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The *Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) states: The three months of spring are called "Fa Chen" (pushing out the old to bring forth the new). Heaven and Earth generate together, and all things flourish. One should sleep late and rise early, walk broadly in the courtyard, let down one's hair and relax the body, so as to allow the will to be vibrant and alive; one should nurture life rather than kill, give rather than take, reward rather than punish. This is the response to the Qi of Spring and the way to nourish life. To violate this will injure the Liver, leading to cold transformations in summer, and there will be less energy to support the growth phase. According to general principles, in spring, the Qi of Heaven rises, and human Qi also rises; thus, one should respond accordingly. Therefore, for various ailments in spring, methods such as emesis (吐), dispersion (发散), and elevation (升提) are suitable, while descending (降下) and purging/draining (通利) methods are not. Emesis is essentially the ancient "Xuan" (宣 - dispersing/ventilating) formula; it is a mistake for modern people to consider "Xuan" as "Xie" (泻 - purging/downward draining).

In spring, the Wood Qi of the Gallbladder and Liver is active. When Wood is excessive, Earth becomes deficient. Thus, the Earth Qi of the Spleen and Stomach is prone to pathogenic invasion. Treatment should primarily focus on suppressing Liver Qi and tonifying Spleen Qi, assisted by formulas that clearing Lung heat and nourishing the Heart. Treatment must be adapted flexibly according to symptoms. The key lies in adaptability: tonify deficiency, drain excess, warm cold, clear heat; suppress what is high, elevate what is low, aiming for balance. All other cases follow this pattern. The following details the appropriate methods for various spring ailments; apply them according to symptoms, weigh the situation, and do not play the zither with fixed pegs (be inflexible), only then can one speak of medicine.

For treating early spring conditions caused by mental or physical overexertion, irregular eating habits, or catching wind-cold in the Stomach after undressing or bathing, resulting in internal injury combined with external contraction: symptoms include headache and fever, vomiting, dizziness and chest oppression, distending pain in the chest and diaphragm, aversion to food, runny clear nasal discharge, cough with phlegm, nasal congestion, and heavy voice. These conditions generally resolve after taking one or two doses. However, avoid raw, cold, and fishy foods for three to five days.

Formula Composition: Chuanxiong Rhizome (Chuanxiong, 1 qian), Baizhi Root (Baizhi, 8 fen), Asarum Root (Xixin, 5 fen, remove leaves), Kudzu Root (Gegen, 1 qian), Licorice Root (Gancao, 3 fen, raw), Perilla Leaf (Zisuye, 1 qian), Agastache Herb (Huoxiang, 8 fen, remove soil), Pinellia Tuber (Banxia, 1 qian, processed with ginger), Tangerine Peel (Chenpi, 8 fen), Atractylodes Rhizome (Cangzhu, 1 qian, bran-fried), Bitter Orange Fruit (Zhike, 7 fen, remove pith), Platycodon Root (Jiegeng, 7 fen, remove root tip), Fermented Soybean (Dandouchi, 8 fen, optional).

Take the above herbs, add three slices of fresh ginger, one stalk of scallion white, and one and a half cups of water. Decoct until reduced to eight-tenths. Take hot after meals. If sweating is present, omit the scallion white. For pure internal injury without external contraction, use the specific internal injury clause alone; for pure external contraction without internal injury, use the specific external contraction clause alone.

If headache persists, add Bencao (Ben, 8 fen); if vomiting persists, add Fried Ginger (Ganjiang, fried) and Amomum Fruit (Sharen, fried, 7 fen each); if fever or tidal fever persists, add Bupleurum Root (Chaihu) and Scutellaria Root (Huangqin, 1 qian each); if chest/diaphragm distension and oppression occur, add Hawthorn Fruit (Shanzha) and Immature Bitter Orange (Zhishi, 1 qian each); if fever occurs with no sweat and heat does not recede, add Ephedra Stem (Mahuang, 1.5 qian) and Scallion White (Congbai, 2 stalks); if cough with phlegm occurs, add Apricot Seed (Xingren), Peucedanum Root (Qianhu), and Farfara Flower (Jinflorescence/Jinfeihua, stems removed, 8 fen each), and Schisandra Berry (Nanwuweizi, 5 fen).