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Chen Feixia said: For infants from one month to three years of age, pulse diagnosis (pulse taking) cannot yet be performed; it is not that there is no pulse to diagnose, but rather that it is practically difficult to determine whether the condition is deficient or not. Infants are often afraid of strangers; upon first meeting, they inevitably cry and shout, causing their respiration to become disordered first, and their spirit and consciousness to become panicked and hurried. At this time, the slowness, rapidity, largeness, and smallness of the pulse have already lost their original characteristics. What is the benefit of diagnosing them? It is better to observe the visible patterns of the fingerprint (infant finger vein pattern) and corroborate them with the complexion and disease manifestations. This also embodies the combined meaning of inspection (observation) and palpation in medicine.

Have someone hold the child, standing opposite in a well-lit place. Use your left hand to grasp the child's index finger, and use your right thumb to push along the Three Passes (San Guan) of the child's finger. Observe its color and shape, carefully experiencing and recognizing it; being able to differentiate Exterior/Interior (Biao/Li), Cold/Heat, and Deficiency/Excess is sufficient. People nowadays like to seek novelty and do not work on solid foundations, regarding this as shallow and mundane talk, and disdain to pay attention to it. They do not know that if one can differentiate these six aspects during clinical practice, it constitutes the highest level of medical skill. Because if the Exterior/Interior is clear, one knows whether the disease is in the Meridians or the Fu organs, ensuring that sweating methods or purgative methods are used without error. If Cold/Heat is clear, one knows to use cold herbs while avoiding heat conditions, and use hot herbs while avoiding cold conditions, or to employ "treating cold with cold" (for true cold with false heat signs) and "treating heat with heat" (for true heat with false cold signs), adapting to specific circumstances so that medication is never inappropriate. If Deficiency/Excess is differentiated clearly, one knows that severe deficiency may present with excessive-sounding symptoms, and severe excess may present with emaciated-looking symptoms, preventing confusion by false signs. True deficiency and true excess are easy to know, while false deficiency and false excess are difficult to distinguish. Once true and false are clarified, there will be no danger of exacerbating deficiency with deficiency-inducing treatments or excess with excess-inducing treatments. At such critical junctures, if one fails to comprehend this, but instead deceives the world and fools the common people with unverified statements, claiming what constitutes fright by humans versus fright by animals, this not only deceives others but also oneself; it not only benefits no treatment but also endangers lives. Whose fault is this?

Chen Feixia said: When the Wind Gate (Feng Guan) syndrome initially appears and has not yet subsided, if the pattern extends to the Qi Gate (Qi Guan), urgent prevention is required; if it suddenly reaches the Life Gate (Ming Guan), it is truly critical; if it penetrates the nail joint and extends across the pass, the severity of the disease becomes manifest.

Chen Feixia said: Why does the fingerprint suddenly float? The pathogenic factor is in the skin and flesh, which is not worth worrying about. Impedance of the Cou Li (pores and interstitial spaces) is named an Exterior Syndrome (Biao Zheng); urgently apply dispersing and resolving methods, administering diaphoretic (sweat-inducing) prescriptions. If suddenly the patterns at the middle gate gradually sink, it is known that the pathogen has entered the Interior, and the disease is deep. Do not lightly experiment with wind-dispersing drugs; one must seek treatment based on Yangming Interior Syndromes.