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A young woman in the Cheng family suffered from lower abdominal pain, excessive phlegm production, vomiting of clear fluid, fever, diarrhea, emaciation, inability to eat, and a pulse that was deep, fine, wiry, and rapid. The physician stated: This is accumulation of retained fluid (water-dampness retention due to impaired metabolism). The treatment principle should be to purge the accumulated fluid, after which the disease can be eliminated. However, since the illness has persisted for a long time and the patient is frail, aggressive purging must not be excessive. A prescription was used to harmonize the middle jiao (middle burner) and eliminate dampness. After taking the medicine, severe lower abdominal pain occurred accompanied by fainting, followed by vomiting a basin full of liquid, all of which was green water. The crowd was astonished and asked: Why did this happen? The physician replied: I originally suspected dampness. Just as moss grows on damp ground, the principle is the same; once the root cause is identified, there is no great harm. (Ibid.)

Luo Lian, nearing his prime years, suffered from pain in the epigastrium radiating to the back, hypochondrium, and heart region, with vomiting of clear fluid. Over time, the pain intensified, feeling like knife cuts, and he became mentally confused and dazed. His family physicians exhausted their skills, claiming the six pulses had ceased. When Wei Zhiqiu arrived, he said: This is retained fluid. The pain is so severe that the pulse is hidden (deep and imperceptible), not actually absent. He then administered warming and tonifying decoctions. After one dose, the pulse reappeared; after two doses, the patient recovered. (*Taihan Ji*.)

Xu Lingtai commented: All diseases involve pathogenic factors. For instance, if a person drinks herbal decoction but vomits it all up shortly after, it is because there is cold-fluid retention in the stomach, causing rejection of ingested food. The treatment principle should be to support yang qi, purge fluid retention, dispel cold pathogens, and only then tonify middle qi. It is essential to include herbs that purge fluid retention; one cannot merely use Ren Shen (Ginseng Root) and Bai Zhu (Atractylodes Macrocephala Rhizome) to tonify and inadvertently trap the cold-fluid. If there are no pathogenic factors yet symptoms present such severity, it is a sign of stomach qi exhaustion, and treatment is unnecessary. A man surnamed Jin from Dongting Lake suffered from vomiting. His ancestors were close friends with Ye Tianshi. Ye Tianshi treated him diligently for over a year, during which the patient nearly died, so they sought treatment from...