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A person suffering from a carbuncle in the stomach region (Wei Wan Yong, an abscess or suppurative inflammation of the stomach), how should it be diagnosed? It is said: When diagnosing this condition, one must observe the Stomach pulse. The pulse should be deep and fine (Chen Xi). A deep and fine pulse indicates rebellious Qi (Qi Ni). Rebellious Qi causes the Renying pulse (Renying, the carotid artery reflecting the state of the Stomach meridian) to become extremely full and vigorous, generating heat.

The Renying pulse belongs to the Stomach meridian. When Qi is rebellious and the pulse is full, heat gathers at the gastric opening but cannot circulate, thus causing a carbuncle in the stomach region.

The following six entries are all pulse cases from the *Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon), intended to teach diagnostic methods. In diagnosis, one must not neglect both complexion and pulse observation; particularly with pulse diagnosis, one should calmly employ analogical comparison, tracing along the meridians from top to bottom to seek evidence and thereby ascertain the disease condition. For instance, in the case of a carbuncle in the stomach region, one should inspect the Stomach pulse. Since the Stomach pulse is now deep and fine, it indicates that Stomach Qi fails to ascend. The Renying pulse being upper and full indicates that heat gathers above and fails to descend. This conclusion is reached by deducing through the upper and lower aspects of the same meridian.

In a patient with Jue disease (Jue Bing, characterized by cold extremities), if the right pulse is deep and tight, and the left pulse is floating and slow, where is the primary pathology? Qibo stated: During winter diagnosis, the right pulse should naturally be deep and tight, conforming to the four seasons; however, the left pulse being floating and slow violates the seasonal pattern. An abnormality in the left pulse primarily indicates kidney disease, closely involving the lungs, and should manifest as lower back pain. The Foot-Shaoyin Kidney meridian passes through the kidneys and connects with the lungs. Now, having obtained a lung pulse (floating and slow), it indicates kidney pathology, hence the kidney is the source of the lower back pain.

For patients with Jue disease whose left and right pulses are inconsistent, one deduces based on the pulse violating the seasonal norms. Abnormality in the left pulse points primarily to the kidney, as the kidney governs during winter, especially when accompanied by lower back pain, confirming it as Kidney Jue. This deduction is made by analyzing the reversal of seasonal correspondences.

A patient suffers from Long (Long Bi, difficulty in urination), voiding urine dozens of times a day, indicating deficiency. The body feels hot like a charcoal fire, the neck and chest feel obstructed or blocked, the Renying pulse is restless and vigorous, with wheezing and rebellious Qi, indicating excess. The Taiyin pulse is minute and hair-thin, also indicating deficiency. Where is the disease located? It is answered: The disease lies in the Taiyin (Spleen), its excess is in the Yangming (Stomach), and it somewhat involves the Lung. The disease name is Jue, which is incurable and fatal. This is referred to as "Five Excesses and Two Deficiencies." The five excesses refer to the excess of five pathogenic qi factors; the two deficiencies refer to the insufficiency of pathological qi. Currently, there are five excesses externally and two deficiencies internally. Such a patient stands between exterior and interior, making death evident.

Long (urinary retention) occurs because Qi transformation fails to reach the Bladder (Zhou Du, the storehouse of fluids), while external signs like heat resembling charcoal and obstruction indicate Yang excess. Only the Taiyin pulse being minute like hair reveals that Taiyin Lung Qi cannot descend to transport fluids to the Bladder, indicating extreme middle-jiao deficiency, visible from the minute pulse. With five excesses externally, this is a diagnosis of Ge Yang (Ge Yang, true cold false heat syndrome), hence named Jue. The prognosis of death and incurability is determined by the two deficiencies: the minute pulse and urinary Long.

A patient presents with headache, tendon cramping, heavy bones, timidity with shortness of breath, belching, abdominal fullness, frequent fright, and insomnia. Which zang organ is the source? The pulse is floating and wiry, and firm/hard upon pressure (Shi Jian). Why are three organs implicated? It is answered: This refers to the principle of calm analogical reasoning. For the elderly, seek disease in the fu organs; for the young, in the meridians; for the prime-aged, in the zang organs. What you say is incorrect. This results from the stagnation of Eight Winds (Ba Feng, pathogenic winds from eight directions) transforming into heat, consuming and wasting the five zang organs, with pathogens transmitting and infecting each other. A floating and wiry pulse indicates Kidney deficiency. A deep and solid pulse indicates Kidney Qi internal stagnation. Timidity and shortness of breath occur because water pathways do not flow, leading to the exhaustion of form and Qi. Coughing and vexation result from rebellious Kidney Qi. One person's Qi has pathology in one zang organ. To speak of three organs contradicts diagnostic principles.

This entry presents diverse symptoms: headache and tendon cramping may enter the Taiyang channel; belching, belching, and abdominal fullness may enter the Taiyin channel; frequent fright and insomnia may enter the Yangming channel. However, the pulse being floating, wiry, and stone-hard raises doubts: floating might suggest Taiyin, wiry might suggest Jueyin, and stone-hard might suggest Shaoyin. Only by taking heavy bones, timidity, and shortness of breath as definitive indicators of Shaoyin can all symptoms be attributed to the Kidney. Floating indicates exterior without interior; wiry indicates the Kidney failing to nourish the Liver; stone-hard indicates Kidney Qi internal stagnation. Thus, these symptoms represent a diagnosis of Yuan Qi (Original Qi) failing to return to its root. This judgment is made based on the location of the disease root.

A patient presents with flaccidity of the four limbs, wheezing, coughing, hematochezia, and bleeding. The physician diagnoses Lung injury. The pulse is floating, large, and tight. Crude practitioners use bian stones (stone lancets) to bleed, and after bleeding stops, the body feels light. Why? It is answered: Your treatment deviates from the disease. The Sage treats according to laws and regulations, uses analogical reasoning, transforms and disseminates Qi, tracing from top to bottom, rather than rigidly adhering to scriptures. A floating, large, and empty pulse indicates Spleen Qi externally severed, departing from the Stomach to return to Yangming. When the Two Fires (Heart Fire and Mingmen Fire) cannot overcome the Three Waters (Cold/Water elements), the pulse becomes chaotic and irregular. Flaccidity of the four limbs indicates Spleen Jing (Essence) failing to circulate. Wheezing and coughing indicate Water Qi merging with Yangming. Hematochezia and bleeding occur because the pulse is urgent, leaving blood nowhere to go. Diagnosing Lung injury without employing analogical reasoning is flawed. If it were Lung injury, Spleen Qi would not guard, Stomach Qi would not clear, Jing Qi would not function, the True Zang pulse would break, meridians would sever peripherally, and the five zang organs would leak. Symptoms would be epistaxis or vomiting. These two scenarios are dissimilar.

The disease presents with flaccidity, wheezing, coughing, and bleeding. The pulse is floating, large, and tight. Large is the Spleen pulse; combined with floating and tight, it indicates Spleen injury with Qi failing to return inward, causing wheezing, coughing, and bleeding, as described. If diagnosed as Lung injury, neither the pulse nor the symptoms match, nor does the diagnostic logic hold. Peripheral meridian severance and zang leakage leading to epistaxis or vomiting differ significantly from Spleen injury. This is known through analogical reasoning.

Upon diagnosing a heart pulse that is urgent/tight, what is the disease? It is answered: The disease is named Xin Shan (Heart Hernia). There should be a palpable mass in the lower abdomen. The Heart is a Yang (Mu) organ, and the Small Intestine is its Shi (envoy/assistant). Therefore, it is said that there should be a palpable mass in the lower abdomen.

Urgent pulses generally indicate Cold. If only the Heart pulse is urgent, it suggests Cold knotting in the Heart. However, since the Heart is a Yang organ, it rarely knots directly; instead, the Cold knots in the Small Intestine, as the Small Intestine is the Heart's envoy. Thus, the pathology shifts there. This method allows one to know that if the Heart itself is not diseased, the pathology has shifted to its envoy. The therapeutic methods of diagnosticians cannot be exhaustively listed; by comprehending the pulse cases in the *Neijing*, one grasps more than half of them.