少阳从本为相火,太阴从本湿上坐;
厥阴从中火是家,阳明从中湿是我;
太阳少阴标本从,阴阳二气相包裹;
风从火断汗之宜,燥与湿兼下之可。
万病能将火湿分,彻开轩岐无缝锁。
胆与三焦寻火治,肝和包络都无异;
脾肺常将湿处求,胃与大肠同湿治;
恶寒表热小膀温,恶热表寒心肾炽。
十二经,最端的,四经属火四经湿,
四经有热有寒时,攻里解表细消息。
湿同寒,火同热,寒热到头无两说。
六分分来半分寒,寒热中停真浪舌。
休治风,休治燥,治得火时风燥了。
当解表时莫攻里,当攻里时莫解表,
表里如或两可攻,后先内外分多少。
敢谢轩岐万世恩,争奈醯鸡笑天小。
不读本草,焉知药性。专泥药性,决不识病。假饶识病,未必得法。识病得法,工中之甲。
本草名言十八反,半蒌贝蔹芨攻乌,藻戟遂芫俱战草,诸参辛芍叛藜芦。
病如不是当年气,看与何年运气同。只向某年求治法,方知都在《至真》中。
坎一丁三土五中,一七癸九是灾宫,胜复都来十一位,谁知脏腑与宫同。
《灵枢经》云∶人有两,死;而无两,生。阳气前绝,阴气后竭,其人死,身色必青;阴气
前绝,阳气后竭,其人死,身色必赤。故阴竭则身青而冷,阳竭则身赤而温。
Shaoyang (Lesser Yang) follows its root to transform into Ministerial Fire, while Taiyin (Greater Yin) follows its root with Dampness taking precedence;
Jueyin (Terminal Yin) follows its middle Qi, making Fire its home, and Yangming (Greater Yang) follows its middle Qi, making Dampness its attribute;
Taiyang (Greater Yang) and Shaoyin (Lesser Yin) follow both their roots and surfaces, where Yin and Yang Qi wrap around each other;
Wind arises from Fire, so sweating is appropriate; Dryness combined with Dampness can be treated with purgation.
If one can distinguish all diseases by Fire and Dampness, the seamless lock of Huangdi and Qibo’s medical theories will be fully opened.
The Gallbladder and Sanjiao (Triple Burner) should be treated by seeking Fire-clearing methods; the Liver and Pericardium are no different in this regard;
The Spleen and Lung often require treatment focusing on Dampness; the Stomach and Large Intestine are also treated with Dampness-resolving methods;
Aversion to cold with surface heat and warm, scanty urine indicates Bladder involvement; aversion to heat with surface cold and blazing Heart and Kidney heat indicate Heart and Kidney pathology.
Among the twelve meridians, the most definitive classification is: four meridians belong to Fire, four to Dampness.
When these four meridians present with both heat and cold, one must carefully deliberate between attacking the interior and releasing the exterior.
Dampness shares the nature of Cold, and Fire shares the nature of Heat; at the extremes, there is no ambiguity between Cold and Heat.
If six parts are divided, half being Cold, stating that Cold and Heat are balanced is truly redundant talk.
Do not treat Wind directly, do not treat Dryness directly; once Fire is treated, Wind and Dryness will resolve themselves.
When it is time to release the exterior, do not attack the interior; when it is time to attack the interior, do not release the exterior.
If both exterior and interior can be attacked simultaneously, distinguish the degree and sequence based on internal and external factors.
I dare to thank Huangdi and Qibo for their grace over ten thousand generations, yet I am helpless against those like vinegar-jar insects who laugh at the smallness of the sky.
Without reading Bencao (Materia Medica), how can one know drug properties? If one only sticks to drug properties, one certainly cannot recognize disease. Even if one recognizes the disease, one may not obtain the correct method. Recognizing the disease and obtaining the correct method makes one the best among physicians.
Medicines are better when aged; specifically Langdu (Radix Saposhnikoviae, though context implies toxic herbs like Radix Stellerae or similar ancient usage, here translated as Wolf's Root/Toxic Herb generally associated with 'Lang'), Wuzhuyu (Evodia Fruit), Banxia (Pinellia Tuber), Chenpi (Tangerine Peel), Zhishi (Immature Bitter Orange), and Mahuang (Ephedra).
Bencao contains the famous saying on Eighteen Incompatibilities: Banxia, Gualou, Beimu, Bailian, and Baiji attack Wutou; Zao, Ji, Sui, and Yuan combat Gancao; various Shens (Ginsengs), Xixin, and Shaoyao rebel against Lulu.
If a disease does not match the current year's climate pattern, look to which past year's pattern it resembles. Seeking treatment methods from a specific year's pattern reveals that everything lies within the *Zhi Zhen Yao Lun* chapter of the *Suwen*.
Kan corresponds to One, Ding Fire to Three, Earth to Five in the center; One, Seven, Gui, Nine are palaces of disaster; Victory and Repetition together make eleven positions; who knows that Zang-Fu organs correspond to these palaces?
The *Lingshu Jing* states: If a person has two [separated] Yangs, they die; if not two [i.e., unified], they live. If Yang Qi cuts off first and Yin Qi exhausts later, the person dies, and the body color becomes green; if Yin Qi cuts off first and Yang Qi exhausts later, the person dies, and the body color becomes red. Thus, Yin exhaustion leads to a green and cold body, while Yang exhaustion leads to a red and warm body.