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Treatment for conditions where Yang deficiency fails to transform Yang, resulting in difficult urination; or due to damp-heat stagnation causing difficult urination, accumulating into edema.

*Imperatae Rhizoma* (Bai Maogen) (One jin [approx. 500g], dig up fresh rhizomes, thoroughly remove the outer skin and small roots between nodes, cut into fine segments).

Boil the *Imperatae Rhizoma* in four bowls of water until it boils once. Move the pot off the fire and place it beside the stove. Wait for ten to fifteen minutes. Observe if the rhizome sinks to the bottom; if not, boil again once more, then move the pot off the fire and place it beside the stove. After a short while, observe if all the rhizomes have sunk to the bottom; the decoction is now ready. Strain the dregs and take half a cup warm. Take five or six times daily and two or three times at night, ensuring the medicinal effect is continuous throughout the twelve double-hours (24 hours), so that urination becomes smooth naturally.

Drinking the thick juice boiled from fresh *Imperatae Rhizoma*, its nature is slightly cool, and its taste is sweet and bland. Because it is cool, it can clear excess fire (Shi Huo). Because it is sweet, it can clear deficient heat (Xu Re). Because it is bland, it can promote diuresis. It can also unblock the Zang-Fu organs, smooth the meridians and collaterals, treat external contraction heat, and promote the flow of water throughout the body. However, this specific boiling method must be used for efficacy. If boiled for too long, its cooling property and unblocking power will diminish, rendering it ineffective. The boiled decoction will turn green after one day and night; if there is no fermented smell, it can still be used.

A woman in her forties suffered from edema. Her father-in-law was a scholar proficient in medicine, but his self-treatment failed, and other doctors' treatments were also ineffective. Upon meeting me by chance, he asked if I had any miraculous prescription to save this critical condition. After inquiring about the condition in detail, I learned it was Yin deficiency with heat and difficult urination. I prescribed decocting fresh *Imperatae Rhizoma* into a thick juice, which she drank for ten days and fully recovered.

An elderly woman in her sixties suffered from edema. A doctor treated her, but the condition recurred three times despite apparent cures, and subsequent doses of the previous medicine were ineffective. Her son consulted a carpenter to buy a coffin; the carpenter, being a relative, requested my treatment. I reasoned that since the condition had recurred several times and later medicines failed, it must be due to prolonged illness causing Yin deficiency and generating heat, leading to difficult urination. Detailed inquiry confirmed skin fever, internal thirst, and very little urine. I instructed her to drink frequently a decoction made solely of fresh *Imperatae Rhizoma*. She recovered in five days.

A woman around forty years old suffered from edema. Her pulse was generally peaceful but slightly slippery and rapid. I instructed her to drink a strongly boiled decoction of fresh *Imperatae Rhizoma*. After a few days, her condition improved by half. When her son came to send a letter of gratitude, I reminded him: "There is an important point I previously forgot to mention. Patients with this condition must avoid beef for life. Even decades after recovery, consuming beef may cause relapse." Unexpectedly, before his son returned home, he had already eaten beef. Moreover, feeling cured, he sat in the courtyard and was exposed to wind. The condition suddenly relapsed, with whole-body swelling so severe that both eyes could not open. I used *Yuebi Tang* (Cocklebur Decoction) to induce sweating, substituting Gypsum Fibrosum (Shigao) with Talcum (Huashi) (In the original *Yuebi Tang*, sweating is sometimes difficult to achieve; substituting Talcum for Gypsum facilitates sweating). After one dose, sweat appeared, urination became immediate and smooth, and swelling began to subside. He then drank *Imperatae Rhizoma* decoction, and after a few days, he fully recovered.

*Imperatae Rhizoma* is used in my formulated *Er Xian Yin* (Two Fresh Drinks) and *San Xian Yin* (Three Fresh Drinks) to treat hematemesis and epistaxis. This formula is also used to treat edema, and its efficacy extends beyond this. In treating Cold Damage (Shanghan) and Warm Diseases (Wenbing), after bowel movements are unblocked and the excessive heat of the Yangming channel has subsided, I often prescribe a strongly boiled decoction of fresh *Imperatae Rhizoma* for patients to drink when thirsty. Such patients recover quickly and can eat immediately after recovery, without recurrence. Generally, after recovery from Cold or Warm diseases, inability to eat and frequent relapses are mostly due to residual heat not yet cleared and stomach fluids not yet restored. The sweet and cool nature of *Imperatae Rhizoma* can both clear residual external heat and nourish stomach fluids. For cases where there is stagnant heat internally but the exterior feels cold, its nature is good at venting stagnant heat to the exterior.

Note: For all types of abdominal distension and swelling, whether caused by Qi, Blood, or Edema, beef must be avoided for life after cure. Beef belongs to Earth; consuming it can obstruct Qi and Blood. Furthermore, its bloated shape resembles abdominal distension, hence it is taboo. Physicians treating such conditions should earnestly instruct patients' families to strictly avoid accidental consumption.