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TCM Pattern · Tag

Yang deficiency (yáng xū)

yáng xū · 阳虚

Last reviewed: June 29, 2026

Coldness and low metabolic warmth — the "furnace won't stay lit" pattern

About this page

This page is a cultural reference, not a diagnostic tool. TCM patterns are tags that explain why certain formulas are discussed together — they do not map 1:1 to Western medical diagnoses.

Background

In TCM, yáng xū describes a state where the body's warming, activating, and transforming force is running low. If qi deficiency is "not enough fuel," yang deficiency is "the furnace won't hold a flame" — not just low energy, but a pervasive sense of cold, especially in the lower body and extremities, along with a tendency toward fluid that should be warming and moving instead pooling or leaking. Jingui Shenqi Wan is the canonical kidney-yang formula; Fuzi Lizhong Wan warms the middle burner (spleen-kidney axis). Both address cold, but from different anatomical and functional angles — one from the "root fire" at the lower burner, the other from the "digestive fire" at the middle. This tag helps a reader see why they share a page despite targeting different concerns.

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Medicines traditionally associated with this pattern

  • Formula · Jīn Guì Shèn Qì Wán

    Golden Cabinet Kidney Qi

    金匮肾气丸

    A "warm and tonify the kidney yang" formula from the Han dynasty, best understood as the six-ingredient Liuwei Dihuang Wan (Six Flavor Rehmanni) with cinnamon and aconite added back in to address the "yang" rather than the "yin" aspect.

  • Formula · Fù Zǐ Lǐ Zhōng Wán

    Aconite Center-Regulating

    附子理中丸

    A "strongly warm the center" variation of the classical Lizhong Wan, the same base formula with aconite added to address pronounced "spleen-kidney yang deficiency" patterns.