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A surgical craftsman named Wei from Nanxiang suffered from wind disease, with no sweat on half of his body, and had relapsed twice. Dai Ren treated him using the three methods (sweating, vomiting, purging), and he recovered soon. Fearing that the patient would seek reward, Dai Ren said, "I dreamed last night of a long-bearded man who acupunctured my left ear; thus I recovered."

A sorceress named Wu, aged forty, had suffered from consumptive disease (Lao) for three years. She was emaciated to an unsightly degree, and many physicians' skills were exhausted. Seeking treatment in the fifth and sixth lunar months, she offered five taels of silver. Dai Ren treated her, and she stabilized within five or six days. He only replied, "Return three taels of silver," and added, "A Daoist priest gave me a talisman; I burned it and swallowed the ashes, and then I healed." There are countless such cases. If the illness recurs, where will they seek treatment? Some even, ashamed of their previous lies, dare not seek medical care again, leading to their own deaths. This is why quacks of the world, when diseases are acute, use rhinoceros horn, pearls, dragon bone, musk, clove, agarwood, wood fragrant bark, and frankincense to exploit the urgent situation and cleverly extract wealth. However, a gentleman possesses universal love; neither the wise nor the foolish should imitate such people.

There is merit in supporting and saving lives; but if death occurs, I bear the guilt of excessive attack. The discerning must examine this carefully. Mr. Ma often heard other physicians say that Dai Ren could treat strange diseases but not common ones; could treat miscellaneous diseases but not Shanghan (Cold Damage). One day, seeing Dai Ren, he asked about Shanghan matters. Dai Ren transcended the literal meaning of Zhang Zhongjing's words, telling me, "Do not be confused by the words on Zhang Zhongjing's paper, which bewitch and kill the common people."

Later, upon re-reading Zhang Zhongjing, I finally understood his intent. Dai Ren said, "People usually avoid times when Shanghan epidemics occur, saying: 'Shanghan has many variations; one must visit morning and evening.' If ten people are sick, it is already impossible to attend to them all, let alone if everyone in the entire commandery is a relative or friend? Life and death often hinge between the sixth and seventh days; if one does not visit slightly later, the condition changes differently. Therefore, other physicians mocked him, claiming he could not treat Shanghan. This was likely because they had never glimpsed its boundaries."

Summary Diagram
Diagram of Zang-Fu Images Corresponding to the Six Positions of Heaven and Earth

External Wind, Cold, Summerheat, and Dampness belong to the Four Commands of Heaven; they are formless.
Internal Hunger, Fullness, Labor, and Rest belong to the Four Commands of Man; they have form.

The first category refers to pathologies formed internally due to qi movement, such as accumulations (Ji), masses (Jia), tumors, goiters, tubercles, mania, confusion, epilepsy, etc. Commentary states: "Ji" refers to hardness and accumulation; "Jia" refers to qi and blood stagnation.

The second category refers to pathologies formed externally due to qi movement... [Text cuts off here]

The third category refers to diseases arising internally not due to qi movement, such as retained fluids, food stagnation, dietary irregularities, fatigue damage, retained food, cholera-like disorders, and emotional conditions like grief, fear, joy, anger, longing, and worry knots.

The fourth category refers to diseases arising externally not due to qi movement, such as miasma, malevolent spirits, insect and snake bites, gu poison, latent corpses, ghost strikes, collisions and fights, falls and trauma, Wind, Cold, Summerheat, Dampness, hacking, shooting, cutting, and stabbing injuries.