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The method for curing diseases lies in meticulously observing symptoms, inquiring about patients' preferences, examining the origins of the illness, and observing the diseases prevalent among people at that time; thus, one can thoroughly understand the beginning and end of the disease.

Once the disease is thoroughly understood, external ailments should be treated by addressing internal organs, upper ailments should be saved by treating the lower parts, the deficiency or excess of the Zang-Fu organs (viscera) should be distinguished, and the mother-child generating relationship between the Zang-Fu organs should be unblocked. Considering whether the patient is old and strong or young and weak, and judging the depth and superficiality of the condition, one can formulate prescriptions to achieve perfect therapeutic effects.

When preparing prescriptions, using a single herb as the main component is the highest grade, two herbs are secondary, and multiple herbs are the lowest grade. Sour flavors penetrate the bones, sweet flavors detoxify, bitter flavors eliminate heat, salty flavors guide downward, and pungent flavors disperse stagnation; these effects must be verified. If the medicine does not take effect, one must strictly avoid hastily administering potent drugs; instead, one should first eliminate the major pathogenic factors and then address the residual ones. When further medication is inappropriate, nourishment and fatness should be cultivated through regimen; those who are thin and weak should receive reduced dosages of medicine.

Using medicine is like using soldiers; employing a doctor is like employing a general. A skilled commander can make infantry achieve the merits of chariots; a skilled prescriber can make Ginger (Zingiberis Rhizoma) produce the effects of Cinnamon Twig (Cinnamomi Ramulus). Knowing their talent and wisdom, and entrusting them with military affairs, is the way of employing generals. Knowing their medical skills and entrusting life to them for treatment is the way of employing doctors. There are no difficult-to-treat diseases in the world, only doctors who are not good at treating them; there are no irreplaceable herbs, only people who are not good at selecting them. Premature deaths among the people can be identified and understood.

Diseases may arise from cold due to mistaken use of cooling treatments, and symptoms may appear similar but be fundamentally different; a slight error can shorten lifespan. The *Fuli Jing* (Classic of Floating Chestnuts), "Chapter on Two Qi," states: "All diarrhea belongs to heat, all coldness belongs to restraint; heat first affects the Zang organs, cold first congeals the blood." The "Chapter on Abdominal Diseases" states: "Dry pain occurring at intervals should be considered as intestinal parasites; stabbing pain after childbirth will all transform into swelling." The "Chapter on Cold Damage" states: "Wind injury, seasonal epidemics, dampness, summerheat, and retained phlegm can cause malaria and rashes, all resembling Cold Damage. When many people suffer from malaria, one should guard against it developing into malaria. When many people suffer from rashes, one should guard against them developing into rashes. Spring plagues and summer epidemics initially present internally with damp-heat and summerheat; indeed, one should administer Poria (Poria) and Saposhnikovia (Saposhnikoviae Radix) [Note: 'Ling Mu' likely refers to specific herbs or formulas contextually, here interpreted as clearing damp/heat]. Dispersing agents, emetics, sweating methods, and purgatives all apply to this syndrome, known as retained phlegm failing to be guided out, inevitably leading to limb paralysis. Alas! Diseases can be minor yet fatal, and pathological conditions can be severe yet easy to treat; subtle distinctions make a true master physician.

Yin Yancheng asked, "Is the theory of Five Movements and Six Qi correct?" I replied, "Da Nao created the Jiazi cycle, and Lishou created numbers, merely to record the proximity and distance of years, months, days, and hours. Thus, the current year is called the Jiazi year, Winter Solstice is the Jiazi month, the first day of the lunar month is the Jiazi day, and midnight is the Jiazi hour, so that the accumulation of years, months, days, and hours into tens, hundreds, thousands, and ten thousands remains orderly and unconfused. Paired with the Five Elements (Wu Xing) and positioned in the Five Directions (Wu Fang), these are all human constructs. Years, months, days, and hours, Jiazi and Yichou, proceed sequentially; Heaven and Earth, the Five Elements, cold and heat, wind and rain, change suddenly. Humans are infected by these Qi, and diseases arise in the body. Since Qi is difficult to predict, diseases are difficult to predetermine; since Qi is not man-made, diseases are difficult for humans to measure. Deduction and verification often go astray, and rescue efforts are easily mistaken. Yu Fu and Bian Que did not discuss this, and Shennong did not verify it; I have not seen its validity." He asked again, "The *Suwen* (Basic Questions) was completed by Huangdi and Qibo, and the source of the Qi movement theory originates from the *Suwen*. Should we say that the words of ancient sages are false and erroneous?" I replied, "Confucius edited the classics, and the Three Fens were abandoned. After Bian Que and Lu Yi appeared, fake doctors multiplied. Are there still medical texts of Huangdi and Qibo? Later books claim the names of sages." He asked, "Then are all books unreliable?" I replied, "From before the Han Dynasty, there were theories without prescriptions; from after the Han Dynasty, there were prescriptions without theories. If the theory does not contradict reason, and the prescription does not violate principle, even if produced by later scholars, they are still good teachers. One should know that the words of gentlemen do not seek to be obscure or outdated, yet in the *Wucheng* chapter of the *Book of Documents*, a few lines are still selected." He asked, "In the current era, can one practice medicine like the ancients? Is there a way?" I replied, "Take good doctors as teachers and friends, recognize changes through discourse, observe and reflect on old classics, use tools (like fishing traps) to obtain the essence (fish), extensively study to know many diseases, frequently diagnose pulses, and thoroughly understand pharmacology; then what shame would there be compared to the ancients?"