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Diagnosis of Jin Daobin. The left chi pulse is harmonious, while the right chi pulse resembles a taut bowstring or a passing rope, with the cun and guan positions being particularly sharp. I was startled by this and said: "The branches and leaves of this illness have not yet been harmed, but the root has already been shaken. It must have resulted from intercourse after excessive drinking." He replied: "It is true that such occurred, but I have abstained from sexual activity for three years and consumed approximately one jin of Ren Shen (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma). Since then, I have suffered no other distress. However, when I close my eyes and move them, I feel as if my body does not belong to me,恍惚ly resembling a soul leaving the body. I wonder if it can be treated." I said: "It can be treated." I repeatedly instructed him to prescribe formulas, but he did not understand the intent behind them. Upon returning home, he told his disciples, who then requested that I write up the case record. I said: "When a person is faced with beauty, they summon courage to show off their satisfaction, further aided by alcohol. This causes the five zang organs to overturn, the sinews to relax, and the hundred vessels to tremble, all in service of momentary pleasure, unaware that such vitality cannot be sustained. There have been cases where death occurred instantaneously before even leaving the woman's chamber. For this patient to reach the current state is fortunate. Abstaining from sex for three years is an act of a great man, capable of recovering one's later years. But the question remains: is it because he does not engage in it, or because he engages but fails? If he does not engage, the initial yang arises, and the Dipper rotates; if he engages but fails, it merely results in a state of peace without incident. In the human body, yin and yang embrace each other without separating, thus allowing one to live to a hundred years. Therefore, if yang desires to escape upwards, yin below attracts it, preventing escape; if yin desires to escape downwards, yang above attracts it, preventing escape. Although diseases vary, and yin and yang may frequently clash in hyperactivity, they must eventually coordinate and balance. Only excessive drunkenness and fatigue disrupt normal rhythms, allowing the two qi to contend and separate. It need not be extensive; if even one fen separates at the cun position, that portion becomes isolated without a counterpart, causing Ying (Nutritive) and Po (Corporeal Soul) to lose autonomy. The treatment method lies in finding the leakage and sealing it firmly, akin to breaking the legs of a giant turtle to support the four poles or refining colored stones to mend the sky; this is not mere rhetoric. If one does not recognize the nature of the disease and searches broadly hoping for accidental success, although daily consumption of Ren Shen (Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma) incurs great expense, it yields little real benefit. Generally, in upper escape, there are hallucinations and delusions as if possessed by spirits; in lower escape, there is a lack of sight and hearing, resembling deafness and muteness. In upper escape, the body feels light and comfortable with profuse sweating; in lower escape, the body feels heavy with bluish-purple discoloration of the muscles. In the past, a newly ennobled nobleman rode proudly on horseback and died laughing before returning to his residence; this was upper escape. Another case involved someone encountering sleep paralysis in bed, feeling as if beaten, with bleeding from the nine orifices; this was lower escape. Cases where both upper and lower escape occur simultaneously are extremely violent and rarely seen. Cases where left and right sides deviate and escape involve the right escaping from below and the left from above, following the same principle as Hun (Ethereal Soul) ascending and Po descending. However, treatment must distinguish between new and chronic conditions, and emphasis should be placed on guidance. For new illnesses, where yin and yang are discordant, correcting bias and saving defects requires using biased medicines. For chronic illnesses, where yin and yang gradually return to order, supporting the primordial and nourishing righteousness requires using balanced medicines. If chronic patients are mistakenly given heavy medicines, it will only exacerbate their depletion. The method of guidance is as follows: for upper escape, use seventy percent yang medicine and thirty percent yin medicine, taken at night, guiding yang through yin; for lower escape, use seventy percent yin medicine and thirty percent yang medicine, taken during the day, guiding yin through yang. Through continuous guidance, yin and yang will unconsciously embrace again, so that even climbing heights or approaching depths causes no fear, and releasing the exterior or purging the interior causes no harm. The Classics state: 'When yin is peaceful and yang is secure, spirit and mind are regulated,' which precisely refers to this. A skilled regulator causes the True Yang within Kan (Water) to ascend, so that the qi throughout the body is like the initial birth of yang at Winter Solstice, where reed ash flies and heaven and earth follow its yang. Causing the True Yin within Li (Fire) to descend makes the qi throughout the body like the initial birth of yin at Summer Solstice, where cicadas respond, and heaven and earth follow its yin. Is there not a great medicine originally within the body? How could mere herbs compare to even a fraction of it?"

Mr. Hu Youchen said: "The discussion of escape is subtle; the discussion of treating escape is even more so. Heaven and earth are like bellows; this principle is indeed so."