内经云。人之所受气者。谷也。谷之所注者。胃也。胃者。水谷气血之海也。又曰。人
以水
谷为本。故人绝水谷则死。又曰。人受气于谷。谷入于胃。以传于肺。五脏六腑。皆以受气
。又曰。真气者。所受于天。与谷气并而充身也。又曰。谷不入。半日则气衰。一日则气少
矣。又曰。营气之道。纳谷为实。又曰。脾者。仓廪之官。胃者水谷之海。六腑之大源也。
又曰。五脏皆禀气于胃。胃者。五脏之本也。又曰。有胃气则生。无胃气则死。李士材曰
。婴儿既生。一日不再食则饥。七日不食。则肠胃涸绝而死。经云。安谷则昌。绝谷则亡
。
犹兵家之饷道也。饷道一绝。万众立散。胃气一败。百药难施。一有此身。必资谷气。愿饮
食之于人。不綦重欤。岂知近日医流。毋论大人小儿。凡遇发热。不分表里
虚实。便一概禁绝其饮食。而惟扬属为尤甚。至有饿不死伤寒之说。愚夫愚妇。习焉不察
。
至死不悟。嗟乎。胃气者。元气也。饮食者。人之所赖以生者也。人非饮食。何以生乎。且
夫风寒外感。未曾传里之时。其邪在表。里本无病。其人自能食。若表不解。邪传入里。其
人自不能食。方其在表能食之时。医者妄绝其饮食。是先绝其胃气也。胃气一伤。则诸脏无
所禀气而皆伤矣。诸脏之气皆伤。则正不胜邪。正不胜邪。则无以捍御外侮。势必邪气乘虚
内陷。而直入堂奥矣。若曰风寒宜饿。试问仲景先生伤寒论第一条。风伤卫。服桂枝汤后。
令人 热稀粥一升余。以助药力。谷气内充。则邪不能入。且俾胃中阳气鼓动。邪自作汗而
解者。为何说也。况汗生于阴。非饮食无以生阴长阳。所宜禁者。生冷粘滑。肉面五辛。酒
酪
臭恶等物耳。此或因从前病家。不耐甘淡。仍食粘滑肉面之物。医者不免有勿多食之戒。愚
者闻之。错会其说。遂至承认袭谬。贻害至今。杀人无已。在大人或可自知饥甚难支。犹可
追呼索食。在小儿则口不能言。任人布置。势必轻病变重。辗转呻吟。不至饿死不止。伤
心
惨目。莫此为甚。间有愈者。亦必羸弱不堪。致使壮者怯而弱者夭。孙真人云。小儿有病。
宜单乳不哺。足可证今人清饿之谬历览名家所着之书。亦从未有饿之一字。盖人之既长。
全资谷气以为生。婴孺之时。必赖乳饮以为命。吾今与医家病家约。凡于
外感之症。毋论大人小儿。若其能食者。不必禁其食。不能食者。当思所以食之。要之能食
之病。其病必不死。虽弗药可也。不能食之病。除伤食恶食外。医者务求
其所以而治之。俾其能食。则其病亦自愈。有志于生命者。慎毋以习俗相沿。亦蹈饿人之弊
也。吾特于此谆谆而详戒之。
The *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) states: The qi that humans receive from the outside world comes from grains. The organ where grains enter is the Stomach. The Stomach is the sea of water and grains, the source of qi and blood. It also says: Humans take water and grains as their foundation; therefore, if a person cuts off water and grains, they will die. It further states: Humans receive qi from grains. When grains enter the Stomach, they transmit essence to the Lungs, and all five zang organs and six fu organs receive qi from it. It also says: True qi (Zhen Qi) is received from Heaven (innate constitution) and combines with grain qi (acquired nutrition) to fill the body. It also says: If one does not eat, qi becomes weak after half a day, and diminishes after one day. It also says: The way Ying Qi (Nutrient Qi) functions is by accepting grains to become substantial. It also says: The Spleen is the official of granaries; the Stomach is the sea of water and grains, the great source of the six fu organs. It also says: All five zang organs rely on the Stomach for qi. The Stomach is the root of the five zang organs. It also says: With Stomach qi, there is life; without Stomach qi, there is death. Li Shicai said: After an infant is born, if they do not eat twice a day, they will be hungry; if they do not eat for seven days, their intestines and stomach will dry up and cut off, leading to death. The classics say: Being able to accept grains leads to prosperity; cutting off grains leads to demise. This is like the supply line in military strategy: once the supply line is cut, tens of thousands of soldiers will scatter immediately. Once Stomach qi fails, even hundreds of medicines are difficult to apply. Since one has this body, one must rely on grain qi. Is it not extremely important to value food and drink?
Yet, who would know that some modern medical practitioners, regardless of whether the patient is an adult or a child, upon encountering fever, indiscriminately prohibit diet without distinguishing between exterior/interior or deficiency/excess syndromes. This practice is particularly severe in the Yangzhou region. There is even a saying that "one cannot starve to death from Shanghan (Cold Damage)." Ignorant people have grown accustomed to this without scrutiny, remaining unaware until death. Alas! Stomach qi is Yuan Qi (Original Qi); food and drink are what humans rely on to live. How can humans survive without food and drink? Moreover, when Wind-Cold invades externally, before it transmits to the interior, the pathogen remains at the exterior level, and the interior is originally free of disease. The patient can naturally eat. If the exterior syndrome is not resolved and the pathogen transmits inward, the patient naturally loses their appetite. During the time when the pathogen is at the exterior and the patient can still eat, if a doctor erroneously prohibits eating, this is first cutting off the patient's Stomach qi. Once Stomach qi is damaged, all other organs lose their source of qi and are injured. When the qi of all organs is injured, Zheng Qi (Upright Qi) cannot overcome Xie Qi (Pathogenic Qi). If Zheng Qi cannot overcome Xie Qi, there is no ability to defend against external aggression. Consequently, Xie Qi will inevitably sink inward through the deficiency, entering directly into the innermost chambers. If one claims that Wind-Cold should be treated by starvation, let us ask: In Article 1 of Zhang Zhongjing’s *Shanghan Lun* (Treatise on Cold Damage), regarding Wind injuring the Wei (Defensive) layer, after taking Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction), the patient is instructed to drink more than one sheng of hot thin porridge to assist the medicinal power. When grain qi fills the interior, the pathogen cannot enter; furthermore, it stimulates the Yang qi in the Stomach, causing the pathogen to resolve through sweating. Why is this stated? Besides, sweat is generated from Yin fluids; without diet, one cannot generate Yin and nourish Yang. What should truly be prohibited are raw/cold foods, sticky and slippery foods, meat, wheat products, the Five Pungents (garlic, chives, leeks, scallions, Chinese chives/alliums), wine, dairy, and foul-smelling foods. This prohibition may stem from previous cases where patients could not tolerate bland, sweet flavors and continued eating sticky, meat-heavy, or wheat-based foods, prompting doctors to warn "do not eat too much." Fools heard this and misunderstood the meaning, thus perpetuating errors and causing harm to this day, killing countless people. For adults, they can realize extreme hunger and difficulty bearing it, and can still call out to demand food. However, infants and young children cannot speak and are subject to others' arrangements. This inevitably turns mild diseases into severe ones, leading to groaning and suffering, only stopping at starvation. Nothing is more heartbreaking and horrifying than this. Occasionally, those who recover are left extremely emaciated, causing strong individuals to become weak and weak individuals to perish. Sun Simiao said: When children are ill, it is appropriate to feed only breast milk and not supplementary food, which sufficiently proves the error of modern practices involving fasting and emptying the gut. Scanning through books written by renowned masters, the character "starve" (e) never appears. Generally, adults rely entirely on grain qi for survival; infants and toddlers rely on milk and drinks for life. I hereby make an agreement with doctors and families: for all exterior contraction syndromes, regardless of age, if the patient can eat, there is no need to prohibit food; if they cannot eat, one should seek ways to facilitate eating. In summary, diseases where the patient can eat will not be fatal, and medication may not even be necessary. For diseases where the patient cannot eat, excluding cases of food stagnation or aversion to food, the doctor must strive to find the cause and treat it, enabling the patient to eat again, in which case the disease will heal itself. Those dedicated to preserving life must not follow customary habits and fall into the trap of starving patients. I earnestly and detailedly warn against this here.