Library

A daughter of Scholar He fell ill. Her father said to me, "When she was thirteen years old, in May, she suffered from cold rice noodles, which caused abdominal pain. She then purchased Shenxiong Wan (Divine Xiong Pill) from a pharmacy and took it. Since then, the cold pain in her navel and abdomen gradually worsened, coming and going intermittently. It has now persisted for seven or eight years without relief. Why is this?" I replied, "The ancients said: 'For cold conditions, use heat; treat cold with hot methods.' A skilled physician cannot abandon established principles and change their approach. The offending substance was cold in nature, and the purgative medicine used was also cold. Double cold damages the Stomach Qi. Is the cause of this cold pain not obvious? Generally, the Spleen and Stomach prefer warmth and dislike cold. Moreover, as a young girl, her Blood and Qi were still weak and could not withstand such cold pathogenic factors. Thus, Yang Qi became latent, and cold toxicity lingered, making it difficult to eliminate over time. To treat disease, one must first seek its root cause. One should have used medicines that warm the middle and nourish Qi to remedy the previous error. After taking them for over a month, she recovered. Alas! When Kang Zi offered medicine to Confucius, Confucius bowed and accepted it but dared not taste it because he did not understand its properties. This highlights the importance of preserving life. Why do ordinary people, when consulting a physician, merely stand with hands clasped in silence and allow the physician to palpate the pulse, believing this alone suffices to diagnose the illness? The pulse reflects the movement of Blood and Qi within the meridians. Excess heat results in a rapid pulse; excess cold results in a slow pulse. Excess patterns present with strength, while deficiency patterns lack strength. However, how can one distinguish the specific nature of the injury solely through the pulse? Physicians must carefully investigate the source of the disease, and families must disclose the history of the illness. In the case of Scholar He's daughter, failing to inform the physician of the cause and instead seeking medicine from a shop, coupled with the seller dispensing medicine without investigating the cause, led to a chronic condition lasting seven or eight years. All this stems from ignorance of this principle. Sun Simiao stated: 'Inquiring before diagnosing is most accurate.' Su Dongpo remarked: 'Seeking only cure, disregarding the plight of the physician.' These words by both gentlemen have greatly benefited the world."

The family of Vice-Director Gao liked to collect medical texts and effective prescriptions. When family members fell ill, they would self-prescribe and had achieved some success. In the fifth month of the Gengshen year of the Zhongtong era, the wife of his younger brother, who had given birth less than a month prior, consumed cold cheese, bitter lettuce, and several fresh plums. She gradually experienced abdominal pain. The Matriarch administered seventy pills of Binglang Wan (Betel Nut Pill), which she prepared herself. By nightfall, the pain intensified. Fearing the medicinal effect had not yet taken hold, another fifty pills were given. Shortly thereafter, severe vomiting and diarrhea occurred. The pain increased to an extreme degree, limbs gradually turned cold, and breath from the mouth and nose became cold. Emergency medical help was sought, but she passed away before the physician arrived. Later, the Matriarch met me and recounted the events, asking, "Was this destiny or an error of medication? Please judge." I said, "This is not difficult to understand. Generally, physicians treat deficiency by tonifying and excess by purging; this is a fixed rule. Humans rely on Blood and Qi as their foundation. Now, having just given birth, both Blood and Qi are depleted, and Stomach Qi is weak, unable to digest raw, cold, and hard foods, leading to fullness and pain. Furthermore, administering cold-purgative agents during summer, when Yin Qi resides internally, combines heavy cold with internal cold. This allows severe cold pathogenic factors to enter the abdomen, causing Yin to flourish and Yang to perish. Is there any doubt about death? The Nan Jing states: 'Reinforcing excess and depleting deficiency, damaging what is insufficient and benefiting what is surplus.' Such deaths are caused by the physician, not by destiny." The Matriarch agreed with my words. Alas! The Qu Li states: "Do not take medicine prescribed by physicians whose lineage does not extend three generations." Caution is required to this extent. Past errors cannot be blamed, but future prescribers should take this as a warning.