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The excessive influence of the Six Qi (Wind, Heat, Fire, Dampness, Dryness, Cold), where their primal energies interact to become pathogenic factors, generates diseases according to the sites they invade; this is not always uniform. Once the pathogen becomes excessive and dominant, the disease begins to manifest, thus giving rise to the five types of pathogens characterized by deficiency/excess and minor/major/orthodox/rebellious/negative natures. Generally, in treating diseases, one must first seek the origin of the disease, then examine the location of the pathology. Understanding both the root (Ben) and the branch (Biao) leads to comprehensive clarity.

When Wind is excessive, there is tinnitus and dizziness, a sense of mental confusion with nausea, a sensation of blockage in the stomach and diaphragm; frequent strong winds blow, naked creatures (animals without scales or feathers) fail to thrive; Qi gathers in the hypochondrium, biasing to one side; transforming into Heat, it causes yellow-red urine, pain in the epigastrium at the heart's location, radiating upward to support both hypochondria, borborygmus with undigested food diarrhea, lower abdominal pain, dysentery with red and white discharge, and in severe cases, vomiting, obstruction of the diaphragm and pharynx, where food enters and immediately returns.

When Heat is excessive, there is heat in the epigastrium, frequent hunger, rebounding movement below the umbilicus, Qi wandering through the San Jiao (Triple Burner); when scorching summer arrives, Wood flows with fluids, grasses wither; symptoms include retching, restlessness, and irritability, abdominal fullness, loose stools, which transmit into bloody purging (Chi Wo).

When Dampness is excessive, Fire Qi is internally constrained, Cold presses upon the Lower Jiao; pain lingers at the fontanelle, radiating to the glabella; gastric fullness occurs; rain falls frequently, scaled creatures appear on land, Dryness manifests; lower abdominal fullness, heavy and stiff waist and knees, internal difficulty in defecation, prone to profuse diarrhea, cold feet, heavy head, edema; fluid retention originates in the middle, swelling appears above. If Dampness is excessive combined with internal Fire constraint, sores and ulcers arise internally and spread externally; the disease is located in the hypochondrium, and in severe cases, heart pain, heat-block headache, bi-syndrome of the throat, and stiffness of the neck.

When Fire is excessive, Heat lodges in the Stomach, causing vexation, heart pain, red eyes, desire to vomit, vomiting of sour fluid, frequent hunger, heart pain with red urine, frightfulness, and delirium; sudden intense heat scorches, grasses wither, waters dry up, shell-bearing creatures submit; lower abdominal pain, bloody purging.

When Dryness is excessive, clear/cold Qi arises in the middle, causing left-sided hypochondriac pain, loose stools, internal pharyngeal obstruction, external manifestation of hernia; severe cool and austere killing energy changes the appearance of flowers and leaves, hairy creatures suffer calamity; chest discomfort, pharyngeal obstruction with cough.

When Cold is excessive, coagulating and shivering Qi arrives, water freezes out of season, feathered creatures transform late; hemorrhoids occur, malaria attacks; Cold Jue (reversal) enters the Stomach, causing internal heart pain, sores in the yin region, difficulty in urination/defecation or sexual function, radiating to the inner thighs, muscle and tendon cramping and rigidity, blood vessels becoming stagnant and obstructed, collaterals full with color changes, or hematochezia, skin obstruction and edema, abdominal fullness, reduced appetite; Heat reversely moves upward, causing pain in the head, neck, and occiput, sensation of eyes protruding; Cold enters the Lower Jiao, transmitting into Ru Xie (watery diarrhea).