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In general, when palpating the pulse, one should observe the patient's body size, height and length, as well as their temperament, whether slow or urgent. If the slowness, speed, magnitude, and length of the pulse correspond to the patient's physique and temperament, the prognosis is auspicious; conversely, it is inauspicious.

When diagnosing Shanghan (Cold Damage) with intense heat, a floating and large pulse indicates survival, while a deep and small pulse indicates death.
After sweating has occurred in Shanghan, a deep and small pulse indicates survival, while a floating and large pulse indicates death.
In Wenbing (Warm Disease), if no sweat occurs within three to four days, a large and rapid pulse indicates survival, while a fine and difficult-to-feel pulse indicates death and untreatability.
During an epidemic of Wenbing with high fever, a fine pulse indicates death. (The *Mai Jing* states: "When epidemic diseases occur, the pulse is full.")
If Wenbing presents with diarrhea and severe abdominal pain, it indicates death and untreatability.
If Wenbing presents with no sweat, or sweat that does not reach the feet, it indicates death.
In Jue-ni (Cold Reversal) with sweating, a firm, strong, and urgent pulse indicates survival, while a weak and slow pulse indicates death.
In Rebing (Heat Disease) on the second or third day, with body heat, abdominal fullness, headache, but normal appetite, a straight and rapid pulse indicates death on the eighth day.
On the fourth or fifth day, with headache, abdominal pain, and vomiting, a pulse that comes forth fine and strong indicates death on the twelfth day.
On the eighth or ninth day, without headache or body pain, with red eyes or changed complexion absent, but instead presenting with diarrhea, a pulsation that is hurried, non-elastic upon pressure, and occasionally enlarged, accompanied by hardness below the heart, indicates death on the seventeenth day.
In Rebing on the seventh or eighth day, if the pulse is not soft (alternatively described as panting) and not scattered (alternatively described as rapid), aphonia should occur; if no sweat follows after three days of aphonia, it indicates death.
In Rebing on the seventh or eighth day, with a micro-fine pulse, difficulty in urination, sudden dry mouth, intermitted pulse, and a scorched, blackened tongue, it indicates death.
In Rebing without sweat, a盛大 (grand) and restless pulse indicates difficulty in recovery; if sweat occurs, it indicates survival.
In Rebing after sweat has occurred, a quiet and calm pulse indicates survival, while a restless pulse indicates difficulty in treatment.
In Rebing, if the pulse is restless and excessive without sweat, this represents the extreme of Yang Qi; it is ten deaths with no cure.
In Rebing after sweat has occurred, if the pulse remains constantly restless, this represents the extreme of Yin Qi, and also indicates death. (*Tai Su* reads "extreme of Yang").
In Rebing after sweat has occurred, if high fever persists, it also indicates death. ("Large" alternatively reads "special").
In Rebing after sweat has occurred, if heat has not subsided and the pulse is slightly restless, acupuncture treatment must be approached with caution.
In Rebing with severe fever, if both Yin and Yang pulses are exhausted, do not use acupuncture; otherwise, no sweat will occur, and diarrhea will inevitably follow.
When diagnosing wind-induced numbness and flaccidity, a weak pulse indicates survival. (*Chao Shi Bing Yuan* states: "A weak and rapid pulse indicates survival.") A firm, urgent, and rapid pulse indicates death.
When diagn Dian disease (epilepsy/mental disorder), a weak pulse indicates treatability, while a solid pulse indicates death. It is also stated that a solid and firm pulse indicates survival, while a deep and fine pulse indicates death.
If the pulse in Dian disease is large and slippery, it will naturally resolve over time; if the pulse is deep, small, urgent, and solid, it is untreatable; if small, firm, and urgent, it is also uncurable.
When diagnosing headache and eye pain, inability to see even after prolonged (or sudden) viewing indicates death.
When diagnosing accumulation masses in the heart and abdomen, a firm, strong, and urgent pulse indicates survival, while a weak pulse indicates death. It is also stated that a solid and strong pulse indicates survival, while a deep pulse indicates death.
If the pulse is large, the abdomen is distended, and the limbs are cold, a long pulse form indicates death.
With abdominal fullness and bloody stool, if the pulse is large and frequently intermittent with massive bleeding, a small and rapid pulse indicates death.
With heart and abdominal pain, where pain is so severe that breathing is interrupted, a fine, small, and slow pulse indicates survival, while a firm, large, and rapid pulse indicates death.
In Changpi (intestinal dysentery) with bloody stool, body heat indicates death, while cold indicates survival.
In Changpi with white mucus discharge, a deep pulse indicates survival, while a floating pulse indicates death.
In Changpi with pus and blood discharge, a suspended and extreme pulse indicates death, while a slippery and large pulse indicates survival.
For conditions belonging to Changpi, if there is body heat, a pulse that is not suspended/extreme but is slippery and large indicates survival; a wiry and choppy pulse indicates death; the time of death can be predicted based on the Zang organs.
In Changpi with pus and blood discharge, a deep, small, and lingering pulse indicates survival; a rapid, frequent, and large pulse with heat indicates death.
In Changpi with muscle cramps, a small, fine, and quiet pulse indicates survival; a floating, large, and tight pulse indicates death.
In Dongxie (profuse watery diarrhea) with undigested food and pus/blood discharge, a micro-pulse indicates survival, while an urgent pulse indicates death.
In Xiezhù (diarrhea with urgency), a slow pulse with occasional small knots indicates survival, while a floating, large, and rapid pulse indicates death.
In Shiyin Zhu (corrosive yin pestilence), a weak and small pulse indicates survival, while an urgent pulse indicates death.
In coughing, a deep and tight pulse indicates death, while a floating and straight pulse indicates survival. A floating and soft pulse indicates survival, while a small, deep, and hidden pulse indicates death.
In coughing with emaciation, a firm and large pulse indicates death.
In coughing with physical depletion and fever, a small, firm, and urgent pulse indicates death.
With muscle wasting and physical depletion, if fever persists, it indicates death.
In coughing with vomiting, abdominal distension, and diarrhea, a wiry and urgent pulse nearing extinction indicates death.
In hematemesis (vomiting blood) and epistaxis (nosebleed), a slippery, small, and weak pulse indicates survival, while a solid and large pulse indicates death. With sweating or nosebleed, a small and slippery pulse indicates survival, while a large and restless pulse indicates death.
In spitting blood, a tight and strong pulse indicates death, while a slippery pulse indicates survival.
In hematemesis with coughing and rebellious Qi, a rapid pulse with heat and inability to lie down indicates death.
In Shanghan patients with coughing and rebellious Qi, a rapid and scattered pulse indicates death, due to the damage of the person's physique.
In rebellious Qi with wheezing and loud breathing sounds, a slippery pulse with warm hands and feet indicates survival, while a choppy pulse with cold limbs indicates death.
In rebellious Qi with facial edema and shoulder breathing (accessory muscle respiration), a large pulse is untreatable; if accompanied by diarrhea, it is fatal. (Alternatively: "even more severe").
In rebellious Qi with fluid secretion, a void, quiet, and hidden pulse indicates survival, while a firm pulse indicates death.
When Cold Qi attacks upward, a solid and smooth pulse indicates survival, while a solid and reverse/choppy pulse indicates death. (*Tai Su* states: "When Cold Qi suddenly ascends and the pulse is full and solid, how is it judged? Answer: Solid and smooth indicates survival; solid and reverse indicates death. How is it judged when the entire form is full? Answer: When the whole body is full, the pulse is urgent, large, and firm, with the Chi position being full but unresponsive. In such cases, smooth indicates survival, reverse indicates death. What constitutes smooth survival and reverse death? Answer: Smooth refers to warm hands and feet. Reverse refers to cold hands and feet.")
In Xiaoke (wasting-thirst), a rapid and large pulse indicates survival, while a fine, floating, and short pulse indicates death.
In Dan disease, a solid and large pulse allows for treatment even if the disease is chronic; a wiry, small, firm, and urgent pulse makes chronic disease untreatable.
In Zhangbi (distension and closure), a floating, large, and soft pulse indicates survival, while a deep, fine, void, and small pulse indicates death.
In Shuibing (water disease) with a drum-like distended abdomen, a solid pulse indicates survival, while a void pulse indicates death.
In Zhongfeng E (sudden evil stroke) with several sheng of vomited blood, a floating, large, and rapid pulse indicates survival, while a deep, fine, and rapid pulse indicates death.
In Zhongfeng E with abdominal distension and limb fullness, a large and slow pulse indicates survival, while a floating and tight pulse indicates death; a tight, fine, and minute pulse also indicates survival.
In Chuangbing (wound disease) with stiffness and spasms of the waist and spine, all are untreatable.
In Hanre Chouye (cold-heat spasms), the [missing term] indicates death.
In Jinchuang (metal wound) with excessive bleeding, a void and fine pulse indicates survival, while a rapid, solid, and large pulse indicates death.
In Jinchuang with bleeding, a deep and small pulse indicates survival, while a floating and large pulse indicates death.
In chopping wounds with loss of one or two sheng of blood, a large incoming pulse indicates death in twenty days.
In combined chopping and stabbing injuries with varying degrees of blood loss that does not stop, a large incoming pulse indicates death in seven days.
From a fall from height with internal blood stasis and abdominal distension, a firm pulse indicates survival, while a small and weak pulse indicates death.
If poisoned by various medicines, a洪大 (grand-large) and fast pulse indicates survival (Mai Jing reads "slow"), while a micro and fine pulse indicates death.
If the disease is severe but the pulse is irregular, recovery is difficult.
If the disease is severe but the pulse is grand, recovery is easy.
If Yin and Yang are both knotted, and the upper teeth appear like cooked small beans, a restless pulse indicates death. ("Knot" alternatively reads "exhaustion").
If both interior and exterior are void, with a cold body and sweating, slight vomiting and restlessness, cold reversal of hands and feet, and bodily unrest, it indicates death.
With a solid and full pulse, cold hands and feet, and head heat, survival in Spring/Autumn, death in Winter/Summer.
In the elderly with a micro pulse, Yang deficiency and Yin excess indicate survival; a blazing, large pulse with added breath indicates death. Yin deficiency and Yang excess, with an intermitted pulse, indicates death in one month.
A Chi pulse that is choppy and firm indicates Blood excess and Qi deficiency. The disease involves abdominal pain, rebellious fullness, and Qi ascending. This is due to injury in the uterus of women, with bad blood, eventually forming a mass. If contracted in winter, death occurs when millet turns red.
A Chi pulse that is fine and micro indicates deficiency of both Blood and Qi. If fine yet forceful, it indicates deficiency of Grain Qi. The disease fluctuates with solar terms; death occurs when jujube leaves sprout, as the disease was contracted in autumn.
If the Cun Kou pulse on the left hand moves unevenly, alternating between large and small and irregular, shaking everywhere from Cun to Guan to Chi, each position differing, and the disease was contracted in mid-summer, death occurs when peach blossoms fall. ("Flower" alternatively reads "leaf").
If the Cun Kou pulse on the right hand is predominantly deep and hidden, alternating between small and large, floating and large in the morning, deep and hidden at night. Floating and large means excess, extending above the Yu Ji point. Deep and hidden means not reaching the Guan position, coming and going unpredictably, returning occasionally; death occurs when elm leaves (alternatively pods) fall.
If the Chi pulse on the right hand stops every thirty beats, recovering after a moment, or stops every twenty beats, returning with a reverse flow like touching a straight piece of wood, or a drawn bowstring, or gurgling like two people pulling a rope together, death occurs at Lichun (Start of Spring). (*Mai Jing* reads Lidong, Start of Winter.)