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Shangshe Zhang Huaichi experienced bowel sounds and diarrhea once or twice every morning, and once in the evening. He was forty-two years old and had no children. Upon examination, his Cun (Inch) and Chi (Cubit) pulses were short and weak, while the Right Guan (Bar) pulse was slippery and large. I stated that this condition was due to damp-phlegm in the Middle Jiao (Middle Burner), with insufficiency of both Ministerial Fire (Xiang Huo) and Sovereign Fire (Jun Huo). I prescribed Liu Jun Zi Tang (Six Gentlemen Decoction) added with Semen Cuscutae (Pogu Zhi), Cortex Cinnamomi (Guixin), Fructus Alpiniae Oxyphyllae (Yizhiren), and Semen Myristicae (Roudoukou). The decoction was taken orally, and the diarrhea decreased by half. Subsequently, Du Zhong (Cortex Eucommiae) was added to the previous formula to make pills, which cured him; he fathered a child the following year.

The Second Old Madam of Zang Qifang, aged sixty-eight, suffered from dysentery. After overeating cooked water chestnuts and tofu skin soup post-dysentery, she developed loose stools with loss of control. Ingested liquids passed through directly without stopping. She experienced fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, weakness in speech, dry tongue and mouth with sores, and throat pain upon swallowing saliva. Her Yuan Qi (Original Qi) was severely deficient yet presented with heat, all caused by Deficient Fire. Furthermore, having been a vegetarian for over twenty years and currently recovering from dysentery, it was evident that this was not an Excess syndrome. Her Cun and Chi pulses were both weak, and the Guan pulses on both sides were slippery and large. The *Nei Jing* (Inner Canon) states: "When Clear Qi descends below, Sundry Diarrhea (Sun Xie) occurs; when Turbid Qi remains above, Distension (Zhang) results." This is precisely such a case. The treatment method should be to raise the Clear Qi and descend the Turbid Qi, while tonifying the Yuan Qi. Si Jun Zi Tang (Four Gentlemen Decoction) was used as the base. Ge Gen (Radix Puerariae), Bai Shao Yao (Radix Paeoniae Alba), and Huang Lian (Rhizoma Coptidis) were added to clear Deficient Heat and stop dryness/thirst as the Sovereign herbs (Jun). Jie Geng (Radix Platycodi) assisted Ge Gen in raising Clear Qi as the Minister herbs (Chen). Chen Pi (Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae) and Mai Ya (Fructus Hordei Germinatus) were added to descend Turbid Qi and relieve chest fullness as the Assistant herbs (Zuo). Wu Mei (Fructus Mume) was added as the Envoy herb (Shi). The former promoted fluid generation above, and the latter stopped turbidity below. After two doses, the Cun and Chi pulses slightly recovered, food stayed in the stomach, and vitality returned. The same formula was continued with added Bai Bian Dou (Semen Dolichoris Lablabis) and Shen Qu (Massa Medicata Fermentata), mixed with paste to form pills, leading to recovery through regulation.

Madam Cai, wife of Magistrate Cai Lechuan, suffered from headache described as feeling like her head was breaking apart. Slight movement of the hair roots extended the pain throughout the entire head, accompanied by fainting and loss of consciousness, recovering only after half an hour. Her whole body ached, with fullness and oppression in the chest and diaphragm, and ingested fluids remained stuck in the epigastrium without descending. The day prior, she vomited clear fluid several times and expelled three roundworms. The illness originated from anger. Currently, she alternated between aversion to wind and aversion to heat, thirst and lack thereof, constipation, and her six positions (all pulses) were slippery, large, and forceful. I diagnosed this as Phlegm-Jue Headache. First, Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San (Agarweed Powder to Rectify the Qi) was used to stop vomiting, followed by Niu Huang Wan (Calculus Bovis Pill) and Hei Hu Dan (Black Tiger Pellet) to clear the mind and restore consciousness. However, the headache persisted severely. Tian Ma (Rhizoma Gastrodiae) and Xi Xin (Herba Asari, note: text says 本 likely referring to Gaoben/Ligusticum) each at 3 qian, Ban Xia (Rhizoma Pinelliae) at 2 qian, combined with Chen Pi, Bai Zhi, Bo He, Ma Huang, Sheng Jiang, and Cong Bai, were decocted and taken. Slight sweating occurred, and the headache subsided somewhat. Taking it again at night, by Wugeng (early morning), the pain ceased by more than half, though mental clarity was not fully restored. I reasoned that excessive phlegm in the Middle Jiao required purgation. Thus, Ban Xia (5 qian) and Ba Dou Shuang (1 fen) were made into pills with flour paste, thirty pills per dose, taken with Ginger Decoction. Three bowel movements occurred in the afternoon, consisting of thick, sticky phlegm accumulations. Consequently, food intake increased, other symptoms improved, except for slight body aches. Er Chen Tang (Two-Cured Decoction) was then modified with adding Qian Hu, Shi Gao, Xi Xin (Gaoben), Bo He, Zhi Ke, Huang Qin, and Shi Chang Pu, leading to recovery through regulation.