Library

When treating severe urinary retention where the condition is critical and all other medications have failed, quickly seek the root of the white chrysanthemum (*Chrysanthemi Flos* root), crush it into a paste, mix it with raw *Baijiu* (white liquor), take the juice, warm it, and drink it; the effect is miraculous. Note: If white chrysanthemums are hard to find in time, any color will do; simply substituting the root of common garden chrysanthemum (*Ju Hua Gen*) will also be invariably effective.

Another method for treating cases where urine is retained in the Bladder due to Qi obstruction or stagnation/blockage, rendering passage impossible, and where all medicines fail, leaving the patient in critical danger of death: Take one pig bladder, pierce a hole in its base, and pass goose quill tubes through both ends, securing them tightly with thread. Bind the lower end (the neck/root) which allows air to escape. Inflate the bladder fully, tie off the upper opening, insert the tip of the goose quill tube into the urethral meatus ("Ma Kou"), release the binding at the root, and manually squeeze the bladder. This forces air through the urethra into the bladder; once the Qi penetrates, the obstruction opens, and urine flows naturally. This is an excellent method.

First, the Method for Unblocking Obstruction: For cases where stale semen and dried blood, or calculus/debris in the urethral orifice, block the water pathway, causing distending urgency and inability to urinate: Have the patient lie supine. Insert a goose quill tube into the urethral meatus, then slowly instill 1–2 qian of mercury. Gently guide it section by section with your hand. All obstructions will clear; once the path is open, urine flows out, and the mercury is expelled along with it, causing no harm. This is also a superb method.

Second, the Method of Fumigation and Washing to Unblock Bowels/Urination: For sudden Qi closure resulting in urinary retention, with extreme distending urgency and critical distress: Quickly decoct several liang each of *Zao Jiao* (Gleditsiae Sinensis Fructus Spina), scallion heads, and *Wang Bu Liu Xing* (Vaccariae Semen) in a basin of water. Have the patient sit in it, fumigating and washing the lower abdomen and genitalia. After a while, the heat penetrates inward, the congestion opens, and urination/bowel movement becomes unblocked. For female patients, inserting several stalks of scallion into the vagina, combined with external fumigation and washing, yields even faster results.

Yi Lao stated: When cold resides in the Bao Zhong (uterus/bladder region), obstructing entry; and heat fills the Lower Jiao, causing difficulty in discharge, one must use herbs that embody the transformation of Northern Cold Water, possessing Yin natures in both flavor and aroma, to clear the heat and drain the obstruction.

Dong Yuan treated a patient suffering from difficult urination, protruding eyeballs, abdominal distension like a drum, hardness above the knees, skin tight as if about to split, and inability to eat. The patient had taken sweet and bland diuretic herbs without effect. I said: "The disease is urgent; it requires careful deliberation to prescribe." I pondered until midnight and said: "I have found the cause! The Classics state: 'The Bladder is the Mansion of Fluids; it must undergo Qi transformation to discharge.' Taking excessive diuretics worsened the pain, indicating a failure of Qi transformation. Qi Xuan Zi said: 'Without Yang, Yin cannot be generated; without Yin, Yang cannot transform.' Sweet and bland, thin-aroma herbs are Yang tonics; having only Yang without Yin, how can transformation occur?" Thus, I administered *Zi Shen Wan* (Kidney-Nourishing Pill), a formula composed entirely of Yin-nourishing agents. After two doses, the patient recovered.

Dan Xi stated: Urinary retention may be caused by Qi deficiency, Blood deficiency, Excess Heat, Phlegm, Dampness, or Qi knotting in the Lower Jiao. If Blood and Qi are exhausted, death ensues.