Library

(Nature: Hot.)
Caowu (Aconiti Kusnezoffii Radix, 3 liang, stir-fried) Nanxing (Arisaematis Rhizoma, 1 liang, baked) Junjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma Recens, 2 liang, baked) Baizhi (Angelicae Dahuricae Radix, 1 liang, not exposed to fire)
Chishaoyao (Paeoniae Radix Rubra, 1 liang, stir-fried) Rougui (Cinnamomi Cortex, half liang, not exposed to fire)

1. This formula treats Yin Fa Bei (back carbuncle of yin type), Leng Liu Zhu (cold flowing abscess), Gu Zhui Feng (drum-pivotal wind), Jiu Sun Tong (pain from chronic injury), Leng Bi (cold bi-syndrome), Feng Shi (wind-dampness), various Xiang Gang Jiao (Hong Kong foot/athlete's foot), Leng Zhong wu hong chi zhe (cold swelling without redness), Leng Tong bu zhong zhe (cold pain without swelling), Zu Wan Ma (numbness and stiffness of the feet), Fu Ren Leng Xue Feng (cold blood wind in women). It is the primary medicine for treating all yin syndromes. Apply by mixing with hot wine. Detailed usage is as follows:

1. Although miscellaneous diseases manifest on the skin and extremities, their root cause must lie within the Zang-Fu organs. The blood vessels and meridians of the Zang-Fu organs circulate day and night throughout the body, completing cycles repeatedly. When one organ is diseased, it inevitably manifests at points along its meridian pathway, corresponding to the yin-yang distribution of the limbs. These diseases can be cold or hot; hot syndromes are easy to treat, while cold syndromes are difficult. Cold syndromes arise because the primal yang of the Zang-Fu is deficient, allowing wind pathogens to enter during gaps in defense. Blood and qi become unbalanced, lodging from the meridians into the skin. The pulse cannot circulate freely, becoming stagnant and sluggish where blocked; the colder it gets, the more it accumulates and fails to disperse. If incompetent physicians then administer cooling formulas, attacking from both inside and outside, such diseases rarely fail to become critical. Practitioners should observe external symptoms to deduce internal organ involvement, ensuring interior and exterior correspond, leaving no room for error. This formula contains Junjiang and Rougui, which sufficiently warm the blood and generate blood. However, if heat is generated but cannot disperse cold, it may become harmful. Therefore, Caowu and Nanxing are included to break up evil qi, expel wind toxins, invigorate necrotic tissue, relieve bone pain, dissipate nodules, and awaken yang qi. Chishaoyao and Baizhi sufficiently disperse stagnant blood, alleviate pain, and promote flesh regeneration. Combined with wine to enhance drug properties and move qi and blood, even severe cold syndromes will heal. It is like blowing embers back into flame or bringing spring to dead wood. Generally, cold syndromes cause muscle decay and loss of sensation. Painful cases often involve deep bone pain; if not removed, the cold root penetrates the marrow, beyond the reach of ordinary medicines. Only this formula can vigorously expel yin toxins, restore yang, stop bone pain, and treat muscle and skin diseases. Use with caution and do not overdose for optimal results. Modifications are listed below.

1. Fa Bei (back carbuncle) arises from yin, often worsened by mistaken use of cold medicines. Or it may start as yang but turn yin due to cold medicines, resulting in black rot covering the back. Apply Hong Bao Dan (Red Treasure Powder) to the healthy surrounding skin, isolating the center, and apply this formula to the lesion. Within one night, yang returns, and black areas turn red. Once vibrant redness appears, stop this formula and finish treatment with Chong He San (Harmonizing Powder). If ineffective and suppuration is desired, add Nanxing and Caowu to Chong He San. If yang has returned and blackness has turned red, but a central spot remains black and rotting (indicating dead blood), use Puxiao (Natrii Sulfas) and Mingfan (Alumen). Alternatively, use Baixiangding (Stercus Columbae), Shacha (Sand), and Ruxiang (Frankincense), mixed with saliva. Draw a circle at the junction of black and red areas, cover with Chong He San. Remove the medicine the next morning; the black necrotic tissue will naturally separate as if cut by a knife. Clean with medicine to promote granulation and closure.

1. Cold Liu Zhu (flowing abscess) often attaches to bones, presenting as internal hardness that does not resolve, with cold bones and pain, and contracted tendons unable to extend. If lightly incised, there is no pus or blood; only milky clear fluid or stasis may appear. Apply this formula. For slight relief, mix equal parts of Junjiang, Baizhi, Rougui, and Caowu with hot wine and apply. As bone cold dissipates, pain stops, warmth harmonizes, tendons extend, and hardness resolves. In treating Liu Zhu, Mumiezi (Momordicae Fructus, referred to here as "Mu La") is essential as it breaks stagnation and reduces hard swellings excellently. However, do not use too much, as it can neutralize the drug's efficacy, since this syndrome requires warming agents.

1. Gu Zhui Feng (Drum-Pivotal Wind) originates from dampness invasion, residual toxins from Shang Han (cold damage), deteriorated Liu Zhu, or wind-damp deficiency bi. There are three types: First, knees pull together, gait is shaky, with slight swelling of knees and tibiae. Second, at the knee-tibia junction, swelling is large like a pivot, thigh muscles waste away, and skin shrinks wrapping the bone. Third, upper legs swell while lower legs become cold and wasted.
The feet and knees belong to the Liver channel. Wind-cold-damp in the liver meridian obstructs blood flow, causing this condition. Knee cold causes stagnation, freezing circulation. Lower leg blood flows out but not back, leading to wasting and coldness, contracting tendons. Upper leg blood accumulates but does not disperse, leading to swelling, heat, and wasting. If originating from Liu Zhu, condensed meat rots, cold toxins corrupt bone. Once bone corruption occurs, even immortals cannot cure it. Before rupture, muscle is not yet dead. Urgently apply this formula mixed with hot wine to the knee, tibia, and upper leg to stop bone pain and restore yang. Apply Chong He San to the cold lower leg to guide qi and blood, promoting flow without penetrating vessels. Apply this formula to the tibial junction to connect guided vessels and dissipate accumulated yin qi. Internally, use Zhui Feng Wan (Wind-Chasing Pill) with added Ruxiang to relax tendons. Take as directed; recovery is assured. For prescription alternatives, use Wu Ji San (Five Accumulations Powder) plus Jiang (Ginger), Gui (Cinnamon), Zhi (Baizhi), Gui (Danggui), plus Da Chuanwu (Aconitum carmichaelii), Niuxi (Achyranthes), Binglang (Areca seed), Mugua (Chaenomeles), taken with tea or wine.

1. Men and women suffering long-term from cold bi and blood wind, with numb hands and feet or inability to move, can wrap cotton bags containing this medicine around the painful area, securing with silk. This medicine relieves bone pain; attachment to flesh causing an ant-crawling sensation indicates efficacy. For bi syndrome, add Dingpi (Pericarpium Zanthoxyli), Wuzhuyu (Evodiae Fructus), Moyao (Myrrha), and Da Chuanwu in equal parts. Combine with Zhui Feng Wan for simultaneous interior-exterior attack, achieving miraculous results.

1. For unbearable wind-foot pain, internally take Zhui Feng Wan. Externally, apply this formula mixed with raw flour and ginger juice. For immediate relief, add Ruxiang and Moyao, dissolved in wine.

1. Chronic injuries penetrating bone result from falls or crush injuries where blood circulation was not restored, leading to dead blood accumulation resembling chicken lungs attached to ribs, or mild cases showing moss-like rings. In youth, when blood and qi are vigorous, this is unnoticed. In old age, with declining blood, exposure to wind-cold-damp triggers symptoms. Apply this formula with hot wine. Internally, take Sou Sun Xun Tong Wan (Search-Injury-and-Pain Pill) for combined interior-exterior treatment. For those with weak qi and blood, lesions on chest, ribs, waist, or back termed "Tuo Gou" (detached filth) transform into Blood Stasis Labor (Xue Jie Lao), affecting people of all ages, ranging from whole-body to small patches. Treatment is uniform. These are root diseases requiring time to resolve, not cured by one dose. Pre-labor stages are easier to treat than established labor.
Alternative method: Use only Nanxing and Caowu with a little Rougui to remove black rot and pus, called Xiao Yu Long (Little Jade Dragon); this method is highly effective.

1. For Shi Yong (Stone Carbuncle), apply this formula with hot wine externally, while using Hong Bao Dan to bind the perimeter. Wait for suppuration before lancing.

1. Breast carbuncle (Ru Yong) in women often occurs after weaning when milk cannot be reabsorbed, or due to excess milk consumption by infants causing stagnation, irregular menstruation causing retrograde flow, or internal pathogenic depression forming masses. Initially, avoid cooling medicines that freeze the condition. Milk is formed from blood; if not drained, it forms hard knots with cold nature. Cooling medicines cause condensation and stagnation. Over time, external blood fails to transform into milk, leading to hot pain, steaming the knot into pus. The suffering is extreme, ending only when tissue is completely destroyed, resulting in loss of breast function. Since milk is cold and sticky, cooling medicines induce yin decay. Cooling medicines are only suitable after rupture. At onset, mix Nanxing with equal parts ginger juice and wine for hot compress to resolve internally. For rapid effect, add Caowu. This herb is potent, breaking bad masses, expelling cold-heat, dissolving in cold, and suppurating in heat. For established abscesses, switch to Chong He San, optionally adding Caowu and Nanxing. After rupture, determine etiology: cold origin uses Chong He San to conclude; heat origin uses Hong Bao Dan to generate flesh. Use Ruxiang and Moyao to stop pain. Internally, use Gua Lou San (Trichosanthes Powder) adjusted for deficiency/excess, alternating with Tong Shun San (Smooth Flow Powder) and Shi Xuan San (Ten Acupoints Powder). Multiple openings indicate Ru Fa (Breast Eruption); hardness indicates Ru Shi (Breast Stone); swelling at nipple indicates Chui Ru (Blown Breast); under the breast pocket indicates Ru Lou (Breast Fistula), difficult to treat due to hanging flesh and blood congestion. Single opening indicates Ru Yong. No cure for women over fifty. Elderly breast nodes (Ru Jie) on hanging flesh near the brain are treatable.

1. For retained phlegm deviating from pathways causing non-suppurative abscesses, apply this formula to encourage pointing (suppuration). Disease must drain laterally; otherwise, primal yang depletes, constituting a failure syndrome. For depleted yang failure, urgently apply full Yu Long formula to draw out pus. Internally, take Tong Shun San plus Jiegeng (Platycodon), Banxia (Pinellia), Danggui (Angelica sinensis), Rougui. If red, vibrant, and hot, use Danggui Chong He San; never use cooling formulas. This formula draws out toxins and generates pus; stop once disease recedes. Combining with Xian Mai Shen Ji (Sunken Meridian Divine Agent) from Wai Ke Jing Yao is excellent.

1. Du Yong (Abdominal Carbuncle) has a high mortality rate. The stomach belongs to yin, with external cold and internal heat. Qi and blood gather, seeking heat and avoiding cold, often forming internal abscesses that do not manifest externally. Rarely, slight signs appear but are suppressed by cold medicines or cooling formulas, rendering even immortals powerless. Physicians must be cautious. Initial symptom: lower back pain, tender to touch, shifting movement indicates Qi mass; fixed root with slight external redness/swelling indicates internal abscess. Urgently apply this formula to draw out toxins externally, then finish with Chong He San. Internally, take Tong Shun San plus Rendongteng (Lonicera Stem). If abscess naturally externalizes, use only Chong He San; avoid needles/knives. If iron instruments are used preventing closure, apply Yu Long to the head and Chong He San around; it will naturally rupture. If drainage is slow, use Hong Bao Dan (3 parts) and Ginger Juice (7 parts) mixed with tea. Internally, take Shi Xuan Ping Bu Sheng Ji (Ten Acupoints Balanced Tonification and Flesh Generation). Post-stabilization, heavily tonify internally to generate qi and blood; otherwise, swelling recurs. Add Fuzi (Aconite) to internal tonics if qi is weak. For cold syndromes, take Fuzi formula before rupture; after rupture, avoid astringents that close wounds prematurely, fearing toxin retention. Natural closure occurs as drug potency acts. For internal abscesses unable to be drawn out, apply Chong He San externally to warm and mature pus, allowing exit from viscera without tissue decay. Survival depends on medication. Avoid toxic foods. Pregnant women require Zi Su Yin (Perilla Decoction) to calm fetus; avoid other drugs. Near term, fetus and pus pass together; earlier, pus passes via large intestine; early stage, medication alone may resolve it. External abscesses are hot; use Chong He San cautiously based on severity.