Textual research on the composition of the Maimendong Decoction in Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath

The Maimendong Decoction from the Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath is a lesser-known classical prescription. According to the existing fine edition (the CHEN Shijie edition), its composition includes six Chinese medicinal herbs: radix ophiopogonis, pinelliae rhizoma, radix ginseng, radix glycyrrhizae, oryzae semen, and fructus jujubae, which is completely identical to Maimendong Decoction in the Synopsis of Golden Chamber. However, the processing method and post-prescription notes for Maimendong Decoction in the extant Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath do not conform to the editorial conventions established by the Song Dynasty editors, indicating that it is not the original form after their revision. Further research reveals possible reasons for this discrepancy: the prescription for Maimendong Decoction in the Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath was already lost by the time CHEN Shijie obtained a handwritten copy in 1712 during the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty. When CHEN Shijie published the Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath, he supplemented it based on the Maimendong Decoction from the DENG Zhen edition of the Synopsis of Golden Chamber. Analysis of the administration method and formula characteristics of the Maimendong Decoction supplemented by CHEN Shijie shows that the supplemented formula does not seem to correspond appropriately to the disease it purportedly treats. Through textual, it is concluded that the composition of Maimendong Decoction in the Classic of the Golden Chamber and Jade Sheath should be consistent with the Maimendong Decoction "for treating relapse due to overexertion" recorded in medical texts such as Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies, Book to Safeguard Life Arranged according to a Classified Pattern, and New Book of Pediatrics. Its composition includes radix ophiopogonis, fructus jujubae, herba lophatheri, radix glycyrrhizae, and oryzae semen. Further analysis combining the original text passage and the formula composition defines its clinical application. It is proposed that this formula is suitable for treating "relapse of cold damage" characterized by external pathogenic heat and internal deficiency of both fluids and qi. Its pattern is primarily marked by fever, accompanied by manifestations such as scant qi and a sense of exhaustion, emaciation, dry mouth, intense thirst, fatigue, reluctance to speak, scanty coating of the tongue, and thin weak pulse.