A "wen-tong kai-qiao, pi-hui hua-zhuo" (warm and open the orifices, dispel turbidity) formula from the Song-dynasty "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine", the most representative "warm-opening" prescription in the TCM canon, as opposed to the "cool-opening" An Gong Niu Huang Wan.
Cultural reference - how this formula has been discussed in Chinese medical tradition. Not medical advice.
Background & origin
Originally compiled in the Tang-dynasty "Universal Aid Formulary" (《广济方》) of the Kaiyuan era, and re-standardized in the Song-dynasty "Formulary of the Bureau of Medicine" (《太平惠民和剂局方》, 1078). It is the canonical "warm-opening" (温开) formula, contrasted with An Gong Niu Huang Wan as the "cool-opening" (凉开) formula. In Japan, 蘇合香丸 (そごうこうがん / Sogōkō-gan) is sold by Kracie (クラシエ) as the standard OTC "warm-opening" formula for traditional emergency use. The formula is, in short, one of the most culturally reproduced classical "emergency-opening" formulas in East Asia.
From the source text
This page is cultural documentation, not medical advice.
From the source text · 卷一·治诸风·苏合香丸
Classical text
治男子、妇人卒中风痱，昏不知人；或证候属风热痰火，致患诸痹；或小儿惊风，妇人血风，胸腹搅痛；并治山岚瘴疟，吐利霍乱，或卒心痛，积年痛楚，诸多怪证，并皆治之。
Modern Chinese rendering
本方用于男女突发中风偏枯、不省人事；或风热痰火所致的各类痹证；或小儿惊风、妇人血风、胸腹搅痛；并治山岚瘴疟、吐泻霍乱，或突发心痛、积年痛楚、诸多怪证,皆可用之。这一段方论把苏合香丸定位为"诸风痰迷、秽浊蒙窍"的代表方,也是"凉开"三宝(安宫 / 紫雪 / 至宝)之外"温开"一路的经典代表。
Editorial translation
This formula is used for men and women struck by wind-stroke paralysis and loss of consciousness; for the various impediment patterns traced to wind-heat and phlegm-fire; for infantile convulsion, women's "blood-wind", and twisting pain in the chest and abdomen; and for miasmic mists and mountain fevers, vomiting-and-diarrhea cholera, sudden heart pain, chronic stubborn pain, and many other strange patterns — all appropriate to treat. This preface positions Sū Hé Xiāng Wán as the Formulary's representative "warm-opening" (温开) formula for wind-phlegm clouding and turbid-foul blocking the orifices, complementing the three canonical "cool-opening" formulas (Ān Gōng / Zǐ Xuě / Zhì Bǎo) in the "orifice-opening" tradition.
In tradition
In TCM framing, traditionally used in the context of "cold-closure" or "turbid-closure" patterns, sudden loss of consciousness, chest tightness, epigastric coldness and pain, marked nausea, and a pale or purple tongue with a white coating. The formula is the canonical "warm-opening" counterpart of An Gong Niu Huang Wan: the latter is used for "heat-closure" with high fever and red face, while Su He Xiang Wan is used for "cold-closure" with cold limbs and a pale face. In Japan, 蘇合香丸 (Sogōkō-gan) is sold by Kracie (クラシエ) as the standard OTC "warm-opening" formula for sudden chest tightness, suspected "qi stagnation" presentations, and traditional emergency use.
Formula composition
Monarch1
- Liquidambar resin (Sū Hé Xiāng / 苏合香)
Minister2
- Borneol (Bīng Piàn / 冰片)
- Musk (Shè Xiāng / 麝香)
Assistant11
- Frankincense (Rǔ Xiāng / 乳香)
- Aucklandia / Costus (Mù Xiāng / 木香)
- Aquilaria (Chén Xiāng / 沉香)
- Cinnamon bark (Ròu Guì / 肉桂)
- Clove (Dīng Xiāng / 丁香)
- Cyperus (Xiāng Fù / 香附)
- Clerodendrum (Chuān Xiōng / 川芎)
- Pine resin (Sōng Jié / 松节)
- Sandew (Bì Bá / 荜茇)
- Cardamom (Bái Dòu Kòu / 白豆蔻)
- Coptis root (Huáng Lián / 黄连)
Envoy1
- Licorice (Gān Cǎo / 甘草)
International availability
Taiwan & Hong Kong
- 順天堂OTC蘇合香丸Su He Xiang Wan
Cautions & context
- Contains musk (Shè Xiāng) and borneol (Bīng Piàn), strongly contraindicated in TCM pregnancy framing.
- Not appropriate for "heat-closure" presentations (high fever, red face, agitation), the formula is warming in nature; An Gong Niu Huang Wan is the more appropriate choice for those.
- People with what TCM describes as "yin deficiency with fire" (night sweats, dry mouth, heat in the palms) are typically steered toward other formulas.
- Sudden loss of consciousness, severe chest pain, or suspected acute cardiac event, these are medical emergencies requiring immediate evaluation, not within the scope of self-treatment.
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 · stress
Stress & Mood
Everyday tension, low mood, irritability, the sense of being "wound up but tired". The cluster of complaints that brings many Chinese adults to the family 中成药 drawer before they ever see a doctor.
Editorial note
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
"Open the orifices with aromatics, move qi and stop pain. Used for phlegm confounding the heart orifices: phlegm-syncope with loss of consciousness, stroke with hemiplegia, sudden attack by noxious pathogens, and heart-stomach qi pain."
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
- 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. 1, the "treating various winds" (治诸风) section, the entry for Sū Hé Xiāng Wán (苏合香丸), the canonical Song-era systematization of the earlier Tang-dynasty formula attributed to the broader "Guang Ji Fang" (《广济方》) tradition.
- 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 Sū Hé Xiāng Wán analysed as the representative "warm-opening, aromatic, orifice-unblocking" (温开、芳香开窍) formula, complementing the three "cool-opening" formulas (An Gong / Zǐ Xuě / Zhì Bǎo) in the "orifice-opening" (开窍) family.
- 03TextbookDan Bensky, Steven Clavey, Erich Stöger, Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, 3rd edition, Eastland Press, 2004, the standard English-language reference, with the principal aromatic orifice-opening herbs (Styrax / Sū Hé Xiāng, Musk / Shè Xiāng, Borneol / Bīng Piàn) profiled as the canonical ingredients of the "warm-opening" tradition.
- 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 Sū Hé Xiāng Wán, with the "functional indications" reading "芳香开窍，行气止痛" (aromatic orifice-opening, move qi and stop pain), used for the phlegm-repletion pattern of chest pain, summer-damp stagnation, cholera, and so on.