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Brother Songyi Cheng suffered from Jiudan (Alcohol-induced Jaundice), with yellowing of the entire body, urine as dark as cypress juice, eyes resembling gold plating, sweat staining clothes like dye, chest and diaphragm fullness and obstruction, loss of taste in the mouth, soreness and weakness in the four limbs, and a soggy and rapid pulse. A prescription of Siling San (Four-Ling Powder) was used with added Houpo (Magnolia Bark), Chenpi (Tangerine Peel), Tangqiuzi, Maiya (Malt), and Gegen (Kudzu Root). Qinghao (Artemisia Annua) was doubled in amount for decoction with water. Before administration, one small cup of fresh juice from Xuanguangen (Daylily Root) was added. After four doses, the jaundice completely disappeared.

Among the thousand students under Qiyuan of the Imperial Academy, there was one named Zhongjian who suffered from Kuma Yong (Cross-Horse Carbuncle, a carbuncle occurring across the groin). He experienced severe chills and fever, redness, swelling, pain, vomiting, nausea, and inability to retain food. An external medicine physician treated him for over a month, yet the swelling and pain increased daily, food intake decreased daily, muscles wasted away daily, and his spirit became extremely exhausted, rendering him unable to rise or move on his own. Qiyuan invited me to examine him. His pulses in all six positions were rapid but forceless; his physical form and qi were extremely deficient, barely able to sustain respiration. At that time, a specialist physician, Mr. Tang, was preparing a prescription for him to take. I asked what the prescription was. Tang replied, "It is Zhenren Huoming Yin (True Man's Life-Sustaining Decoction). He has already taken four doses, and now Rhubarb is being added." I asked again, "What was prescribed before?" Tang said, "Baidu San (Detoxification Powder) and Huanglian Jiedu Tang (Coptis Decoction for Detoxifying Heat)." I explained to him, "These are treatments for diseases in their initial stage characterized by excess pathogenic factors. Based on the current symptoms, this is a condition of severe deficiency of both qi and blood. The treatment method should be major tonification to support the expulsion of toxins, so that ultimate safety may be preserved." Tang said, "Generally, pain indicates excess, while itching indicates deficiency. Now the pain is intense, the pulse is rapid, and he cannot even eat; major tonification will surely cause bloating and fullness. How can food enter? How can heat toxins exit?" I spoke seriously to him, saying, "The Suwen states that a rapid pulse indicates heat pathogens, but the symptoms manifest as deficiency. The current extreme pain is caused by cold-natured detoxifying agents damaging the spleen and stomach, congealing qi and blood, thus reducing food intake and increasing pain. To administer more detoxifying agents now would be akin to administering poison. How can you expect pus to discharge and life to be saved?" Tang said, "Tonifying prescriptions are used after the abscess ruptures or when the pus is clear. Since the pus has not yet emerged, how can it be considered deficiency requiring tonification? I am a specialist and dare not assume responsibility for this." I looked at Qiyuan and said, "Life and death depend on this single dose; caution is essential. He claims there is no rationale for tonification before pus emergence, but are Paion Neituo San (Pus-Discharging and Interior-Supporting Powder) and Shiquan Dabu Tang (Complete Great Tonifying Decoction) not urgent remedies in external medicine? Generally speaking, in any disease, it is better to have excess pathogens that can later be easily cleared than to face such a desperate situation where further depletion of healthy qi makes treatment impossible. If we rigidly adhere to established methods, depleting the patient further, how will we manage the case?" Qiyuan said, "This is the view of a frog in a well; how could it know the vastness of the sky? I follow your prescription entirely." I prescribed Huangqi (Astragalus Root) 3 qian, Renshen (Ginseng Root) 2 qian, Chuanxiong (Sichuan Lovage Rhizome) and Danggui (Angelica Sinensis Root) each 1 qian, Baizhi (Angelica Dahurica Root), Guigui (Cinnamon Twig), Gancao (Licorice Root), and Fangfeng (Saposhnikovia Root) each 5 fen. It was decocted rapidly and administered. After one dose, the pain ceased, spirit returned, and food intake resumed. After two more doses, the abscess ruptured. After ten doses, flesh regenerated, and movement was restored. Tang then slapped his chest, clicking his tongue and saying to his colleagues, "From now on, I realize that tonifying agents can promote pus discharge and increase appetite. We practitioners of external medicine must forever remember this as our rule."