Ten Agents / Shi Ji
Updated 2026-08-02
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The ten agents (shi ji) is a classical classification of Chinese materia medica by therapeutic action rather than by source or chemistry. The ten categories are diffusing, dredging, tonifying, purging, lightening, heavying, lubricating, astringing, drying, and moistening. Each names a vector of intervention rather than a specific drug, so the same herb may serve different roles depending on the pattern. The scheme comes from classical formulary literature and functions as a tactical vocabulary: once the pattern's deviation is named, the matching category is selected and several categories are combined within one formula.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Tactical deck: Name the deviation first, then pick the category that opposes it, so the remedy follows the diagnosis. - Opposing vectors: Read a formula as several opposed actions balanced against each other rather than as one effect. - Single-agent warning: Check whether one category used alone has overshot and created a new imbalance.
Anchor fast decisions
A pattern is a deviation in one direction, and a remedy works by pushing in the opposite direction. Classifying drugs by the direction they push rather than by what they contain lets a practitioner reason about a formula as a set of balanced forces: diffusing clears what is congested, purging opens what is closed, astringing holds what is escaping. Because pushing too hard creates the opposite problem, the categories are designed to be combined, and the balance between them is the actual therapeutic decision.
MINIMUM ACTION
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- baike.baidu.comhttps://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%8D%81%E5%89%82/5933023verified
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