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The body's Qi and Blood have deficiency and excess conditions; the onset of sores and ulcers varies in severity; treatment methods include purgation (attacking) and tonification. Yuan Rong stated: If a person has stagnant and abundant Qi and Blood, with full Ying and Wei (Defensive and Nutritive Qi) that are obstructed and unable to circulate freely, leading to putrefaction and heat transformation resulting in an abscess, one should employ purgation to drain the excessive heat. If a person has poor appetite and reduced food intake, with depleted spirit and weakened constitution, where Ying and Wei are short and stagnant, and cold pathogens bind together causing an abscess, one should employ tonification to support the deficient and frail Qi. Master Danxi stated: In the early stage of ulceration (swelling before rupture), when both interior and exterior are deficient, the primary approach should be tonification and supplementation combined with promoting circulation and dispersing stagnation. Generally, the principle of medication is like using a balance scale; one must examine the severity of the disease, whether the pathogen is accumulated in the exterior or interior, whether the sore toxin is swollen or ruptured, and whether the Yuan Qi (Original Qi) is deficient or excess. If the etiology is not thoroughly investigated and medication is administered rashly, it will result in reinforcing excess and depleting deficiency, making the disaster of the "Seven Evils" (severe complications) unavoidable. Practitioners must exercise caution.

Clinical Cases:
Sheng Yuanbo, a scholar-official at the local academy, developed a carbuncle on his hand behind the palm, with a red streak extending to the wrist, accompanied by aversion to cold and fever. The condition belonged to an exterior syndrome. After administering one dose of Deming Dan (Life-Rescuing Pill), the red streak disappeared instantly; subsequently, a harmonizing formula was used, and the major symptoms subsided. He later took antitoxic drugs on his own, resulting in fever, dry mouth, and the reappearance of the red streak. His pulse was floating, large, and deficient, indicating injury to Qi and Blood. He was treated with Buzhong Yiqi Tang (Tonify the Middle and Augment the Qi Decoction) and recovered. This is because Deming Dan and antitoxic drugs are particularly potent; using them after the sore pathogen had already dispersed constituted excessive attack, damaging healthy Qi.

A Confucian scholar with inherently weak Yuan Qi was treated by me with tonification for Qi and Blood, discharged pus, and recovered. Later, due to overwork, the scar tissue of the sore became itchy. He took one dose of antitoxic drug separately, which led to [missing text/collapse], and he revived after being force-fed decoction.

A man suffered from a carbuncle. After taking Deming Dan, he experienced continuous sweating without pain at the sore site, persistent fever without normal urination. This indicated Yang depletion due to excessive sweating, with intense toxin accumulation injuring true Qi. I prescribed Ren Shen (Ginseng Root), [missing herb], Dang Gui (Angelica Sinensis Root), Bai Zhu (Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizome), Shao Yao (Peony Root), Fang Feng (Saposhnikovia Root), and Wu Wei Zi (Schisandra Fruit). After two doses, all symptoms resolved, though he remained worried about difficulty in urination. I said: After profuse sweating, diuresis should not be induced. Once sweating stops and Yang Qi recovers, urination will normalize naturally. I continued with the previous prescription, removed Fang Feng, added Mai Men Dong (Ophiopogon Tuber), and doubled the dosage of Dang Gui and Huang Qi (Astragalus Root). After four doses, urination resumed, the sore ruptured, and he recovered.