Related concerns
Concern · digestion
Digestion
Upper-abdominal heaviness, bloating, sour reflux, loose stools, traveler's stomach, and the aftermath of a meal that was richer, spicier, or larger than usual.
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
We included 藿香正气 first in our summer-season pass because, more than any other formula in this encyclopedia, it lives in the daily vocabulary of contemporary Chinese households, not as a museum piece but as the small vial someone actually reaches for on a sticky July afternoon. While editing, we were struck by how much the formula's identity has shifted across dosage forms: the pungent alcohol liquid carries a nostalgia that the alcohol-free softgel cannot replicate, yet the softgel is what makes the formula usable for drivers and children. We suggest reading this entry alongside our pages on 保济丸 and 六一散 to see how Chinese summer-damp thinking distributes itself across several formulas rather than a single "answer".
Compiled from "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine" (1078).
Last reviewed: July 18, 2026
Three layers of evidence
Classical source
≈ 900 years · "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine" (1078)
Pharmacopoeia indication
"Release the exterior and resolve dampness, regulate qi and harmonize the middle. Used for colds due to external wind-cold, internal injury by dampness, or summer heat-damp: headache and heaviness, chest and diaphragm fullness, epigastric and abdominal distension and pain, vomiting and diarrhea; gastrointestinal cold with the above presentation."
Modern research status
A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis (PMID 29071852, published in Chinese in Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi) of Huoxiang Zhengqi formulas for gastrointestinal-type common cold found improvements in symptom resolution compared with conventional treatment, though the authors noted methodological limitations in the included trials; no English-language dedicated systematic review was identified. [6]
References
References reviewed on July 18, 2026 · PubMed search on 2026-07-18
- 01ClassicalChen Shiwen (陈师文) et al. (eds.), 《太平惠民和剂局方》 (Tài Píng Huì Mín Hé Jì Jú Fāng / Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine), Song dynasty, compiled 1078, vol. 2, the "addressing cold disorders" (治伤寒) section, the entry for Huò Xiāng Zhèng Qì Sǎn (藿香正气散), being the canonical early form of the modern Huoxiang Zhengqi water / softgel / pill dosage family.
- 02TextbookDuan Fuqin (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 Huò Xiāng Zhèng Qì Sǎn analysed as the representative "release the exterior and resolve dampness, regulate qi and harmonize the middle" (解表化湿，理气和中) formula for the external summer-damp pattern.
- 03TextbookZhong Gansheng (钟赣生) et al. (eds.), 《中药学》 (Zhōngyào Xué / Chinese Materia Medica), 4th edition, China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, 2016, the standard modern materia medica reference, with the principal herb Huò Xiāng (广藿香 / Agastache rugosus) profiled in the "aromatic dampness-transforming" (化湿药) chapter.
- 04PharmacopoeiaChinese Pharmacopoeia Commission, 《中华人民共和国药典》 2020 年版一部 (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó Yàodiǎn, Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, 2020 Edition, Vol. I), China Medical Science Press, 2020, the official monograph for 藿香正气水 (and the alcohol-free 藿香正气口服液, 藿香正气软胶囊 dosage-form variants), including the composition and ethanol-content specification, with the "functional indications" reading "解表化湿，理气和中" (release the exterior and resolve dampness, regulate qi and harmonize the middle).
- 05TextbookGao Xuemin (高学敏) et al. (eds.), 《中药学》 (Zhōngyào Xué / Chinese Materia Medica), China Press of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy, 2012, a second modern materia medica reference consulted for the differentiation of dampness-resolving (化湿) herbs in the formula.
- 06