Library

Wind is the beginning of all diseases. If one maintains tranquility, the flesh and pores will close and resist, so that even severe toxins cannot harm the body; thus, if a disease persists, it will transmit and transform, and if the qi of the upper and lower parts does not communicate, even a good physician cannot treat it.

Generally, for treating stroke (Zhong Feng), using decoctions such as Xuming Tang (Cordyceps Continuation Decoction), Paifeng Tang (Wind-Expelling Decoction), Fengyin Tang (Wind-Guiding Decoction), Zhuli Tang (Bamboo Sap Decoction), as well as Shenjing Dan (Divine Spirit Pill) and Yinyu Jiu (Ilex Wine), combined with moxibustion, can achieve cure. However, this illness accumulates over a long period and is not caused in a single day; it requires large doses administered over a long time to take effect. The *Book of Tang* records that Empress Dowager Wang suffered from stroke with aphasia and silence. Physicians steamed several hu (a unit of volume) of Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix, 黄芩) to fumigate her, and she recovered. This belongs to such treatments. Nowadays, people drink three or five cups of medicine and demand immediate results, blaming the physician; this is too hasty. Mencius said, "A disease of seven years requires three-year-old mugwort." Only through long accumulation does one understand this principle. (From *Ben Shi Fang*)

Generally, when people suffer from stroke, the pulse is mostly grand/surging. This is not a heat syndrome, but the pulse of wind disease. Stroke has cold and heat syndromes: Yang syndromes manifest as heat, Yin syndromes manifest as cold. Cold syndromes use warm wind-expelling herbs; heat syndromes use cool wind-expelling herbs. One cannot apply a uniform method. In all cases of stroke, phlegm-saliva (Xian) must not be forcibly vomited out. Phlegm-saliva exists in all bone joints, making movement smooth and flexible. In stroke, phlegm-saliva surges upward to the throat, producing gurgling sounds. It is acceptable to use medicine to suppress the upward surge so that the phlegm-saliva returns to the bone joints. However, if the phlegm-saliva is forcibly vomited out, although it brings temporary relief, it will eventually cause the body to wither and dry up, leading to dysfunction of the limbs and hands. This must be strictly guarded against. Pediatric convulsive wind (Jing Feng) also should not have phlegm-saliva vomited out; its harm is similar to that in adults. During the onset of spasms and convulsions, one must not hold the child's limbs tightly, otherwise the phlegm-saliva will not return to the limbs. One should simply hold the child loosely. (From *Yi Yu*)

Head wind often presents with abundant dandruff; toxic wind causes sores on the face; stinging wind feels like needle pricks; waist pain feels like a cone piercing; epilepsy wind involves sudden falling, vocalization, and convulsions; acute, chronic, and stubborn winds present as insensitivity to pain and itch; neck shows patchy exfoliation; vertigo and blurred vision where east and west cannot be distinguished; facial wind causes red spots; liver wind causes nasal stuffiness, eye swelling, and red/rotten eyelids; hemiplegic wind causes deviation of the mouth and eyes; evil joint wind causes intermittent joint pain and nail separation; spleen wind causes frequent vomiting and counterflow of qi; wine wind causes reluctance to walk; lung wind causes nasal congestion and neck pain; gallbladder wind causes insomnia; qi wind causes a sensation of insects crawling in the muscles; kidney wind causes cicada-like ringing in the ears and damp itching in the genital area; cold-damp gout (Hongxiangjiao), flaccid wind causing hemiplegia; spastic wind causing clenched fists and contracted limbs; stomach wind causing intolerance to local climate and food; deficiency wind causing bi-syndrome due to wind-cold-dampness; intestinal wind causing rectal prolapse and bloody stool; brain wind causing vertigo and unilateral headache; thief wind causing hoarseness; postpartum wind causing limb pain; bone wind causing knee swelling like a club; knee wind causing cold legs and bone pain; heart wind causing forgetfulness and fright; excessive wind causing slurred speech; marrow wind causing arm soreness; organ wind causing night sweats; blood wind causing damp itching of the scrotum; black head wind causing masses on the head and face; skin wind causing purpura, vitiligo, and tinea; muscle wind causing generalized dry itching; body wind causing general swelling and toxicity; closed wind causing dry and constipated stool; soft wind causing inability to lift limbs; green wind causing dilated pupils; cyan wind causing extreme visual impairment and blindness; tiger wind causing roaring and bleating sounds; major wind causing widespread ulcerative sores.