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Zi Hehe treated Li Jie from Zezhou, who suddenly suffered from toothache, with a furrowed brow and silence. A guest saw him and asked, "Why are you not happy?" Li replied, "Toothache." The guest said, "I once heard Dai Ren (Zi Hehe) say: this is due to excess pathogenic heat in the Yangming channel; it should be treated with severe purgation." Thus, he prescribed seventy pills of Zhouche Wan (Boat and Cart Pill). After finishing the medication, he took medicine for residual fluid retention, which was triggered by salt wine, causing vomiting. After vomiting ceased, the pain stopped. The patient was greatly pleased, saying, "Dai Ren is an immortal!" Three days later, the pain recurred. He took another hundred pills of the previous medicine, defecated several times, and was cured without recurrence.

Zhu Danxi treated a woman in her thirties suffering from unbearable toothache. The pain temporarily subsided when she sucked cool air through her mouth but returned when her mouth was closed. This was caused by damp-heat in the Yangming channel. He used Huanglian (Coptidis Rhizoma), Hutonglei (Tamarici Flos - bitter and cold), Bohe (Menthae Haplocalycis Herba), and Jingjie (Schizonepetae Spica) - pungent and cool - as the main treatment for damp-heat. Shengma ( Cimicifugae Rhizoma ), bitter and neutral, served as the guiding herb for the Yangming channel. Since teeth are the surplus of bones, sheep bone was used as an adjuvant to tonify. A small amount of Shexiang (Moschus) was used as a guide. All were ground into fine powder and applied externally to the affected area, reducing the pain by half. Subsequently, Tiaowei Chengqi Tang (Regulate the Stomach and Order the Decoction) plus Nuxiao (Natrii Sulfas) and Huanglian was used to treat the root cause. After two or three bowel movements, the medication was stopped, and the condition did not recur.

The *Neijing* states: When one Yin and one Yang knot together, it is called Hou Bi (throat obstruction). (One Yin refers to Jueyin Wind-Wood, and one Yang refers to Shaoyang Ministerial Fire; wind and fire knot and stagnate in the throat, forming obstruction if not dispersed.) It also states: The throat and pharynx are the pathways for water and food. The larynx is the passage for Qi to ascend and descend. The epiglottis is the gate of voice. The Foot-Shaoyin Kidney channel ascends to tie with the tongue, connects to the transverse bone, and terminates at the epiglottis. Needling the blood vessels on both sides allows turbid Qi to be expelled.

The *Yuan Bing Shi* states: Hou Bi involves numbness and insensibility; colloquially written as "Bi" (closure), meaning blockage. Fire governs swelling; thus, when heat pathogens lodge in the Upper Jiao, the throat and pharynx swell.

Li Dongyuan stated: Fire and Yuan Qi (Original Qi) cannot coexist; when one prevails, the other declines. Once Yuan Qi is deficient, Ministerial Fire arises accordingly, leading to various diseases of the throat. The throat, pharynx, and epiglottis are referred to as Xi Men (Inhalation Gate) in the *Neijing*. The pharynx receives Qi, the larynx receives food, and the epiglottis, located superiorly, controls opening and closing. During swallowing, it covers the food descending; if not covered, the larynx becomes disordered. One must press the tongue against the upper palate for the epiglottis to close properly. The pharynx conducts food and drink and governs respiratory ascent and descent; it is like a bellows (Tuo Yue) in the human body, a tightly closed gateway. If suddenly one cannot swallow fluids or speak, death may occur in an instant. This is truly alarming. Colloquially known as Double Ru E (tonsillar tonsillitis) or Single Ru E, ancient formulas generally refer to it as Hou Bi, all caused by the counterflow of Ministerial Fire.