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Treats protruding tongue (Shetong) and playing with the tongue (Nongshe).
Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia Root), Huangqin (Scutellaria Root), Tianhuafen (Trichosanthes Root), Houpo (Magnolia Bark, processed with ginger), Shigao (Gypsum Fibrosum), Zhike (Aurantium Fructus), Huanglian (Coptis Rhizome), Chenpi (Citrus Reticulatae Pericarpium), Gancao (Licorice Root). Decoct in water and take orally.

Treats goose-mouth sores (E'kou), double tongue (Chongshe), and tongue ulcers.
Qingdai (Indigo Naturalis), Puxiao (Natrii Sulfas, each 1 qian), Longnao (Borneolum Syntheticum, 1 zi). Grind into fine powder. Dip a small amount onto a goose feather and apply to the affected area.

Treats all kinds of sores on the tongue and mouth.
Shengma (Cimicifugae Rhizoma), Shegan (Belamcandae Rhizoma, each 3 liang), Baiye (Platycladi Cacumen, 1 sheng), Ku Zhuye (Bitter Bamboo Leaf), Dihuang Zhi (Rehmanniae Juice, each 5 he), Daqing (Isatidis Folium, 2 liang), Sheng Xuanshen Zhi (Scrophulariae Juice, 3 he), Qiangwei Gen Baipi (Rosa Rugosae Radix Cortex), Sheng Lugen (Phragmitis Rhizoma, each 5 liang), Chi Mi (Red Honey, 8 he). Use 4 sheng of water. First decoct the herbs until reduced to 1 sheng. Strain and remove dregs. Add Xuanshen Zhi and decoct again. Then add Dihuang Zhi and boil twice. Finally add honey and decoct until thick. Place under the tongue and swallow slowly.
Another prescription:
Treats children with guest-heat in the Heart causing sores all over the mouth. Use Tannanxing (Arisaematis Rhizoma) powder mixed with vinegar applied to the sole of the foot. Another method uses Wuzhuyu (Evodiae Fructus) powder mixed with rice vinegar applied topically; both are excellent.
Use tangled hair, preserved by calcination (Cunxing), ground into an extremely fine powder, mixed with pig fat (Zhuzhi) and applied.

The *Classic* states: The Heart is the essence and specialization of the five zang organs. (Each zang organ has its own essence, but the Heart governs them specifically.) The eyes are its orifice. (Although the eyes are the orifice of the Liver, they distinguish objects, thus they are also the orifice of the Heart.) Luster and color are its flourishing manifestation. Therefore, when a person possesses virtue, qi harmonizes in the eyes. The essence of water is called Zhi (Will), and the essence of fire is called Shen (Spirit). Water and fire complement each other; when Shen and Zhi are both sorrowful, tears arise from the eyes. The proverb says: Heart sorrow is called Zhi sorrow. Zhi and the Heart's essence gather together at the eyes. Nasal discharge and tears originate from the brain. The brain is Yin. Marrow is nourished by Stomach qi. Thus, brain fluid seeps out as nasal mucus. Zhi is the master of bones. Therefore, just as water flows, nasal mucus follows; their movement patterns are similar. (The brain is the sea of marrow and communicates with the Kidney.) When Shen does not guard the essence, and spirit departs, tears flow from the eyes. From this, we see that crying without tears indicates exhaustion of Kidney qi and brain marrow. Redness, swelling, and pain of the eyes indicate insufficiency of water essence. Green blindness and internal cataracts indicate insufficiency of fire essence.
Why does prolonged tearing lead to blindness? The *Ling Shu* states: The Heart is the master of the five zang and six fu organs. The eyes are the gathering place of the major meridians and the upper pathway for fluids. The mouth and nose are the portals of qi. Therefore, sorrow and worry cause the Heart to move; when the Heart moves, the five zang and six fu organs tremble. Trembling causes the major meridians to be stimulated, the fluid pathways open, and tears and nasal discharge flow out. Fluids are used to irrigate essence and moisten the orifices. If tears do not stop, fluids are exhausted. When fluids are exhausted, essence is not irrigated, and the eyes lose vision. This is called "Robbing Essence." The *Classic* states: The pupil and black eye imitate Yin, while the white sclera imitates Yang. Thus, Yin and Yang combine to transmit to the essence. Understanding this reveals that the eye possesses both Yin and Yang. It is also said: The essence of the five zang and six fu organs all ascend to the eyes to form vision. Since the Kidney governs storing essence, treating eye diseases focuses primarily on the Kidney. Although the eyes are the orifice of the Liver, due to the mother-son relationship between Liver and Kidney, their treatment principles are unified. The nest of essence is the eye. The essence of bone manifests as the pupil. The essence of sinew manifests as the black eye (iris/cornea). The essence of blood manifests as the blood vessels. The essence of qi manifests as the white sclera. The essence of muscle manifests as the eyelid constraints. The essence of sinew, bone, qi, and blood, combined with the meridians, forms the optic nerve, connecting upward to the brain and exiting posteriorly at the neck. Thus, the eye embodies the five zang and six fu organs. Later generations associate extensive redness with the Heart, where Minister Fire represents Excess Fire. Minor redness is associated with the Pericardium, where Minister Fire represents Deficient Fire. The upper and lower eyelids belong to the Spleen. The white sclera belongs to the Lung. The black eye belongs to the Liver. The pupil belongs to the Kidney. This is called the "Five Wheels," originating from this theory.
There is also a theory of the "Eight Palaces," which lacks meaning and evidence and should not be followed.
The eyes are the essence of the five zang and six fu organs. Therefore, if essence scatters, vision becomes double. The eyes are also where Ying and Wei, Hun and Po commonly circulate, and where Shen Qi arises. Therefore, mental labor causes Hun and Po to scatter and will to become chaotic. Moreover, the eyes are the emissary of the Heart. The Heart is the residence of Shen. Therefore, when spirit and mind are chaotic and unresponsive, one suddenly sees extraordinary things. Furthermore, humans have two eyes, just as heaven has the sun and moon. Observing all things and detecting minute details: the sun and moon sometimes darken due to wind, clouds, rain, and thunder. Eyes sometimes lose sight due to harm from the four climatic factors and seven emotions. Pathologies in the fu organs are exterior; treat by dispelling wind and clearing heat. Pathologies in the zang organs are interior; treat by nourishing blood and calming the spirit. Sudden redness, swelling, pain, turbidity, dryness, membranes, discharge, and sores entering the eye are all exterior conditions caused by wind-heat. Disperse them via the exterior. Dimness, weakness, aversion to viewing objects, internal cataracts, seeing black flowers, and dilated pupils are all interior conditions caused by blood deficiency, mental fatigue, and Kidney deficiency. Nourish blood, tonify water, and calm the Kidney to regulate. Prolonged cases may involve blood stasis; use blood-breaking and blood-generating herbs. The white sclera is Yang; pain here worsens during the day. The black eye is Yin; pain here worsens at night. Obese individuals with abundant qi and ascending wind-heat experience dim, dry eyes due to turbid qi ascending from the chest. Severe cases may result in phlegm-jue, damaging the eyes. Keeping the chest qi clear prevents this. Thin individuals with eye pain often suffer from blood deficiency and blood-heat. Eye disease flaring in spring and summer indicates Liver-Kidney deficiency with much stagnant fire. Overuse of cooling medicines for eye disease damages Yang qi, leading to gradual dimness, fluctuating vision, and inability to see clearly. Unclear vision with black flowers indicates weak Kidney qi. Sudden blindness occurs because the eyes are at the convergence of all Yang meridians, yet Yin pathogen closes them off. Extreme Yang depletion with full Yin pathogen inside portends unpredictable danger.
Eyes closed and unable to open: The Foot-Taiyang meridian governs the upper eyelid; the Foot-Yangming meridian governs the lower eyelid. Normally, they constrain the eye. Heat causes sinew laxity, preventing opening. Haizang stated: Closed eyes indicate disordered Liver qi.
For red, swollen, and painful eyes, ancient prescriptions differ internally and externally. Internally, decoctions and powders use bitter-cold and acrid-cool herbs to drain fire and promote urination to guide Liver wind-heat outward. Externally, drops and washes use acrid-hot and acrid-cool herbs to disperse pathogens. The most important drop herb is Bingpian (Borneolum), which is acrid-hot, used to extract fire pathogen. Ancient methods used hot wine to wash eyes or dry ginger powder/ginger juice to drop, following this logic. Red eyes are caused by internal flaming fire attacking the eyes. Internal treatment with bitter-cold herbs addresses the root. However, once fire pathogen resides in the eye and moves outward, using cold external agents blocks it, causing stagnant fire to attack inward. Thus, acrid-hot drops and hot water washes follow the principle of "releasing stagnant fire." People mistakenly believe Bingpian is cold and use it frequently, causing accumulated heat to enter the eye, dispersing clarity, leading to dimness and opacity. Hence, "eyes do not go blind unless dropped [with wrong meds]." Ignoring the contraindication of cold for external treatment, people wrongly use cold water/herbs to wash, causing blindness.
Eye disease causes are merely excess or deficiency. Deficiency presents as dim vision due to weak Kidney true water. Excess presents as swelling and pain due to severe Liver wind-heat. For heat, disperse wind-heat. For deficiency, nourish true yin. For deficient heat, do both. This is internal treatment. For long-term imbalance with heat stagnation and blood coagulation causing pterygium, fleshy growths, membranes, and red rot, external drops/washes are necessary. Disease has root and branch; treatment has internal and external. Excess qi becomes fire; dispersing fire requires suppressing qi (ancient formulas use Zhike, Chaihu). Blood deficiency leads to yin deficiency; tonifying yin requires nourishing water (ancient formulas use Guishao Dihuang Wan). If blood harmonizes with qi and water controls fire, eye disease will not arise.
The Liver opens into the eyes. Bile reduction causes dim vision. The eyes are the external manifestation of the Liver and the essence of the Gallbladder. Thus, Gallbladder herbs treat eye diseases. Drop administration theory states: Diseases have internal and external aspects; treatments differ. Internal diseases require oral medication to resolve; external diseases require topical application to retreat. Early-stage internal disease: blocking the source is better than dredging the stream; removing the root is better than cutting branches. Never seen a case cured without medicine. Formed external obstruction: like cleaning dirt or polishing mirrors, never cured without drops. Treating internal obstruction without oral meds, while using external drops, may provoke fire and disturb blood/qi, causing harm. If external obstruction is formed, oral meds may prevent progression but won't remove the knot; internal and external attack together is optimal. White sclera is Yang, so daytime pain responds to bitter-cold drops. Black eye is Yin, so nighttime pain worsens with bitter-cold drops. Thus, external drop therapy must distinguish Yin/Yang.
Trichiasis (Daojie) and rolled lashes occur when lashes enter the center of the eye. This is due to latent heat attacking internally and Yin qi moving externally, causing eye muscles to tighten and skin to shrink. Remove internal fire-heat pathogen to relax eyelids, allowing lashes to emerge. Tight, shrinking eye fissures are precursors to trichiasis. Yang governs dispersion; Yang deficiency causes tight fissures and trichiasis. Yin governs consolidation; Yin deficiency causes dilated pupils and dim vision. Dongyuan treated tight fissures using Renshen (Ginseng Root) as sovereign to tonify qi, assisted by acrid herbs to disperse, avoiding Sour-astringent Shaoyao and Wuweizi. He treated dilated pupils using Dihuang (Rehmannia Root) as sovereign to nourish blood, assisted by Wuweizi for astringency, avoiding Xiongwei Zi and Qingxiang Zi for their acrid-dispersing nature. Opening and closing differ greatly.
Hua Yuanhua stated: The eye shape resembles a sphere, with the pupil centered, shining like the sun and moon. There are Shen Gao (Divine Paste), Shen Shui (Divine Water), Shen Guang (Divine Light), Zhen Qi (True Qi), Zhen Xue (True Blood), and Five Essences, which are the source fluids nourishing the eye. Shen Gao is the paste contained within the eye, formed by accumulating essence fluid seeping from the Gallbladder, nurturing the pupil. Decline damages Shen Shui, which originates from the Sanjiao and transforms from Pre-heaven True One Qi, providing moisture. Water decline leads to fire dominance and dryness; water exhaustion leads to eye wheel disorders; consumption leads to dimness/blindness risk. Loss means less abundance, so no perfect eyes exist in the world. Shen Guang originates from Mingmen, connects to the Gallbladder, issues from the Heart, and is the function of Fire. Fire decline causes dimness. Dimness is closed eyes, indicating Liver qi deficiency. Fire flaming causes burning disaster, resulting in two hearts without proper wheels. The Heart is the Monarch, connecting to large collaterals; redness in large collaterals indicates Excess Fire. The Pericardium is the Small Heart, representing Minister Fire acting for the Monarch, connecting to small collaterals; redness in small collaterals indicates Deficient Fire. If the Monarch remains still, Minister Fire is naturally peaceful. True Blood is the blood rising from the Liver to nourish the eye collaterals. This is not easily flowing muscle blood but comes from Water generated by Heaven One, hence Liver and Kidney share the same source. True Qi is the qi circulating in eye meridians, the Primordial Yang of Pre-heaven generation. True Essence is transformed from Pre-heaven Original Qi; essence fluid starts in the Kidney, applies to the Gallbladder, then reaches the pupil. Damage to any of these causes eye disease. Generally, eyes are round and long, surrounded by hard shells, containing clear meat packages, dense black Shen Gao, and dense Shen Shui outside. Shen Shui nourishes Shen Gao; outside Shen Shui is blood, nourishing Shen Shui. A dark, bright point in the paste is the gathered essence of Kidney and Gallbladder. This single light illuminates infinite space, called the Water Wheel, corresponding to the Kidney, North Ren-Gui Hai-Zi Water. Among the Five Wheels, only the pupil shines. Some ask: Is the pupil water, qi, blood, or paste? Answer: Neither qi, nor blood, nor water, nor paste. It is born from Pre-heaven qi, formed by Post-heaven qi, containing the wonder of Yin/Yang and the essence of Water/Fire. Blood nourishes water, water nourishes paste, paste protects the pupil, qi operates, spirit maintains. Like sun and moon, the principle is the same. Men's right eyes lack the left's essence; women's left eyes lack the right's brilliance. This is obtaining correct Yin/Yang qi distribution. Human righteousness, longevity, death, nobility, and baseness can all be verified by the eyes. Are they not the greatest treasure of the body?
The *Classic* states: Eyes tearing and unable to see indicate internal loss of Yin. Also: Loss of Yin leads to essence loss and blindness, caused by sexual exhaustion. Right Kidney Yin deficiency: Yiyin Dihuang Wan, such as Liuwei Dihuang Wan. Right Kidney Yang deficiency: Bushen Wan, or Bawei Dihuang Wan. Ability to see far but not near indicates Excess Yang and Insufficient Yin. Haizang stated: Seeing far blames Fire; seeing near blames Water absence. *Mi Yao* states: Insufficient Yin essence, excessive Yang sunlight, pathology in Water causes scattered light unable to converge for near vision. Treat Heart and Kidney; balance makes Water/Fire harmonious and Yin/Yang balanced. Water transforms into blood, becomes Jin-Ye in the body, and becomes paste/juice in the eyes. Indulgence in lust, irregular eating/drinking, extreme physical/mental labor, and excessive weeping all consume Yin essence. Yin deficiency allows Yang water to flourish; Fire flares up. Yin cannot control it, so it escapes outward, shining far but unable to focus near. Treatment: Strengthen the Master of Water to suppress Yang sunlight. Ability to see near but not far indicates Insufficient Yang and Excess Yin. Haizang stated: Seeing near blames Water; seeing far blames Fire absence. *Mi Yao* states: This is not congenital near-sightedness, but sudden inability after previously seeing far. Yang insufficient, Yin excessive, pathology in Fire causes light unable to project outward, converging for near vision. Treat Gallbladder and Kidney; sufficient Gallbladder/Kidney makes Water/Fire bright, Shen Qi smooth, and essence light reach far. Fire's function is Qi, manifested as demeanor in the body and Shen Guang in the eyes. Indulgence in lust loses Yuan Yang. With Yuan Yang prepared, cloud/haze obscures. Kidney Yin water barely reflects light inward; how can it transport essence to nourish the Gallbladder and distribute Fire in Water into the air? *Ling Shu* states: Essence depletion causes deafness; Qi depletion causes unclear vision. Treatment: Tonify the Source of Fire to dissipate Yin haze. Yang deficiency failing to resist Yin, due to irregular diet, overwork, weak Spleen/Stomach sinking into Liver/Kidney, turbid Yin failing to descend, clear Yang failing to ascend, results in obscured vision like darkened sun/moon. Pathogen harms orifices, blinding ears and eyes. Essence of five zang/six fu derives from Spleen Earth and ascends to the eyes. This "essence" is food-derived, not Pre-heaven Yuan Jing. Spleen is head of all Yin. Eyes are chief of blood/qi. Spleen deficiency causes five zang essence to lose control, failing to clarify vision. Stomach qi sinking into Liver/Kidney is called "Heavy Strength." Minister Fire carries Heart Fire to wander wildly, boiling hundred vessels, reversing blood flow, causing eye disease. Dark/dim eyes with non-fatigued limbs: Use Yiqi Congming Tang. Tight/small eyes, photophobia, weak vision, limb fatigue, numbness: Spleen/Lung Qi deficiency failing to ascend. Use Shenxiao Huangqi Tang. Post-illness, dusk, or lamp-light vision failure: Yang deficiency sinking. Use Jueming Yeguang Wan or Shengma Zhenyin Tang. Without this knowledge, merely using Yin-nourishing/cooling herbs damages Stomach with bitter-cold, worsening Middle Qi. Poor appetite, slow digestion, no blood/qi generation, essence consumed. Defect in Head of Yin makes bright vision rare.
Zhang Zihe stated: Eye disease arises from Fire. Redness in the White Wheel indicates Fire invading Lung. Redness/swelling in the Xin Wheel indicates Fire invading Spleen. Obscured Black Water/Shen Guang indicates Fire invading Liver and Spleen. Red vessels crossing the eye indicates Fire self-excess. Controlling Fire resolves it in one sentence. But Zhang Zihe used only cold/cool herbs to treat Fire; better to solely tonify Water to match Fire, also one sentence. Eye disease with Fire causes floating opacity/external obstruction; though painful, harmless to vision. Eye disease without Fire causes ice opacity/internal obstruction; though no pain, inevitably leads to blindness. Treating eyes cannot focus solely on removing Fire! Like a candle without fire, it cannot provide light.
Although Five Wheels divide among five zang, Liver/Kidney pathology is most common. Either Liver blood deficiency causing sudden red/swollen/painful eyes, or Kidney water deficiency causing dimness/internal cataracts. Qi deficiency causes lack of luster; Blood deficiency causes dilated cornea. Except early wind-heat requiring dispersion, rest should focus on Liver/Kidney nourishment and water supplementation. Long-term cases with insufficient Yang should supplement Yang within water supplementation. Once Yang strengthens, clarity appears. Overusing cold/cool herbs turns floating opacity into ice opacity, external obstruction into internal obstruction.