A New Analysis of the Pharmacomechanism of Da Zao (Jujubae Fructus) Based on the Materia Medica Commentaries of Lu Zhiyi and Zou Run’an

This article elucidates a novel theory of the pharmacomechanism of Da Zao (Jujubae Fructus) developed in the late Ming and mid-Qing Dynasties in the works of prominent scholars Lu Zhiyi and Zou Run’an. This theory is then employed to provide an explanation of Da Zao’s much overlooked action within the formula Ling Gui Gan Zao Tang (Poria, Cinnamon Twig, Licorice and Jujube Decoction), as well as insight into the pathomechanism of the formula’s disease pattern.