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[Fangfeng / Radix Saposhnikoviae]
Nature is purely Yang, temperature is warm, flavor is sweet and pungent. Non-toxic.
It enters the Foot-Yangming Stomach Meridian and Foot-Taiyin Spleen Meridian, serving as a guiding herb for these two meridians, and is also the principal herb of the Taiyang Meridian.
Li Gao (Dongyuan) stated: Fangfeng is a universal herb for treating wind disorders; it drains lung excess, disperses stagnant qi in the head and eyes, and is an immortal herb for eliminating wind pathogens in the Upper Jiao. Misuse will drain the primordial qi of the Upper Jiao. Use the root after removing the rhizome (Lu) and the woody core resembling a hairpin shaft.
Zhang Yuansu (Jiegu) stated: The main body of the root removes wind pathogens from the upper half of the body; the tip removes wind pathogens from the lower half of the body.
Wang Haogu (Haicang) stated: Fangfeng is also an immortal herb for removing dampness, as wind can overcome dampness.
The *Shennong Bencao Jing* states: It governs severe wind causing dizziness and headache, aversion to wind, blindness due to wind pathogens where vision is lost. When wind pathogens circulate throughout the body, they cause pain and numbness in bone joints. It treats irritability and fullness, hypochondriac pain, and wind in the hypochondrium. It treats migratory wind on the head and face, spasms and cramps of the four limbs, difficult childbirth, and tetanus following traumatic wounds.
Li Gao stated: Fangfeng can restrain Huangqi (Astragalus Root); when Huangqi is combined with Fangfeng, its efficacy increases significantly. He also said: Fangfeng is like a low-ranking soldier, going wherever guided; it is a moistening agent among wind-dispersing herbs. Although it restrains Huangqi, they are mutually fearful yet mutually effective.
The *Shennong Bencao Jing* further states: Combined with Zexie (Alisma Rhizome) and Gaoben (Ligusticum Chuanxiong Hort.), it treats wind disorders; combined with Danggui (Angelica Sinensis Root), Shaoyao (Paeonia Lactiflora Root), Yangqishi (Calcium Silicate), and Yuyuliang (Hematite), it treats uterine wind in women. It neutralizes the toxicity of Fuzi (Aconite Lateralis Radix Praeparata). It is incompatible with Ganjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma), Lülü (Veratrum Nigrum), Bailian (Iris Tectorii Rhizoma), and Yuanhua (Genkwa Flos).

[Shengma / Rhizoma Cimicifugae]
Temperature is neutral, flavor is bitter and sweet. Slightly bitter, slightly cold, thin in flavor but strong in aroma, belonging to Yin within Yang. Non-toxic.
It is the principal herb of the Yangming Meridian, and also travels through the Hand-Yangming Large Intestine Meridian and Hand-Taiyin Lung Meridian.
Li Gao stated: It can resolve heat in the muscles; this is the specific herb for wind-cold affecting the Hand and Foot Yangming Meridians. Use after removing the black skin and rotten parts. If tonifying the Spleen and Stomach, without it as a guiding herb, tonification cannot be achieved. If combined with Congbai (Allium Fistulosum Bulb) or Baizhi (Angelica Dahurica Root), it can also travel through the Hand and Foot Yangming and Taiyin Meridians.
Wang Haogu stated: It disperses wind pathogens of its own meridian; for those with insufficient primordial qi, it raises Yang qi upward from the Yin level.
Zhang Yuansu stated: For Pi Bi (Spleen Obstruction), this herb is indispensable for elimination.
The *Shennong Bencao Jing* states: It governs resolving hundred toxins, killing hundred spirits and old entities, warding off epidemics, miasma, evil qi, and gu poison, causing them to be vomited out if entering the mouth. It treats sudden evil abdominal pain, seasonal toxic pestilence, headache with chills and fever, wind swelling and various toxins, sore throat, and oral ulcers.
Li Gao stated: Shengma enters the Foot-Yangming Meridian. If one takes Shengma and Gegen (Puerariae Lobatae Radix) at the onset of a Taiyang syndrome to induce sweating via the Yangming Meridian, or errs excessively leading to dryness in the Yangming Meridian, the Taiyang syndrome cannot be resolved and will inevitably transmit to the Yangming Meridian. Inappropriate prescription is not only useless but harmful.
Zhu Shi stated: When blood stasis enters the interior, manifesting as epistaxis or hematemesis, Xijiao Dihuang Tang (Rhinoceros Horn and Rehmannia Decoction) is the supreme medicine for the Yangming Meridian. If Rhinoceros Horn is unavailable, Shengma can substitute it. Shengma and Xijiao (Rhinocerotis Cornu) have vastly different properties and flavors; why substitute? Essentially, Shengma merely guides Dihuang (Rehmanniae Radix) and other herbs into the Yangming Meridian.
Zhang Zhongjing stated: In Taiyang disease, if sweating or diuresis is used excessively, severely depleting body fluids, causing dryness in the Stomach, the condition may transform and attach to the Yangming Meridian. The harm is incalculable. He also stated: For Taiyang syndrome with stiffness of the nape and back (Jinjin) and no sweat, Gegen Tang should be used to induce sweating. If Jinjin presents with spontaneous sweating, it indicates exterior deficiency, and this formula is contraindicated. Zhu Shi uses Shengma because the case involves exterior excess with no sweat.
The *Yuedui* states: It governs Fei Wei (Lung Withering) with coughing up pus and blood, and can induce superficial sweating.