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Every year after the Summer Solstice, the summer heat flows in the sky, and the dampness steams from the earth. Humans, situated between heaven and earth, are aptly subjected to this oppressive stagnant Qi (vital energy). The pathogenic factor first invades the Lung and Stomach. Initially, the patient feels a headache as if wrapped, body heaviness with stiff pain, aversion to cold, slight fever in the afternoon, chest fullness without thirst, a white and slippery tongue coating, pale yellow complexion, a soggy and wiry pulse, and in severe cases, mental confusion and reluctance to speak. This is because Dampness Evil damages the body's Yang Qi. The Lung relies on the Earth of the Stomach for its generation (Earth generates Metal); Qi is primarily governed by the Lung. The Stomach is the Mother of the Lung, and the Lung is the Child of the Stomach. If the Lung is injured, Qi transformation becomes difficult; disease transmits from Child to Mother. If the Stomach is damaged, Body Fluids cannot be distributed. Thus, one experiences mental fatigue and vexation. Treatment should employ Sanbai Tang (see formula later) to open up Lung Qi, so that Dampness will naturally transform. Physicians often find it difficult to grasp what disease this is. If mistaken for Summerheat-Heat, the patient may suffer from lingering illness for days.

When people reach old age, there is none whose Qi and Blood are not deficient. Once infected with an external contraction, the pathogenic heat steams and forces, causing Yang to become increasingly depleted and Yin increasingly dried up. Although the tongue coating may appear moist, the Zang-Fu organs are already scorched and hard to sustain. Initially, light and ascending herbs should be used to disperse the exterior, such as Platycodonis Radix (Jiegeng), Armeniacae Semen Amarum (Xingren), Curcumae Aromatae Rhizoma (Yujin), Arctii Fructus (Niuzi), Schizonepetae Spica (Jingjie), Mori Folium (Sangye), Puerariae Radix (Gegen), and Fermented Soybean (Douchi). For those who are excessively deficient, Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen) should be added moderately according to judgment. If one rashly administers pungent, acrid, and drying-hot drugs like Ephedrae Herba (Mahuang), Angelicae Dahuricae Radix (Baizhi), Notopterygii Rhizoma et Radix (Qianghuo), Saposhnikoviae Radix (Fangfeng), Cinnamomi Ramulus (Guizhi), Asari Radix et Rhizoma (Xixin), and Angelicae Pubescentis Radix (Duhuo), it will further attack the vital Qi. Even if the exterior pathogen temporarily retreats, it may suddenly transform into restlessness, dyspnea, dizziness, and collapse. Can those responsible for life not be cautious?

For all symptoms of external contractions, the initial approach should always involve medicines that disseminate and reach the muscle layer, allowing the pathogen to have a way out. If not carefully examined, bitter-cold decoctions are given, leading to daily obstruction of the meridians and channels, making the pathogen more confined and unable to penetrate outward. Mild diseases become severe, and severe ones become critical. Cold-cooling medicines are only appropriate when the pathogen has transformed into Heat, presenting with a dry and cracked tongue, thirst for cold drinks, and a surging and rapid pulse. At this time, they serve as miraculous elixirs to save Body Fluids, akin to sweet rain meeting a drought demon. As for those who prefer to use hot medicines first, upon encountering patients, they do not investigate the cause but casually write down familiar warming herbs. If the person indeed has Cold Evil, it coincidentally matches the disease trend, which is merely accidental success and not merit. To treat Warm diseases, this is no different than carrying firewood to put out a fire, further depleting Yin and suddenly causing mania, restlessness, and urgent dyspnea. For extremely deficient individuals who cannot tolerate heavy purgative or attacking doses, Codonopsis Radix (Dangshen) should be slightly added to dispersing formulas to assist Righteous Qi, helping to push out the pathogen easily. One must not rigidly adhere to the notion that tonification is forbidden in early-stage diseases. Consider poor families: without financial aid, how can they maintain their household? If the disease involves food stagnation, adding digestive and guiding-out herbs is necessary for efficacy. In short, the primary importance lies in syndrome differentiation. Once differentiation is clear, prescription administration will be error-free. If differentiation is unclear, every move is wrong, harming people significantly.