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Food stagnation can also cause headache, aversion to cold (Ehan), and fever. However, the body does not ache, and the pulse at the Guan position of the right wrist (Guan position of the radial artery on the right hand) is short and slippery, or wiry and slippery, which differs from Taiyang disease (a syndrome caused by pathogenic factors attacking the Taiyang meridian). The patient feels fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, aversion to food odors, and belching. This indicates food stagnation in the Zhongwan (epigastric region). It is appropriate to use acrid-warm herbs for digestion and guiding out stagnation, such as Perilla Herba (Zisu), Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex (Houpo), Immature Bitter Orange (Zhishi), Hawthorn Fruit (Shanzha), Medicated Leaven (Shenqu), and Malt (Maiya). If complicated by wind-cold, there will be bodily stiffness and pain; add Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix (Qianghuo) and Saposhnikoviae Radix (Fangfeng) to disperse it. If the tongue coating is yellow and there is thirst, it indicates internal heat; add Forsythiae Fructus (Lianqiao), Scutellariae Radix (Huangqin), and Raphi Semen (Laifuzi) to clear heat and drain it. If accompanied by severe distending pain, it involves Sha hui (pathogenic miasma); add Pogostemonis Herba (Guanghuogen) and Curcumae Radix (Chuan yujin) to expel the miasma. According to dietary intake and phlegm, these are conditions often concurrent with Shanghan (Cold Damage); clinicians must consider them comprehensively during diagnosis.

Whenever food retention causes distending pain located above the umbilicus in the large abdomen, it remains within the small intestine; digestion and guidance are suitable, but purgation should not be used. If the pain and fullness are at the umbilicus and the lower abdomen, this indicates dry stool accumulated in the large intestine, and purgation may be applied.

Sha xue (Blood Stasis) Shanghan is not due to heat-stasis blood accumulation caused by Shanghan, but rather blood accumulated from previous physical overexertion. This condition does not enter via the Taiyang meridian, so there are no symptoms of aversion to cold or headache. It presents only with fever, thirst, incoherent speech, free urination, black stools, or fixed pain in the chest and hypochondrium. Or, due to blood stagnation affecting the Heart and Spleen, hallucinations such as seeing ghosts may occur. Medications should not be too cooling nor too heating; instead, use Curcumae Radix (Chuan yujin), Panax Notoginseng Radix et Rhizoma (Shen sanqi), raw Hawthorn Fruit (Sheng shanzha), Carthami Flos (Honghua), Angelicae Sinensis Radix (Quan gui), Persicae Semen (Taoren), Corydalis Rhizoma (Yanhusu), Cyperi Rhizoma (Xiangfu), Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma (Danshen), and Lonicerae Japonicae Caulis (Zelan) to harmonize and invigorate the blood. If the tongue is moist and there is no thirst, add Cinnamomi Ramulus (Rougui) to warm; if the tongue is dry and constipation exists, add Rheum Palmatum Radix et Rhizoma processed with wine (Jiu da huang) to promote bowel movement and resolve stasis.

Sha hui pathogens, inhaled through the mouth and nose, spread from the Mo yuan (Membrane Source) to the San jiao (Triple Burner), presenting with headache, aversion to cold, fever, and soreness of bone joints, resembling Shanghan. However, the pulse is deep and fine, or the fingertips are cold, accompanied by abdominal fullness and vomiting/nausea, which differs from Shanghan. Pricking the Shaoshang point (LU11) is indicated; if the blood drawn is dark and stagnant, the diagnosis is confirmed. One must use Curcumae Radix (Chuan yujin), Acori Tatarinowii Rhizoma (Shichangpu), Pogostemonis Herba (Guanghuoxiang), Arecae Semen (Binglang), Magnoliae Officinalis Cortex (Houpo), Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium (Qingpi), and Perillae Folium (Zisu) to expel the turbid pathogens, thereby clearing the Mo yuan and unblocking the San jiao to achieve recovery. Treatment should also concurrently address food stagnation, phlegm, summerheat, and dampness.

Commentary by Shao: The Mo yuan connects externally to the meridines and internally to the zang-fu organs. It is located at the boundary between the exterior and interior. Zhang Xuguxu and Mr. Xue explained in "Regulations on Damp-Heat" that the Mo yuan connects externally to the muscles. It is not only the site where pathogens entering via the mouth and nose reside, but also where damp-heat pathogens in the muscles gather. As it serves as the gateway to the San jiao and is close to the stomach opening, pathogens in the Mo yuan must return to the Spleen and Stomach via the San jiao.