The Chinese character for formula is fang. This character means formula, but it also means direction and square.

One of the meanings taken from one of China’s first dictionaries, Shuowen jiezi, refers to fang as being “the shape of two boats tied together.” All of the meanings of this character are relevant in our study and use of herbal formulas. Consider the image of two boats tied together. Their power, their force for moving in a given direction, is combined.

This is the nature of herbal formulas - two (or more) elements are combined and pointed in a given direction to achieve physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.

We can think of this directionality as movement within the body (up, down, in and out), but that is not the only meaning.

Another meaning harkens back to defining fang as square. In the cosmic map of China’s most ancient Shang dynasty, the cosmic map of Earth is portrayed in five quadrants: top, bottom, left, right and centre. The Chinese term for square is thus a synonym for the cardinal directions: north, south, east, west and centre.

Ancient medical masters thus viewed formulas as tightly organized collections of herbs coming together to produce the power of a specific direction: a formula emulating the energetic quality of South, for instance. This can be used to enhance a balanced “Southern” state in a patient: energetic, warm, luscious, abundant and full of light.

The emperor herb is irreplaceable and the “head of state” of the formula. If the emperor herb of the formula is changed, it becomes a different formula altogether.

The emperor determines the entire direction of the formula. All the other members of the formula are working from the basic functional direction set by the emperor herb.

The minister herb is second in power behind the emperor. While you could, in theory, change the minister of a formula and still retain most of the important characteristics of that formula, the full depth of power of a Classical formula involves the function of all of the positions - particularly the minister. Minister herbs are often used to complement the emperor in the major function of the formula.

The assistant herbs are narrower in scope than either emperor or minister. An assistant may, like the minister, be similar in character to the emperor, but they can also address secondary or tertiary complaints not already addressed by the emperor or minister. Assistant herbs help the formulas have a wider scope and more potent effect, while avoiding alchemical instability and uncomfortable side effects.

The servant herbs, while the lowest in terms of hierarchy, serve the most critical function in the formula. These herbs detoxify the formula and harmonize both taste and opposite actions in a combination. Servants are the people who get all of the dirtiest work done, keeping the household running properly and caring for the needs of the rest of the members. In this way, the work of the group is able to move on harmoniously. Servant herbs humbly guide the formula to particular channels, organs, or layers of the body. In this way, the servant exerts a powerful effect over the direction of the formula as a whole.

The nature of the spiritual healing journey is that the traveler must remove all blocks that create division in the path between the heart and the mind.

The acknowledgement of spirit in illness and healing is an important concept in Chinese medicine. The fundamental concept of a spirit block is that a patient’s progression in healing is limited by some clouded aspect of spirit; heart and mind are not aligned.

Oftentimes, the first step in treatment planning is to clear imbalances that prevent long-term healing. For example, if a patient is bleeding, the first therapeutic measure is to prevent the loss of blood. On a psychospiritual level however, the first step must be to take that patient out of shock, so that meaningful healing on all levels of being can be achieved.

Treating spirit blocks with herbs assists the patients’ return to their spiritual purpose in life. This upper level style of medicine restores the patient’s experience of authentic self and realigns the mind with the heart’s true desires, which can provide an important motivation for choosing actions and attitudes that assist in physical-emotional healing thereafter.

The nature of the structural healing journey is that the traveler must remove all pathological factors that create chaos and disharmony within the physical-emotional body.

Phlegm, dampness, heat, cold, internal wind, stagnant qi and congealed blood are the pathogenic factors that cause dysfunctional health patterns and emotional disorders. The identification and treatment of these pathological factors is key in restoring healthy organ and tissue function, as well as balancing emotional wellbeing. For example, too much heat can leave us feeling feverish, hot-headed and hot-tempered, while too much cold may leave us feeling icy, withdrawn and closed off. Too much dampness might make us feel weighed down, tired and sluggish, while dryness leaves us feeling unsatisfied, thirsting for life.

In modern times, the majority of patients seeking treatment with Chinese medicine are struggling with a chronic disease process that involves both physical and emotional symptomology. Treatment planning and formula prescriptions revolve around identifying which pathogenic factors are involved in symptomology, and how these interfere with the patient’s constitutional health baseline.