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Zhu Danxi treated a young man who presented with aversion to cold. The patient had taken large doses of Fuzi (Aconite Lateralis Radix Praeparata), causing the condition to worsen; his pulse was wiry and appeared slightly slow. Zhu Danxi used Jiang tea mixed with a small amount of ginger juice and sesame oil to induce vomiting, expelling one sheng (approx. 1000ml) of phlegm. The patient's need for heavy cotton clothing was reduced by more than half. Subsequently, Fangfeng Tongsheng San (Saposhnikovia Decoction for Unblocking the Heroic Pathway) was administered, with Mahuang (Ephedrae Herba), Mangxiao (Natrii Sulfas), and Dahuang (Rhei Radix et Rhizoma) removed, and Dihuang (Rehmanniae Radix) added. After taking 100 doses, he recovered. Zhu Danxi determined that there was excessive dryness-heat and deep damage to the blood. It was necessary to eat bland food to nourish the Stomach Qi, practice introspection to nourish the Shen (Spirit), so that Kidney Water could ascend and Heart Fire could descend. He must take many doses of blood-nourishing and blood-cooling herbs. Otherwise, the interior and exterior would not be tranquil, Kidney Water would not generate, and the toxicity of Aconite would inevitably manifest. The patient considered this advice pedantic and eventually died from a carbuncle on the back.

[Appendix] A woman suffered from aversion to cold. Zhu Danxi used Kushen (Sophorae Flavescentis Radix) and Chixiaodou (Vigna Semen Rubrum), each 1 qian (approx. 3g), and induced vomiting using vinegar water. Later, he prescribed Chuanxiong (Ligustici Chuanxiong Rhizoma), Cangzhu (Atractylodis Rhizoma), Nanxing (Arisomatis Tuber), and Huangqin (Scutellariae Radix), made into pills with wine paste.

He also treated a woman over fifty years old, who was thin with a dark complexion, preferred heat, and feared cold. In June, her pulses in both hands were deep and choppy, and felt rapid when pressed heavily. She was purged with Sanhuang Wan (Three Yellows Pill), taken with ginger soup, 30 pills per dose, for 30 times. She recovered after sweating slightly.

An elderly woman was fat with thick muscles, suffered from aversion to cold and shivering in summer, liked eating hot food, wore cotton clothes, and sweated profusely. She had already taken more than 30 pieces of Fuzi (Aconite Lateralis Radix Praeparata). Her whole body itched severely, and her pulse was deep and choppy, becoming slightly larger when pressed heavily. Zhu Danxi judged that the heat was severe and blood was deficient. He used Siwu Tang (Four Substance Decoction) without Chuanxiong (Ligustici Chuanxiong Rhizoma), doubled the amount of Dihuang (Rehmanniae Radix), and added Baizhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma), Huangqi (Astragali Radix), fried Huangbai (Phellodendri Cortex), raw Gancao (Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma), and Renshen (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma). Each dose weighed two liang (approx. 60g). He gave only one dose. The patient suffered severe diarrhea, could not see, and could not speak. Zhu Danxi judged that the disease heat was deep and the error lay in the lack of counter-agent in the prescription. Therefore, he fried the previous herbs until hot and decocted them immediately, borrowing the fire power as a guide. He gave another dose, the diarrhea stopped, spirit returned after four doses, and full recovery occurred after ten doses.

A man was thin with black skin, drank alcohol frequently without getting drunk, and was nearly fifty years old. He had a separate residence. One day, he suddenly experienced severe aversion to cold and trembling. He claimed thirst but did not drink. His pulse was large and weak, the right Guan position was slightly full and rapid, and choppy when pressed heavily. This was due to internal stagnation of alcohol-heat, unable to vent outward, caused by exterior heat and lower jiao deficiency. He was given Huangqi (Astragali Radix) two liang and Gange (Puerariae Lobatae Radix) one liang, decocted and drunk. He recovered after profuse sweating.

Hua Boling (Slip Bo Ren) treated a man. In July, he suffered from fever. Someone advised him to take Xiaochaihu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction). The ascending and dispersing action was too strong, leading to excessive sweating and loss of Yang Qi. He suffered severe aversion to cold and muscle twitching (Jinti Routun). His pulse was faint and almost imperceptible. He was treated with Zhenwu Tang (True Warrior Decoction). After seven or eight doses, he improved slightly. He took a total of eight pieces of Fuzi (Aconite Lateralis Radix Praeparata) and recovered.

Dai Yuanli treated Zhu Zhongwen. During the late summer, he feared cold, wrapped himself in thick cotton wadding, and required food and drinks to be as hot as fire. If they cooled even slightly after swallowing, he vomited. Other doctors gave him pepper-processed sulfur and instructed him to eat three chickens daily, which exacerbated the illness. Dai Yuanli said: The pulse is rapid and large, and not weak. Liu Shouzhen said: Extreme fire resembles water; this is what is meant. Pepper ignites fire in the Yin meridians, and chicken promotes phlegm; these only aggravate the disease. He purged him with Dachengqi Tang (Major Order the Yellow Decoction). He defecated more than twenty times during the day and night, and the need for cotton wadding was halved. Then, he drank Huanglian Daotan Tang (Coptis Phlegm-Expelling Decoction) with bamboo sap, and he finally recovered.

Yu Zhen’s commentary: Ancient texts state that Taiyang syndrome involves aversion to cold, and that aversion to cold often belongs to Yang deficiency and Wei Qi weakness. Therefore, Renshen (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma), Fuzi (Aconite Lateralis Radix Praeparata), Ganjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma), and Baizhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma) are correct medicines. However, the cases above use clearing methods, purging methods, or phlegm-resolving methods. This aligns with the ancient saying that "aversion to cold is not necessarily cold." One must understand that Fangfeng Tongsheng San (Saposhnikovia Decoction for Unblocking the Heroic Pathway), Siwu Tang (Four Substance Decoction), Huangbai (Phellodendri Cortex), Dachengqi Tang (Major Order the Yellow Decoction), and Huanglian Daotan Tang (Coptis Phlegm-Expelling Decoction) used by Zhu Danxi and Dai Yuanli were all because the patients had taken many hot drugs, worsening the disease, and their pulses were not weak. This is similar to Li Dongyuan treating red eyes, irritability, thirst with drinking, pulse rate of 7-8 beats per breath, empty upon pressure, diagnosing it as rootless fire, and curing it with Jiang (Ginger), Fuzi (Aconite), and Renshen (Ginseng). Both are false cold and false heat, and can be referenced mutually. As recorded in the *History of the Southern Dynasties*, General Fang Boyu took five-stone powder (Wushi San) for about ten doses and subsequently suffered from a cold disease, wearing multiple layers of clothing in summer. Xu Sibai diagnosed him: "You have latent heat, which must be released with water, not in winter." In November, when the cold was severe, two people held Fang Boyu, stripped him, sat him on a stone, and poured cold water over his head. Gas bubbled up. Fang Boyu said: "The heat is unbearable, I beg for frozen drink." Xu Sibai gave him water. He drank one dou (approx. 2 liters) at a time, and then recovered. This is similar to Hua Tuo treating a woman who had been ill for years. In November, he had her sit in a stone trough and pour cold water on her in the early morning, saying it should reach one hundred times. By the seventh or eighth pouring, she trembled as if dying. The person pouring the water was afraid and wanted to stop, but Hua Tuo refused. At the eightieth pouring, heat vaporized out. After one hundred pours, she was fully cured. Then she was placed on a warm bed, covered thickly, sweat poured out, powder was applied, and she recovered. The two treatments were identical, but Hua Tuo’s case did not record aversion to cold, only mentioning the worldly "cold-hot injection disease," likely resembling modern tuberculosis (Lao Zhai), characterized by daily chills and fever, such as corpse-infection, insect-infection, ghost-infection, etc. Today, if hundreds of treatments fail, without Master Hua’s method, how could one raise the dead?

Li Shizhen said: The diseases suffered by both men were latent fire syndromes. As stated in the *Su Wen*: "All cases of closure, drumming, and shivering belong to fire." The treatment principle is: When fire is stagnant, disperse it. These two doctors poured cold water in winter at dawn because after the Winter Solstice, Yang Qi is inside. Dawn is also when Yang Qi begins to flourish. Using cold to suppress heat causes the Qi to become extremely stagnant, stimulating it to release through sweating. This follows the principle that things do not reverse unless they reach an extreme, which is also the meaning of "dispersing." The *Su Wen* states: Correct treatment addresses correct patterns; contrary treatment addresses contrary patterns. Reverse to follow, follow to reverse, unblock the pathways, and harmonize the Qi. In spring, Yang Qi has leaked; in summer and autumn, Yin Qi is inside. Therefore, it can only be performed after November. The medical skills of these two gentlemen can be called divine.

Yu Zhen’s commentary: Medical principles change, truly having no fixed grip. The sages often say that in months of closure and storage, sweating should not be induced. Yet here, it must be done after the Winter Solstice. Why is it so contradictory? Essentially, skilled physicians find that both statements have their own validity; unskilled physicians find that neither statement fits the disease accurately. This is the difference between a divine physician and a mediocre one.