Xu Xueshi stated: There was a patient who had absolutely no appetite. Treatment aimed at tonifying the spleen was ineffective. After administering Ershen Dan (Two Divine Pills), the patient immediately regained their ability to eat. This exemplifies the method of "tonifying the mother" (strengthening the source organ to benefit the affected organ). Huang Zengzhi directly used Cuscutae Semen (Dodder Seed, 菟丝子) that had been thoroughly washed and soaked in wine. The patient took several spoonfuls daily, swallowing them with wine. After more than ten days, food intake and digestion became as rapid as snow melting in hot water, illustrating the same principle. (From *Zhifa Hui*.)
Zhang Sanxi treated a patient who had consumed excessive mutton during summer, resulting in thirst and irritability. The patient believed they had contracted heatstroke and used cool water to mix and ingest Yiyuan San (Benefit Origin Powder), which exacerbated the irritability. Upon pulse diagnosis, although the pulse was slippery, it lacked force upon pressure (did not drum against the finger). Consequently, salt water was administered to induce vomiting, yielding approximately one bowl of raw meat. Subsequently, the patient was regulated and stabilized using Erchen Tang (Two Aged Decoction) modified with Caoguo (Black Cardamom Fruit, 草果), Rougui (Cinnamon Bark, 肉桂), Houpo (Magnolia Bark, 浓朴/厚朴), and Shanzha (Hawthorn Fruit, 山楂). Had cooling herbs been mistakenly used to treat this as heatstroke, death would have ensued immediately.
Another individual drank excessive tea and harbored much resentment. Their abdomen frequently produced gurgling sounds. In autumn, they experienced alternating chills and fever resembling malaria. They were prescribed ingredients from Shizao Tang (Ten Jujube Decoction); these were boiled with Vigna angularis var. angularis (Adzuki Bean, 黑豆), dried, ground into powder, and formed into pills the size of mustard seeds using jujube flesh...