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"Congrong" (Calm and Composed) refers to maintaining a calm mind and quiet spirit while palpating the patient's pulse to diagnose illness. This is how the Yellow Emperor instructed Lei Gong.

The Yellow Emperor sat in tranquility, summoned Lei Gong, and asked him, "You have studied arts and recited books. If you can survey diverse learning, apply analogical reasoning, and comprehend and integrate with the principles of medicine, tell me your strengths. ..."

Lei Gong said, "Liver deficiency, Kidney deficiency, and Spleen deficiency all cause the body to feel heavy and the mind to feel vexed and aggrieved. One should administer toxic drugs, acupuncture and moxibustion, bian stones (stone scalpels), or decoctions. Some recover, some do not. I wish to hear the explanation."

The Yellow Emperor said, "How old are you to ask such a superficial question? My sincere inquiry has made myself appear contradictory. (...Note: 'Zimou' means being surprised that one does not know and asking about it.) Spleen deficiency presents with a floating and weak pulse, resembling the Lung pulse; Kidney deficiency presents with a small and floating pulse, resembling the Spleen pulse; Liver deficiency presents with an urgent, deep, and scattered pulse, resembling the Kidney pulse. These are often confused by physicians, but they can be distinguished through Congrong (calm and composed diagnosis). (...Floating and slow indicates Spleen; floating and short indicates Lung; small, floating, and slippery indicates Heart; urgent, tight, and scattered indicates Liver; firm, deep, and slippery indicates Kidney. Without analogical reasoning, doubt and confusion increase. Note: 'Shi' means often; 'Luan' means confusion. Pulse images vary, having both true and similar appearances. Mistaking the similar for the true leads to error. Thus, one must compare their forms and categories to determine truth and similarity, ensuring no diagnostic error. However, this cannot be achieved by those with restless hearts and floating qi; one must diagnose with Congrong.)"

Lei Gong said, "Here is a patient with headache, tendon contraction, heaviness in bones, timidity and shortness of breath, hiccups and belching, abdominal fullness, frequent fright, and aversion to sleep. Which Zang organ is affected? The pulse is floating and wiry, and feels hard as stone upon deep pressure. I do not understand the explanation. I ask again about these three Zang organs to understand through analogy. (Note: Symptoms seem to differ among three Zang organs, but the pulse image does not match, hence the question.)"

The Yellow Emperor said, "This is what is called 'Congrong'. (Note: Meaning one should also diagnose with calm composure.) For the elderly, seek the disease in the Fu organs; for the young, seek it in the meridians; for the vigorous adults, seek it in the Zang organs. (The elderly suffer from excessive dietary intake; the young from physical labor; the vigorous from internal excess [sexual activity]. Excess internally consumes Jing and Qi; labor exposes meridians to Wind pathogens; excess diet damages Fu organs; thus, the focus differs.) What you say now is all wrong. It is due to the stagnation and ripening of the Eight Winds, causing the five Zang organs to waste away, with pathogens transmitting and affecting each other. A floating and wiry pulse indicates Kidney insufficiency. (Note: Kidney pulse should be wiry and deep; insufficiency makes it deficient and floating.) A deep and stone-hard pulse indicates Kidney Qi adhering internally. ('Stone' means hard; 'Zhao' means Kidney Qi pressing inward without moving.) Timidity and shortness of breath indicate failure of the water pathways and exhaustion of form and Qi. (Kidney Qi insufficiency causes water pathway failure. Lung Qi is rushed, causing form and Qi to dissipate. 'Suo' means exhausted. Note: Kidney is the organ of strength; insufficiency causes timidity. The commentary mentioning Lung Qi being rushed seems poorly considered.) Cough and vexation indicate rebellious Kidney Qi. (Note: Kidney insufficiency allows Qi to rush upward from the Dantian.) In one person, the pathology lies in one Zang organ; if one claims three Zang organs are acting simultaneously, it violates the principle. (Note: 'One Zang' refers to the Kidney. Although there are four symptoms above, they actually belong to the single Kidney meridian. Suspecting three Zang organs is inconsistent with the law.)"

Lei Gong said, "Here is a patient with flaccidity of the four limbs, wheezing and coughing, and bloody diarrhea/stool. Upon diagnosis, I believed the Lung was injured. The pulse was floating, large, and tight. I dared not treat. A crude physician used bian stones, the illness resolved, much blood was lost, and after bleeding stopped, the body felt light. What is this condition?"

The Yellow Emperor said, "You may know many diseases you can treat, but you have erred regarding this one. (...Note: Meaning you can treat other diseases, but this one is mistaken.) Now, a floating, large, and deficient pulse indicates the external severance of Spleen Qi, which leaves the Stomach and returns externally to the Yangming meridian. (Note: Yangming corresponds internally to the Stomach and externally governs the meridians. Floating and large indicates Qi deficiency. Spleen and Stomach are connected and govern Qi; Qi deficiency causes floating and large pulses. This is because Spleen weakness fails to transport and transform for the Stomach, returning externally to the Yangming meridian, hence the floating, large, and deficient pulse.) When the Two Fires cannot overcome the Three Waters, the pulse becomes chaotic and irregular. (Two Fires refer to the two Yang Zang organs, Heart and Lung, located above the diaphragm; Three Waters refer to the three Yin Zang organs, Liver, Spleen, and Kidney, located below the diaphragm. However, the Qi of the Three Yin overcomes the Two Yang; Yang cannot overcome Yin, hence the chaotic and irregular pulse.) Flaccidity of the four limbs indicates the failure of Spleen Essence to circulate. (Earth governs the four limbs, hence flaccidity; Spleen Essence fails to transform, causing this state.) Wheezing and coughing indicate Water Qi merging with Yangming. (Kidney Qi rebels into the Stomach, so Water Qi merges with Yangming.) Bloody discharge indicates urgent pulses where Blood has nowhere to go. (Blood does not enter the meridians, resulting in bloody discharge; because the pulse rushes urgently, blood leaks out, hence 'Blood has nowhere to go.') To consider it a Lung injury is due to irrational madness. Failing to employ analogical reasoning shows unclear understanding. (Meaning understanding is unclear, unable to use analogy, mistakenly thinking it is a Lung injury, akin to mad talk.) As for Lung injury, it manifests as Spleen Qi failing to maintain control, Stomach Qi failing to clear turbidity, and Meridian Qi failing to act as a driver. The True Zang is damaged and ruptured, meridians are severed peripherally, and the five Zang organs leak. There is either nasal epistaxis or vomiting of blood; these two conditions are not similar. (Lung Qi injury causes Spleen to rescue externally, hence 'Spleen Qi fails to maintain control.' Lung damage causes Qi stagnation, leading to stomach fullness, hence 'Stomach Qi fails to clear.' Lung governs the movement of Ying and Wei, Yin and Yang; thus, Lung injury prevents meridians from functioning. 'True Zang' refers to the Lung. If the Lung is damaged, membranes rupture, meridians are severed peripherally and do not flow, and Qi of the five Zang organs overflows and leaks, resulting in either nasal epistaxis or hematemesis. Why? Lung governs the nose, Stomach corresponds to the mouth. Mouth and nose are the gates of Qi. Now that the Lung is damaged and Stomach Qi is turbid, if it does not epistaxise upwards, blood flows down into the Stomach, hence if not nasal, then vomited. However, Lung injury vs. Spleen injury, epistaxis vs. bloody stool, even the manifest signs differ, and the roots are distinct; thus, these two are not similar.) This is like Heaven having no shape, Earth having no pattern, White and Black being far apart. (...Meaning Lung injury and Spleen injury are vastly different in manifestation, just as Heaven and Earth are distant, or White and Black are distinct.)"