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The prescription for treating Ding (carbuncle/furuncle) using the insect from the Cocklebur plant (Xanthium sibiricum), as recorded in *Bencao Gangmu* (Compendium of Materia Medica), has been used by me to treat many patients with consistent success. The method is as follows: At the transition between summer and autumn, select the stems of the Cocklebur plant that are withered and have holes; crack them open to extract the insects inside. (These insects resemble silkworms but are smaller, no longer than four or five *fen*, and move very rapidly.) Wrap them in paper, dry them thoroughly over a fire stove, store them in a jar ensuring it is airtight, and grind them into fine powder when needed. Sprinkle this powder onto the center of a Ding paste plaster (available at pharmacies), apply it directly to the head of the Ding lesion. (First, gently prick the head of the Ding lesion with a silver needle.) Fluid will then flow out. After approximately six hours, the root of the Ding will detach spontaneously.

Note: *Sanyin Ji Yi Bing Zheng Fang Lun* (Treatise on the Three Causes and Their Disease Formulas) contains a miraculous formula for treating all types of Ding swellings: Burn the Cocklebur plant (roots, stems, leaves, or seeds, provided they are of the same color) to ash, mix the ash with vinegar and rice-washing water sediment to form a mud-like paste, and apply it to the affected area. Replace it when it dries. Within ten applications, the root can be extracted. (This method originates from *Qianjin Fang*.) Furthermore, Liu Yunmi states in *Bencao Shu*: For critical cases of Ding swellings, crush the roots and leaves of the Cocklebur plant, mix with urine from a young child, squeeze out the juice, and take one *sheng* cold orally, three times a day. This is highly effective in extracting the root. I have not personally tested these two formulas. If they prove effective, there would be no need to harm living creatures to obtain insects. I record this here.

Yong (boils/carbuncles) are suitable for moxibustion, whereas Ding lesions strictly contraindicate moxibustion. Medications for Yong are often decocted with wine, whereas alcohol is strictly contraindicated for Ding. This is because wine aids and exacerbates Fire pathogenic factors. Additionally, plasters for treating Ding should not use tung oil paper; cloth should be used instead. Needles for puncturing Ding should not be made of copper; silver needles are preferred.

The notion that summer is an appropriate time for moxibustion was correctly refuted by Wang Shishan. A recent incident serves as a stern warning. The son of Mr. Chen in Qiantang suffered from asthma (Xiao). He received a prescription stating: "Moxibustion on the back under the midday sun during summer will lead to recovery." Following this method, by late autumn, he developed severe latent summerheat syndrome (Fu Shu). Despite medical treatment, he died. In ancient times, acupuncture and moxibustion were valued equally with herbal medicine. Later generations favored herbal formulas; only when herbs failed did they turn to acupuncture and moxibustion, yet often without success, or even causing worsening conditions. This is due to the scarcity of practitioners proficient in these skills and the failure to assess whether a condition is suitable for acupuncture or moxibustion. Ye Tianshi stated that acupuncture and moxibustion primarily employ draining methods rather than tonifying methods, and are only suitable for excess syndromes caused by Wind-Cold invading the acupoints (as noted in the commentary of *Lai Su Ji*). This statement is credible. I have observed patients with epilepsy complicated by deficiency whose condition worsened after acupuncture; and patients with Wei syndrome (flaccidity syndrome) complicated by heat whose condition aggravated after moxibustion. Therefore, caution is imperative.

When Mencius sought three-year-old mugwort, Zhao's annotation explained that mugwort is used for moxibustion to treat human diseases, and the older and drier it is, the better; thus, it serves as a metaphor. Note: *Shuowen Jiezi* (Explanations of Simple Graphs and Analysis of Compound Characters), section on Fire, states: "Jiu" means burning/scalding. It consists of the radical "Fire" and the phonetic component "Jiu". The common pronunciation as "Zhi" is incorrect.