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Shanghan (Cold Damage), also known as "Zu Bing" (Sudden Disease). "Zu" means sudden or violent; it refers to a disease caused by the disharmony of Yin and Yang, manifesting suddenly and violently. Any condition presenting with aversion to cold (E Han), fever (Fa Re), headache (Tou Tong), bone pain (Gu Teng), vomiting (Ou Tu), vexation and thirst (Fan Ke) belongs to the category of Shanghan.

When Shanghan occurs due to prior internal injury (Nei Shang), it is the most severe form of illness. Internal injury complicated by external cold invasion poses a threat to life. The treatment principle must focus primarily on warming and tonifying Yuan Qi (Original Qi). If ineffective, even stronger warming and tonification should be employed. One must not use dispersing methods that damage the meridians, nor digestive-resolving methods that deplete the Spleen/Stomach (Central Earth), nor cooling methods that impair Yang Qi and harmonious energy. Although external symptoms exist, one must carefully examine the internal state. Examining the interior is the great way to probe the root and clarify the source; it is the highest logic to discard minor issues and prioritize the critical root cause. By following this approach, seven out of ten cases can be cured. Conversely, if one recklessly applies resolving and attacking methods, and only turns to warming and tonifying after the condition fails to improve, the medicinal properties will be impure, and the prescriptions inconsistent—oscillating between resolving and tonifying, cooling and warming. This approach leads to death in seven out of ten cases.

Shanghan is a major disease. However, the treatment methods employed by contemporary physicians are invariably dispersing and cooling. A condition that could be cured in one or two doses inevitably drags on for over ten doses: initially using dispersing methods, then resolving methods, and finally purgative methods. Even if patients with robust constitutions and diseases confined to the Three Yang channels survive, they suffer extreme exhaustion and prolonged suffering.

Furthermore, humans rely on Stomach Qi (Wei Qi) as their foundation. In cases of Shanghan, protecting Stomach Qi must be the priority. Contemporary physicians fail to understand this principle; upon encountering Shanghan, they invariably claim there is food stagnation (Shi Ji) internally. Food is the basis of sustaining life; what harm is there in having food? Moreover, when healthy, one eats well; when ill, appetite diminishes. When healthy, one craves food; when ill, one dislikes food. If one dislikes and cannot eat, one should not force feeding. If hungry and desiring food, food should be provided. Insisting that food must not be eaten, and instead administering drugs to resolve food and open the chest, grind away stagnation, and purge, treats the human body as if it were metal or stone! Food enters the Stomach and is digested immediately. If stagnation occurs, discomfort naturally arises, potentially leading to vomiting. Master Zhang Zhongjing stated in the *Shanghan Lun*: "For retained food in the Upper Jiao, emesis should be induced." From this, we see that retained food exists only in the Upper Jiao. Once food reaches the Middle Jiao, it rots, transforms, and conducts outwards, meaning no retained food remains. If a patient has not eaten for several days, how could retained food possibly exist?

If there is distension and fullness in the chest and diaphragm, accompanied by pain upon pressure, this is either deficiency-cold in the Upper Jiao or impaired Qi mechanism movement. One should benefit the Qi mechanism and warm the San Jiao (Triple Burner) so that righteous Qi flows freely, thereby relieving chest and diaphragmatic discomfort. Incompetent physicians, unaware of this, still attribute it to food stagnation. If it were truly food stagnation, why was there no pain upon pressure at the onset of the disease? After falling ill and fasting for several days, why does pressure now cause pain? Pain upon pressure indicates deficiency of True Qi. How can one recklessly apply resolving methods, assuming accumulated filth is retained internally? To induce bowel movements, repeatedly using purgatives ignores the fact that the intestines and stomach are already empty internally; the discharged material is merely loose, watery stool. Loose stool indicates intestinal emptiness. Yet, ignorant physicians still insist this is "Pang Liu" (Side-flowing diarrhea). Alas! The term "Pang Liu" does not appear in the *Shanghan Lun*. Even if side-flowing diarrhea existed, it would imply dry feces bound internally with liquid flowing around them, not simply loose stools during defecation. Cases of retained food causing side-flowing diarrhea occur perhaps once in a hundred; how can this be treated as a common occurrence?

Physicians treating Shanghan today only employ dispersing, resolving, clearing, and purging methods, neglecting the root while treating the branch. Only after exhausting these dispersing, resolving, clearing, and purging methods, and observing signs of deficiency-cold, do they begin to regulate and tonify. Adhering to rigid, unchanging methods to treat the ever-changing Shanghan, abandoning the vibrant path of vitality for the cruel execution of killing and sawing tactics—is this not tragic? Therefore, treating disease requires seeking the root. The method for treating the root in Shanghan is difficult to convey fully in words. One must comprehend the root and branch relationships of the Six Qi (Liu Qi), understand the depth and superficiality of the meridians, and integrate these insights with classical theories to approach the correct path.