〔丹溪〕倒仓论经曰∶肠、胃为市。以其无物不有,而谷最为多,故谓之仓,若积谷之
室也。倒者,倾去旧积而涤濯使之洁净也,胃居中属土,喜容受而不能自运者也。人之饮食
,遇适口之物,宁无过量而伤积者乎?七情之偏,五味之浓,宁无伤于冲和之德乎?糟粕之余
,停痰瘀血,互相纠缠,日积月深,郁结成聚,甚如桃核之穣,诸般奇形之虫,中宫不清矣
,土德不和矣。诚于中,形于外,发为瘫痪,为痨瘵,为蛊胀,为癞疾,为无名奇病。先哲
制为万病丸、温白丸等剂,攻补兼施,寒热并用,期中病情,非不功巧,然不若倒仓之为便
捷者也。以黄牡牛择肥者买一二十斤,长流水煮烂,融入汤中为液,以绵滤出渣滓,取净汁
,再入锅中,文武火熬至琥珀色则成矣。每饮一钟,少时又饮,如此者积数十钟,寒月则重
汤温而饮之。病在上者欲其吐多,病在下者欲其利多,病在中者欲其吐下俱多,全在活法而
为之缓急多寡也。须先置一室,明快而不通风者,以安病患。视所出之物,可尽病根则止。
吐利后或渴,不得饮汤。其小便必长,取以饮病者,名曰轮回酒,与一二碗,非惟可以止渴
,抑且可以涤濯余垢。睡一二日,觉肌甚,乃与粥淡食之,待三日后,始与小菜羹。自养半
月,觉精神涣发,形体轻健,沉 悉安矣。其后须五年忌食牛肉。吾师许文懿公始病心痛,
用热燥香辛,如丁附桂姜辈,治数年而足挛痛,甚且恶寒而多呕,甚而至于灵砂、墨锡、黄
芽秽丹,继之艾火十余万,又杂治数年而痛益甚,自度为废人矣,众工亦技穷矣。如此
者又数年,困甚,烦渴恶食者一月,已服通圣散半月余,而大腑逼迫后重,肛门热气如烧,
始时下积滞如五色烂锦者,又如 烛油腻者,近半月而病似退减,又半月而略思谷,唯两足
难移,计无所出。至次年三月,遂作此法,节节如应,因得为全人。次年再得一男,又十四
年而寿终。又一妇人,久年香港脚,吐利而安。又临海林兄患久嗽吐血,发热消瘦,众以瘵治
之,百方不应。召予视之,脉两手弦数,日轻夜重。计无所出,亦因此而安。时冬十月也,
第三年得一子。又镇守百户萧伯善公,以便浊而精不禁,亲与试之有效。夫牛坤土也,黄土
之色也,以顺为德,而效法乎健以为功者,牡之用也。肉者胃之乐也,熟而为液,无形之物
也,横散入肉,经由肠胃而渗透肤腠毛窍爪甲,无不入也。积聚久则形质成,根据附肠胃,回
薄曲折处,以为栖泊之窠臼,阻碍津液,气血熏蒸,燔灼成病,自非倒肠刮骨之神妙,孰能
去之。又岂以合勺铢两之丸散所能窥犯其藩墙户牖乎。切详肉液之散溢,肠胃受之,其浓皆
倍于前,有似乎肿。其回薄曲折处,非复向日之旧肉液,充满流行,有如洪水泛涨,其浮
陈朽,皆推逐荡漾,顺流而下,不可停留。表者因吐而汗,清道者自吐而涌,浊道者自
泄而去,凡属滞碍,一洗而空。牛肉全重浓和顺之性,盎然涣然,润泽枯槁,补益虚损,宁
无精神涣发之乐乎。正似武王克商之后,散财发粟,以赈殷民之望也。其方出于西域之至人
,于中年后可行一二次,亦却疾养寿之一助也。《与戴肃斋书》倒仓法非敢吝也,志于学人
不多也。然患者往往狃于苟安,而靠后功夫,全藉自饮轮回酒十余杯,以祛逐余垢,迎
接调匀,新布荣卫,使脏腑肓膜,生意敷畅,有脱胎换骨之功者也。多嫌其秽而不肯吃,若
非明物理通造化者,其肯视为美酝良药乎。前日相见时,失议此一节,盖有数人曾因此成中
辍者,宁不功亏一篑,徒尔跋涉,且是暴殄天物。敢此详告。又,中间饮到七八钟后,药力
经涉经络骨节中搜逐宿垢,正邪宁不 牾,必有急闷,似痛非痛,有一段恶况,此皆好
消息,邪不胜正,将就擒耳,尤须忍耐而受。又于欲吐未吐,欲泄未泄,或吐泻交作时,自
有恼聒意思,皆须欢喜乐受,一听医者以静待之。况此等又有大半日景象,必先说知,使方
寸了然,庶临时可以安守也。倒仓治痈劳蛊癞等症,推陈致新,扶虚补损,可吐可下,用黄
色肥牯牛腿精肉二十斤,顺取急长流水于大锅内煮,候水耗少再添汤,不可添冷水,以肉烂
成渣为度,滤去渣,用肉汤再熬,如琥珀色。隔宿不吃晚饭。如大便秘者隔宿服神功丸,不
秘者不用。五更以密室不通风处温服一钟,候膈间药行又服,陆续至七八钟。如病患不欲服
,强再与之。必身体皮肤间皆痛,方见吐下。如病在上欲吐多者,须紧服,又不可太紧,恐
其不纳。病在下欲利多者,须疏服,又不可太疏,恐其下远。临时消息,大抵先见下方可使
吐,须极吐下,使其上下积俱尽出大便中,须见核桃肉状无臭气则止。得睡觉气定,与吃还
魂酒一二钟(即病患溲溺也),粥食将息,无有不愈。未行此法前一月,不可近妇人。已行此
法后半年,不可近妇人。三年不吃牛肉。如性急好色,不守禁忌者,不可行此法也。倒仓全
在初三钟慢饮,最紧要,能行经隧中去。
[Danxi] Discourse on Dao Cang (Inverting the Granary): The Classics state: "The intestines and stomach are like a market." Because they contain everything, and grains are the most abundant, it is called "Cang" (Granary), like a room storing grain. "Dao" (Invert) means to pour out old accumulations and wash them clean. The Stomach resides in the Middle Jiao, belongs to Earth, likes to receive and accept but cannot transport itself. When people eat, encountering food that suits their taste, is it not possible to overeat and cause injury and accumulation? With the bias of the Seven Emotions and the richness of the Five Flavors, is it not possible to injure the virtue of harmony? Residues of chaff and waste, stagnant phlegm and blood stasis, entangle with each other, accumulating day by day and month by month, becoming depressed and forming masses, even resembling the pulp of peach pits or various bizarrely shaped parasites, causing the Central Palace (Spleen and Stomach) to be unclear and the Virtue of Earth to be disharmonious. Disease within necessarily manifests without, erupting as paralysis, consumptive disease (Lao Zhai), abdominal distension and swelling, leprosy, and nameless strange diseases. Ancient sages formulated agents such as Wan Bing Wan (Ten Thousand Diseases Pill) and Wen Bai Wan (Warm White Pill), combining attack and tonification, using cold and heat together, aiming to fit the condition of the disease; while ingenious, they are not as convenient as Dao Cang. Select a yellow ox, buy one or two jin (approx. 5-10 kg) of fat ones, boil them rotten in flowing water, blend into the soup to form liquid, filter out the dregs with silk cloth, take the pure juice, put it back in the pot, and simmer with mild and strong fire until it becomes amber-colored. Drink one cup at a time, drink again after a short while, accumulating dozens of cups. In cold months, warm it in a double boiler before drinking. For diseases in the upper part, desire more vomiting; for diseases in the lower part, desire more diarrhea; for diseases in the middle, desire both vomiting and diarrhea. It all depends on flexible adjustment of speed and quantity. First, prepare a bright but non-ventilated room to settle the patient. Observe the expelled matter; if the root of the disease is exhausted, stop. After vomiting and purging, if thirsty, do not drink hot water. Urine will necessarily become long in volume; collect it to give to the patient, named "Hui Lun Jiu" (Wheel-turning Wine), give one or two bowls; this not only quenches thirst but also washes away residual filth. Sleep for one or two days, feel the muscles becoming light and healthy, then give bland porridge. Wait three days before giving vegetable soup. Self-nourish for half a month, feel spirit radiating and body light and robust, chronic ailments completely healed. Afterwards, avoid beef for five years. My teacher, Lord Xu Wenyi, initially suffered from heart pain, using hot, dry, aromatic, and pungent herbs such as Ding (Clove), Fu (Aconite), Gui (Cinnamon Twig), and Jiang (Dried Ginger), treating for several years but resulting in leg cramps and pain, even aversion to cold and frequent vomiting. Severe cases used Ling Sha (Cinnabar), Mo Xi (Lead), Huang Ya Hui Dan, followed by moxibustion totaling over 100,000 applications, plus miscellaneous treatments for several years, yet pain increased. He considered himself disabled, and all doctors were at their wit's end. Such continued for several more years, extreme exhaustion, irritability, thirst, and anorexia for a month. Having taken Tong Sheng San (Unimpeded Holy Powder) for over half a month, he experienced urgency and heaviness in the large intestine, burning heat in the anus. Initially, stool contained stagnation resembling colorful rotting brocade or candle grease. Near half a month later, symptoms seemed to recede; another half month later, slight appetite returned, but legs were difficult to move, with no solution. In March of the next year, this method was performed, responding step-by-step, thus recovering health. The following year, a son was born; he lived another fourteen years until death. Another woman suffered from Hong Kong Foot (podagra/tinea pedis) for many years, cured through vomiting and purging. Lin Xiong from Linhai suffered from chronic cough with hemoptysis, fever, and emaciation. Others treated him as Lao Zhai (consumption), but hundred prescriptions failed. I was summoned to examine him; pulse was wiry and rapid in both hands, lighter by day and heavier by night. With no other plan, he was also cured by this method. It was the tenth lunar month; he had a son in the third year. Xiao Boshan, a Guard Commander, suffered from turbid urine and seminal emission, tried it personally with effective results. Ox is Kun Earth, color of yellow earth, its virtue is obedience, and its function imitates strength; this is the use of the male ox. Meat is what the Stomach delights in. Cooked into liquid, it is formless. It spreads horizontally into flesh, passes through intestines and stomach, and penetrates skin, pores, hair, nails—nothing is unattainable. Accumulations, lasting long, form substance, attaching to intestines and stomach, residing in folds and curves, acting as nests, obstructing fluids, where Qi and Blood steam and scorch, causing disease. Without the divine skill of "inverting intestines and scraping bones," who can remove it? How could pills and powders measured in small units penetrate its walls and windows? Carefully observing the dispersion of meat liquid, the intestines and stomach receive it; its concentration doubles as before, resembling swelling. In those folded areas, no longer the old fluid circulating fully, it resembles a flood rising, pushing floating decay downstream, unable to stay. Surface layers sweat via vomiting; clear pathways surge via vomiting; turbid pathways exit via diarrhea. All obstructions are washed empty. Beef possesses heavy, rich, harmonious, and smooth nature, radiant and dispersing, moistening witheredness, tonifying deficiency. Is there not joy in spirit radiating? It is like King Wu of Zhou after conquering Shang, distributing wealth and grain to relieve the hopes of Yin people. This prescription comes from a supreme person in the Western Regions. It can be performed once or twice after middle age, assisting in dispelling disease and nurturing longevity. [Letter to Dai Suzhai]: Dao Cang is not something I am reluctant to share, but few are dedicated learners. However, patients often cling to temporary comfort and delay subsequent efforts. Relying entirely on self-drinking ten-plus cups of Hui Lun Jiu to expel residual filth, welcome harmony, renew Ying and Wei (Nutritive and Defensive Qi), making Zang-Fu and San Jiao vitality flourish, achieving rebirth. Many dislike its foulness and refuse to eat it. Unless one understands physics and transformation, who would regard it as fine wine and good medicine? At our last meeting, I missed discussing this point. Some stopped midway due to this. Would it not be failing at the last basket of earth, traveling in vain, and wasting heaven's gift? I dare to explain in detail. Furthermore, after drinking seven or eight cups, the medicinal power searches through meridians and joints to expel old filth. Will righteous Qi and pathogenic factors not conflict? There must be urgency and oppression, pain-like but not pain, a period of distress. These are good news: evil cannot overcome righteousness, about to be captured. One must endure. When wanting to vomit but not yet, wanting to purge but not yet, or when vomiting and purging occur together, there is naturally annoyance. One must accept it happily and let the doctor wait quietly. Moreover, this state lasts half a day. Explain it beforehand so the mind is clear, allowing calm endurance. Dao Cang treats carbuncles, consumption, gu poisoning, leprosy, etc., eliminating the old and generating the new, supporting deficiency and tonifying loss, capable of inducing vomiting or purging. Use twenty jin of lean meat from the hind leg of a yellow fat bull. Boil in fast-flowing water in a large pot. Add water as needed, never cold water. Boil until meat disintegrates into dregs. Filter out dregs. Re-boil the broth until amber-colored. Skip dinner the night before. If constipated, take Shen Gong Wan the night before; if not constipated, do not use. At dawn (Wu Geng), drink one cup warm in a dark, non-ventilated room. Wait for medicine to move in the diaphragm, then drink again, continuously up to seven or eight cups. If the patient refuses, force them to drink. Pain throughout the body and skin must appear before vomiting/purging occurs. For upper diseases desiring more vomiting, administer closely but not too tightly, lest it be rejected. For lower diseases desiring more purging, administer sparsely but not too loosely, lest it go too far. Adjust according to circumstances. Generally, start with the lower portion to induce vomiting. Extreme vomiting and purging are required to ensure all upper and lower accumulations exit in stool. Stop when stool resembles walnut meat with no foul odor. After sleeping and breathing stabilizes, drink one or two cups of Huan Hun Jiu (Return Soul Wine, i.e., patient's urine). Nourish with porridge. No cure will fail. One month before this method, avoid women. Half a year after, avoid women. Do not eat beef for three years. Those with impatient temperaments and lustful desires who do not observe taboos must not perform this method. Dao Cang relies entirely on slow drinking of the first three cups, which is most critical, allowing entry into the meridians.