Library

Warm diseases and cold damage are mutually incompatible, like water and fire, or ice and charcoal. The world, lacking ancient specialized books for treating warm diseases, has adopted methods for treating cold damage to treat them. When encountering warm-heat diseases, practitioners indiscriminately administer acrid-warm preparations such as Mahuang Tang (Ephedra Decoction) and Guizhi Tang (Cinnamon Twig Decoction). This is akin to carrying firewood to extinguish a fire, resulting in self-immolation. Some, seeking change when faced with difficulties, have instead resorted to formulas like Fangfeng Tongsheng San (Saposhnikovia Universal Benefit Powder), mixing bitter-cold purgatives with warm-dispersing agents within the treatment. This not only damages Yin fluids through bitter dryness but also risks causing Jie Xiong (chest binding) due to premature purgation and inviting pathogenic factors to sink inward. In recent times, Chen Sanxi independently created formulas such as Shengjiang Shenhua San (Ascending-Descending Divine Transformation Powder). Although he knew to avoid acrid-warm drugs, when the disease initially resides in the Upper Jiao (Upper Burner), he mixed in ingredients targeting the Middle and Lower Jiao. This is like fighting bandits without distinguishing between good and bad; although the bandits are eliminated, the people are also harmed. Only Ye Tianshi, Xue Shengbai, and other sages followed the *Neijing* principle of "wind-heat flooding internally," establishing the method of differentiating treatment by the Three Jiao based on the tenets of acrid-cool and salty-cold. Their boundaries were clear, delving deeply into the profound mysteries of Huangdi and Qibo's medical theories. Wu Jutong from Huai'an further took the preliminary discussions of these two sages, extended them by analogy, and wrote *Wenbing Tiaobian* (Systematic Differentiation of Warm Diseases). Tracing the source to the end, with the general principle raised and details clarified, the methods for treating warm diseases became fully established at this point. This book was written during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns. For over a hundred years, it has circulated north and south, with efficacy as immediate as a drumstick striking a drum. In the Wuyin year of Guangxu (1878), Governor-General Tu Langxuan re-engraved it in Daliang, saving countless lives. However, due to its voluminous nature, practitioners feared studying it; in remote counties and frontier areas, those who knew of it were especially scarce. Whenever warm diseases occurred, old methods were still followed; there were even cases where infections contracted in midsummer were still mistaken for cold damage. The medication contradicted the disease, and without careful observation, such negligence kills people just as surely as wielding a blade. Having been a guest in Henan for decades, I witnessed these situations with heartache. For a long time, I intended to compile a concise volume to slightly remedy this entrenched habit, but due to busy affairs, my ambition remained unfulfilled. My disciple Xiao Jifu, who has long mastered medical principles, was willing to bear the labor of editing and proofreading. Thus, I extensively collected materials, conducted repeated examinations and corrections, and after half a year, the book was completed. It was named *Wenbing Zhinan* (Guide to Warm Diseases) and submitted for printing. I hope that those who see this book will widely disseminate it, ensuring that even remote villages know to believe and abide by it. Perhaps this will guide the people toward benevolence and longevity, forever free from the fear of illness, disaster, and premature death. This is my humble great wish. Mengchun (First Month of Spring), Gui Mao Year of Guangxu (1903), Lou Jie from Shanyin.