Source: Discussion of Cold Damage (c. 220)

Indication: Exterior Wind-Cold, Ying + Wei Disharmony

Symptoms: fever + chills unrelieved by sweating, headache, aversion to wind, stiff neck, nasal congestion, dry heaves, no particular thirst, dislike of wind

Tongue: thin, white, moist; Pulse: floating, lax

Gui Zhi Tang releases the exterior and muscle layer, and harmonizes the Ying and the Wei.

Predominantly sweet (27 g) to nourish the ying qi, yin, blood, and middle jiao, Gui Zhi Tang is also acrid (18 g) to release the externally-contracted wind-cold from the muscle layer.