Library

To treat upper jiao asthma and cough that persist for a long time without healing.
*Adenophorae Radix* (Kuandonghua), *Ophiopogonis Tuber* (Maimendong, removed heart), *Pruni Mume Semen* (Wumei Rou), *Tussilaginis Flos* (Erkecao) (each 2.5 qian), *Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium* (Chenpi, removed white pith, 0.5 liang), *Papaveris Capsula* (Suke, 7.5 qian, honey-fried), *Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma* (Gancao, fried, 3.5 qian).
Grind the above herbs into fine powder. Take 3 qian per dose, add one cup of water and a piece of yellow beeswax the size of a date pit, decoct together until 80% remains, filter out the dregs, and take warm before sleep.

To treat all kinds of coughs, whether recent or chronic; also treats coughs in women during pregnancy and postpartum.
*Realgar* (Xionghuang, 0.5 liang), *Ginseng Radix* (Renshen), *Artemisiae Argyi Folium* (Aiye) (each 3 qian), *Adenophorae Radix* (Kuandonghua), *Tussilaginis Flos* (Erkecao) (each 2.5 qian).
Grind the above herbs into fine powder. Use thick wax paper cut to 4 cun wide and 8 cun long, roll it into a tube, fill with the medicine inside, ignite it to produce smoke, and inhale the smoke into the throat.

To treat chronic coughs over many years, with lung deficiency accompanied by cold and heat symptoms.
Take an appropriate amount of *Adenophorae Radix* (Kuandonghua), burn it in a sealed room like incense. When smoke rises, use a brush handle as a tube to inhale and swallow the smoke; or burn it like incense where you sit or lie down, even if not actively inhaled, it is also beneficial. Severe cases show improvement after a few days, mild cases improve immediately. Another method: if dry throat and mouth occur, swallow the powder with tea infusion.
People with year-long coughs are difficult to cure; do not seek random doctors and waste money;
Finely grind *Adenophorae Radix* (Kuandonghua) into powder, ignite it to produce smoke, and inhale it from the mouth directly into the throat.

To treat all kinds of coughs, regardless of new or old, with incessant asthmatic shortness of breath, day and night without limit.
*Adenophorae Radix* (Kuandonghua, value 200 wen), *Tussilaginis Flos* (Erkecao, value 50 wen), *Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata* (Shudihuang, 2 liang).
Bake dry and grind into powder. Take two large qian each time, place in a fierce-fire incense burner to burn, make a paper tube with one end large and one end small, like a zongzi [wrapper], attach it to the smoke outlet, and inhale the smoke through the paper tube.

Various formulas discuss phlegm-fluid retention (Tan Yin) as a disease. Some cases arise from qi and vessel blockage, obstruction of body fluids, stagnation of water-fluid retention, condensing into phlegm; some cases arise from weak stomach qi, inability to transport and transform food and fluids into phlegm; some cases arise from drinking water after alcohol consumption, stagnating in the spleen and stomach to form phlegm; some cases arise from wind-cold-dampness invading the spleen, interacting to form phlegm. The onset of this condition varies in pathogenic factors, making it hard to list them all. Moreover, the human spleen and stomach serve as granaries to receive grain. Due to spleen weakness failing to transport, qi and blood lose nourishment and thus fail to circulate throughout the body. The airway becomes congested and obstructed, the middle jiao fails to rot and cook grain, leading to stagnation. There may be excessive emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, etc., irregular diet and lifestyle, internal accumulation of damp-heat, external confrontation of wind-cold, all becoming phlegm-fluid retention. After transformation, they manifest as cold or heat, asthma or cough, vomiting, dorsal rigidity, swelling and fullness, vertigo, wind epilepsy, belching, acid regurgitation, gastric discomfort, epigastric stuffiness, pain, palpitations. These are all diseases caused by phlegm. *Neijing* states: From the perspective of spleen-stomach damp-earth, excess leads to fluid accumulation. In several entries regarding epigastric stuffiness and fluid retention originating internally, the term "phlegm" is not mentioned. Since Zhang Zhongjing divided fluid retention into four types: Tan Yin (Phlegm-Fluid), Xuan Yin (Hanging Fluid), Yi Yin (Overflowing Fluid), Zhi Yin (Branch Fluid). Later scholars added Liu Yin (Retained Fluid), calling them five fluid retentions. First is Xuan Yin: water flows under the hypochondrium, causing pain upon coughing. Second is Yi Yin: water flows into the four limbs, sweating should occur but does not, body feels heavy and painful; Third is Zhi Yin: cough with reversed qi leaning on breathing, shortness of breath unable to lie flat, shape resembles swelling; Fourth is Tan Yin: the person is constitutionally deficient, gurgling sounds in the intestines; Fifth is Liu Yin: aversion to cold on the back, or shortness of breath with thirst, pain in the four limbs and joints, fullness under the hypochondrium radiating to the clavicular fossa, cough worsening. Pang Anchang said: The human body has no phlegm flowing upwards against gravity, and the world has no water flowing upstream. Indeed true words. For example, head wind and pain at the eyebrow ridge, repeatedly using wind-dispelling herbs ineffective, using phlegm-resolving herbs achieves success. For red, light-sensitive, painful eyes, cooling herbs do not heal, but phlegm-resolving agents achieve recovery. All these conditions, deduced by pulse theory, Zhu Danxi analyzed causes separately, applying methods of emesis, purgation, drying, moistening, warming dispersal, ascending-descending, resolving-moving, softening-lifting-tonifying, which was most appropriate. Liu Wansu and Zhang Yuansu further discussed phlegm-fluid retention, their texts being chaotic. Li Dongyuan said: Spleen-earth corresponds to heaven, also belonging to damp-transformation. Classics state that when food-grain body fluids do not flow, they stagnate and become phlegm-fluid retention. Therefore, the distinction of five phlegms refers to damp-heat multiplying each other: if dampness is in the Heart channel, it is called Heat Phlegm, congealing like glue, red color; if dampness is in the Liver channel, it is called Wind Phlegm, green color like foam; if dampness is in the Spleen channel, it is called Damp Phlegm, dampness lingering generating heat, yellow color; if dampness is in the Lung channel, it is called Qi Phlegm, white color, expectorated like rice grains; if dampness is in the Kidney channel, it is called Cold Phlegm, black color like saliva. Thus speaking, annual climatic evil invades the spleen and stomach, body fluids do not distribute, accumulating into phlegm-fluid retention, inevitably transforming into the five phlegms according to the qi invaded. Moreover, the human airway must be smooth; smooth means body fluids flow freely, absolutely no phlegm-fluid retention. Diagnosing the pulse: biased wiry indicates fluid retention, floating and slippery also indicates phlegm. Treatment methods include purgation or diaphoresis, warming or draining, but nothing is better than smoothing qi first, followed by separating and guiding. When qi is smooth and flowing, phlegm-fluid naturally descends. Facing illness diagnosis and observation, one must be detailed and prudent.