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Hejie (Harmonizing) method is a technique that combines the principles of Hanfa (Sweating Method) and Xiafa (Purgative Method), but applies them in a mild manner. In the treatment of Shanghan (Cold Damage), Xiao Chai Hu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction) is used as the representative formula for Hejie. However, later generations, without seeking the true meaning of "Hejie," read it superficially and praised it casually; ignorant practitioners even treated it as mere fruit-based medicine. I have pondered that whenever the Hejie method is employed, it is necessarily because the pathogenic factors are extremely mixed. When Cold, Heat, Dryness, and Dampness pathogens cluster in one area and fail to circulate freely, one should open the stagnation to resolve it; when ascending, descending, contracting, and dispersing Qi accumulate on one side and fail to coordinate, one should level the accumulation to harmonize it. Therefore, formulas for Hejie often combine Cold and Heat herbs, Dryness and Dampness herbs, Ascending and Descending herbs, and Contracting and Dispersing herbs. This is not chaotic or lawless; rather, it represents the subtlety of the therapeutic method. Examining its general principle, it mostly relies on mild ascending and slight descending techniques. Mild ascending resolves stagnation, while slight descending harmonizes deviation. Moreover, ascending activates the mechanism of descending, and descending aids the power of ascending. Why? Because mixed pathogens entangle each other incessantly, causing Qi to stagnate and rebel. Thus, opening stagnation and directing rebellious Qi downward constitutes Hejie. Although it does not explicitly use sweating or purging methods, it implicitly embodies their essence. If one only uses clearing and descending methods, it is merely clearing and descending, not Hejie; if one only uses dispersing and venting methods, it is merely dispersing and venting, not Hejie. Formulas for Hejie are mostly Ou Fang (Even-formulas with an even number of ingredients) and Fu Fang (Compound formulas composed of two or more basic formulas). Even if there are occasional Qi Fang (Odd-formulas with an odd number of ingredients), they are generally large-scale prescriptions. Why? Because they contain herbs that are opposite yet mutually functional. "Opposite" refers to Cold and Heat, Dryness and Dampness, Ascending and Descending, and Contracting and Dispersing.

The *Jin Gui Yao Lue* discusses Xue Bi (Blood Bi) stating: Individuals of leisure and privilege have weak bones and abundant flesh. If they become fatigued, sweat, and then lie down, moving occasionally as if exposed to a slight breeze, they contract this disease. This corresponds to what the *Nei Jing* (Inner Canon) calls Jue Ni (Rebellious Qi), Dian Ji (Manic Disorder), Pu Ji (Fainting/Collapse), and Pian Ku (Hemiplegia/Atrophy), which are diseases of rich and obese individuals resulting from excessive consumption of rich food and wine. Generally, those who are privileged and obese possess a constitution characterized by deficient Liver Wood Qi and stagnant Blood. Fatigue and sweating injure Qi and consume Jin Ye (Body Fluids); thus, Qi is insufficient to move Blood, and Jin Ye is insufficient to carry Blood. Subsequently, sitting or lying still without movement, combined with exposure to slight wind, causes Blood circulation to deviate from its normal pathway, becoming coagulated and astringent. For individuals with deficient Qi and scanty Jin Ye, sudden fatigue causes Qi and Blood to boil, while subsequent rest causes them to settle and congeal. Fluctuating between rapid flow and stasis, losing their normal rhythm, they fail to return to their original pathways, leading to stasis and Bi obstruction. The description of "privileged abundance" serves merely as a shadow for Qi deficiency and Blood stagnation. In reality, laborers and manual workers, especially as they age, frequently suffer from this syndrome due to sweating with thin clothing and repeated attacks by Wind-Cold pathogens. Malaria persisting for a long time often develops into Nu Mu (Malarial Mass), which is essentially Blood accumulation causing Bi obstruction. Alternating severe Cold and Heat cause these two pathological factors to attack sequentially. When Cold arrives, whole-body Blood becomes knotted and astringent; when Heat arrives, whole-body Blood rushes rapidly. Within the meridians, there must be dregs left behind after pushing and washing. Before the previous Blood is cleared, the incoming Blood encounters obstacles here. Accumulating over time, nodules form. This is the crux of Xue Bi. However, while Xue Bi lesions are scattered throughout the body's meridians, Nu Mu clusters in a specific location within the inner membranes. In both cases, the obstruction lies in the meridians and membranes, not in the stomach and intestines. Therefore, treatment should generally employ Hong Hua (Carthamus Flower) and E Chong (Ground Beetle) to search out and eliminate obstructions through circuitous means, rather than using Da Huang (Rhubarb Root) and Mang Xiao (Mirabilite) for direct and rapid purgation. Whenever I treat laborers suffering from pian fei (hemiplegia/paralysis) or zhu tong (migratory pain), I typically apply tonifying Qi and breaking Blood stasis methods. For treating Nu Mu, I additionally transform cold Phlegm, achieving swift results. These approaches are derived from Zhang Zhongjing’s blood-activating formulas such as Bie Jia Jian Wan (Turtle Shell Decoction for Eliminating Masses), E Chong Wan (Ground Beetle Pill), and Di Dang Tang (Resisting Water Decoction).