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Food stagnation disease necessarily presents with symptoms such as chest tightness, acid regurgitation, belching with a putrid odor, abdominal distension, and abdominal pain. One should directly use Pingwei San (Calm the Stomach Powder) [Pingwei San (Stomach-Calming Powder)], adding Maiya (Sprouted Hordei Fructus), Guya (Sprouted Oryzae Fructus), Shanzha (Crataegi Fructus), Shenqu (Massa Medicata Fermentata), and Luobozhi (Radish Seed) to promote digestion and resolve stagnation. Alternatively, the ingested food can be burned to ash and added to the prescription as a guiding agent. If it is the initial stage of injury and the food remains in the diaphragm region, after taking this decoction, one can induce vomiting by probing the throat with fingers. If the injury has persisted for a long time, accompanied by abdominal fullness and tenderness upon pressure, it is appropriate to purge using Sanyi Chengqi Tang (Three-One Purging Decoction) [Sanyi Chengqi Tang (Three-One Cathartic Decoction)]. After recovery, Xiangsha Liujunzi Tang (Aucklandia and Amomum Six Gentlemen Decoction) [Xiangsha Liujunzi Tang (Six Gentlemen Decoction with Aucklandia and Amomum)] should be taken, with Ganjiang (Dried Ginger) added for conditioning. If there are no symptoms such as acid regurgitation or putrid belching, but only headache, aversion to cold, and fever are observed, this indicates an external contraction syndrome. One must absolutely avoid mistakenly using digestive-promoting agents, which would cause external pathogens to sink inward, leading to myriad complications. Patients with Shanghan (Cold Damage) [Shanghan (Cold Damage)] cannot abstain from food; therefore, drinking hot porridge after taking Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction) [Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction)] is the primary principle stated at the beginning of Zhang Zhongjing's work. Reading Zhang Zhongjing's books will make this clear. People in the northwest regions, upon encountering symptoms of headache, aversion to cold, and fever, immediately claim it is food stagnation and take medicines like Shenqu and Shanzha, often causing mishaps. For the sake of saving lives, I feel compelled to raise my voice loudly.

The pulse is slippery and solid. Contemporary medical texts assert that the area above the right Guan position is the Qi Kou (Qi Gate), stating that a tight and vigorous Qi Kou pulse indicates food stagnation; this is absurd.

Zhang Jingyue said: Individuals suffering from occasional illnesses often suspect food stagnation when none exists, claiming, "On a certain day, I ate something, perhaps a specific meat or noodle dish," and fell ill on that very day. Regardless of whether the pathology is deficiency or excess, if the physician hears this statement and observes poor appetite, they invariably treat for food stagnation first. However, who does not eat when healthy? Must one pre-store stagnant food in the body waiting for illness to arrive? How can one believe there is no food stagnation? When illness occurs, it may be due to fatigue, wind-cold invasion, or emotional disturbances. The onset is unpredictable, yet there is no abdominal distension or stagnation. What does this have to do with food? Medications that attack without addressing the actual condition will inevitably exacerbate the illness. This is a baseless accusation in the medical field. By extension, any wild guessing without evidence or symptoms falls into this category, which is truly lamentable.

Huang Lvsu (author of *Zhe Gong Man Lu* / *Random Records of Broken Bones*) stated: The five grains are substances that nourish and tonify Spleen Qi. Why does charring them transform their function to digest food? Fire softens hardness and transforms matter; ashes result from fire transformation. Various charred herbs can digest food but also damage Spleen Qi. Their efficacy is no less than Shanzha and Shenqu. They should not be neglected or treated as ordinary food for frequent or excessive consumption.

My commentary: Nowadays, people stir-fry Baizhu (Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma) until scorched without realizing it damages Spleen Qi; they burn Dihuang (Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata) to ash without realizing it damages Kidney Qi. These practices should be corrected according to Mr. Huang's words.