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Among the four hundred and eight diseases, heat patterns are predominantly numerous, while cold patterns are the least common. It is no wonder that Liu Wansu (Liu Hejian) emphasized the discussion of Fire, and Zhu Danxi advocated nourishing Yin. However, adhering rigidly to the works of these two masters without investigating the *Huangdi Neijing* (Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon) leads to bias, causing severe harm to people. Heat diseases belong to Yang; Yang pathogens are easy to disperse and treat, and do not lead to death. Cold diseases belong to Yin; Yin pathogens are prone to latent concealment, thus causing no immediate awareness in patients. Over time, they transform into deficiency-cold, eroding the Zang-Fu organs and leading to death.
(Cases where symptoms are imperceptible at the onset are particularly harmful; often neglected, they frequently change rapidly, resulting in many deaths.)
Moreover, it is natural for the human body to possess abundant Fire. Among the Six Qi (Six Atmospheric Factors) of Heaven, Fire accounts for two. Modern mediocre physicians cling to the saying "Strong Fire consumes Qi" (from the *Neijing*). The concept of "Strong Fire consumes Qi" in the *Neijing* implies that just as intense summer heat exhausts human vitality, and excessive Ministerial Fire damages True Yuan, it does not refer to treatment with cooling herbs nor heating herbs. Ma Yuantai failed to grasp this principle and made arbitrary annotations, leaving significant errors for future students. They indulge in bitter-cold agents for nourishing Yin, failing to realize that when pathogens invade the body, sufficient Original Qi can resist them. Using cooling medicines to freeze the body instead drains the Original Qi, which is akin to assisting a thief in harming the master. Cooling medicines have undoubtedly harmed countless people. If Original Qi is slightly deficient, individuals will be frozen and destroyed by cooling medicines; with damaged Spleen and Stomach, how can survival be expected? For instance, drinking hot soup or eating roasted and fried foods from childhood to old age causes no harm. The *Neijing* states that changes due to rich and greasy food only lead to carbuncles and sores; moreover, among those who develop sores from such diet, less than one in a hundred does so. Thus, we know that heat-nourishing substances are indispensable at all times. Conversely, if one drinks cold water, within three days, abdominal pain and diarrhea will occur, leading to Spleen deficiency and Stomach failure. Therefore, Suiren established laws requiring fire for cooking, allowing generations of people to survive. Secular doctors extensively use cooling prescriptions, which is like forcing people to drink cold water, secretly harming the populace—a matter worthy of deep sigh. Have you not seen contemporary physicians whose misdeeds extend to their descendants, even wiping out entire families? This is the retribution for imprecise medical knowledge. (Physicians must reflect deeply upon reading this: the harm of mistakenly using cooling medicines is undeniable. I have observed that modern physicians who exclusively use warm and neutral methods may prolong life temporarily but ultimately face decline. Those who exclusively use cold and cool attacking methods to cut short lives certainly have no descendants.)