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Heat originating from external pathogens is suitable for release and dispersion. Heat originating from internal generation is suitable for clearing and purging. Heat originating externally but not yet fully entering the interior is suitable for release and dispersion. Heat generated internally with no exterior symptoms at all is suitable for attacking and purging downward. When a person contracts wind-cold, if it is determined that the pathogen has not deeply penetrated, one should urgently resolve the exterior, allowing the heat to still be resolved from the surface. One must not claim that because heat has formed, only clearing is needed without dispersion, thereby neglecting methods to release it outward. However, regarding the discussion of dispersing heat, there are various methods. Some discuss dispersion solely in terms of heat: such as Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae) raising yang to guide heat outwards; Gan Ge (Radix Puerariae) raising Yangming Stomach qi to guide heat outwards; Chaihu (Radix Bupleuri) raising Shaoyang Gallbladder heat outwards; Dan Dou Chi (Semen Sojae Praeparatum) raising intercostal heat outwards; Xiakucao (Herba Prunellae) dispersing Liver heat outwards; Ye Juhua (Flos Chrysanthemi Indici) dispersing Liver and Lung heat outwards. Some discuss dispersion in combination with wind-heat: such as Xin Yi (Fructus Magnoliae Biondii) dispersing Lung meridian wind-heat; Bing Pian (Borneolum Syntheticum) dispersing bone-steaming wind-heat; Mu Zei (Hermosetum Japonicum); Rui Ren (Semen Pruni Armeniacae); Jue Ming Zi (Fructus Cassiae); Lu Gan Shi (Calamina); Bo He (Herba Menthae) dispersing Liver meridian wind-heat. Some discuss dispersion in combination with damp-heat: such as Wu Yi (Fructus Tsoo Po) dispersing skin and joint damp-heat; Xiang Ru (Herba Elsholtziae) dispersing Lung, Stomach, and Heart damp-heat. Some discuss dispersion in terms of wind-fire-toxin: such as Chan Chu (Bufonis Venenum) and Chan Su (Venenum Bufonis) extracting wind-fire-toxin outwards. Some discuss dispersion in terms of blood-heat: such as Duan Shi (Lapis Ferri Oxydati Ruber) dispersing bone, flesh, and skin blood-heat; Gu Jing Cao (Herba Glehniae) dispersing Liver meridian blood-heat. As for heat condensing into phlegm, some rely on emesis to disperse: such as Mu Bie Zi (Semen Strychnos) guiding hot-phlegm toxic knots in the chest and diaphragm to emerge; Gua Di (Fructus Trichosanthis) guiding hot-phlegm knots in the lungs and diaphragm to emerge; Dan Fan (Alumen) guiding wind-heat phlegm also knotted in the diaphragm to emerge. If the exterior syndrome has ceased and the interior syndrome is fully established, then there are other methods, seemingly requiring no further trivial elaboration here.

[Mountain Herbs] Yang-Raising and Heat-Dispersing Agents
Shengma (Rhizoma Cimicifugae) (Specifically enters the Spleen and Stomach meridians, and additionally enters the Lung and Large Intestine meridians). It appears similar to Ge Gen (Radix Puerariae), but this herb is pungent, sweet, and slightly bitter. It can guide Cong Bai (Caulis Allii Macrostemonis) into the Lung to disperse wind-cold and induce sweating; it can guide Shi Gao (Gypsum Fibrosum) to treat Yangming vertex headache and toothache; it can guide Ren Shen (Radix Ginseng) and Huang Qi (Radix Astragali) to enter the Spleen and Stomach to tonify Spleen qi; and together with Chai Hu (Radix Bupleuri), it can guide Gui (Radix Angelicae Sinensis), Huang Qi (Radix Astragali), Bai Zhu (Rhizoma Atractylodis Macrocephalae), and other sweet-warm herbs to tonify the dispersion of Wei Qi (Defensive Qi) and solidify the exterior, treating all types of dysentery caused by wind sinking. (Tenesmus and urgency have various presentations; some require Da Xia (severe purgation) with Cheng Qi Decoctions, while others require rising with Sheng Ma and Chai Hu. The key lies in clear differentiation to identify the appropriateness of ascending and descending; one must not indiscriminately focus on lifting.) For chronic diarrhea (The Classic states: "When clear qi sinks below, sun-digestion diarrhea occurs"), rectal prolapse, cold feet, impotence, and gu poison or spirit disturbances (Yang rising causes Yin to dissipate), and all wind-heat macules and rashes. (Macules and rashes can be deficiency or excess; treatment must examine accompanying syndromes. Wang Ang stated: Those appearing in patches like brocade patterns are macules (ban); those faintly visible as red dots are rashes (zhen). Generally, if Stomach heat is not purged, it rushes into Shaoyang, assisting Minister Fire to form macules; rushing into Shaoyin, it assists Lord Fire to form rashes.) It responds instantly to sores and toxins by raising yang to disperse heat, allowing pathogens to resolve entirely from the exterior, while turbid qi naturally descends. Thus, it is said to detoxify, unlike Ge Gen, whose function is specifically to enter the Stomach, raise fluids, and relieve the muscle layer, without guiding other herbs to solidify Wei Qi. However, when Sheng Ma assists Ge Gen, it effectively enters the Yangming to raise fluids and relieve the muscle layer; when combined with Chai Hu to raise qi, Chai Hu raises the Yang of the Shaoyang Liver meridian, and Sheng Ma raises the Yang of the Yangming Stomach meridian, one left and one right, mutually dependent to achieve effect. (Li Shizhen said: Generally, after age fifty, people consume more qi than they generate, descend more than they ascend, and experience more autumn/winter conditions than spring/summer. Those with weak constitution and various yang-deficiency symptoms should be treated with living methods using yang-raising herbs.) However, it is strictly contraindicated for moving Yin fire and spontaneous sweating due to qi deficiency. (Zhu Gong's *Huoren Shu* states that for Xi Jiao Di Huang Tang (Rhinoceros Horn and Rehmannia Decoction), if Xi Jiao (Cornu Rhinocerotis) is unavailable, Sheng Ma can substitute it, intending to guide medicine into the Yangming meridian. Zhu Eryun stated that Xi Jiao Di Huang Tang should not use Sheng Ma to replace Xi Jiao, intending that Sheng Ma can guide Yin blood upward. Both views are correct, but one must observe the depth of the disease and the purity of the organ qi to determine the success or failure of treatment.) The root interior is white and exterior black, tight and solid, named Gui Lian Sheng Ma (Ghost Face Sheng Ma); thin and slender with greenish-blue skin is called Ji Gu Sheng Ma (Chicken Bone Sheng Ma). Remove roots and rhizome heads, steam and dry before use. For tonifying formulas, stir-fry with honey water.