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The color of jaundice is formed by the mixing and blending of blood and body fluids. The blood vessels and fluid vessels in the human body run parallel to each other without confusion because they are bound by their respective sheaths. When damp-heat steams and roasts within the blood aspect, the muscle texture becomes lax, causing the pulse vessels to relax and become loose, allowing blood to leak out and mix with fluids. This mixture reflects on the skin and excretes through sweat, resulting in a yellowish hue. Therefore, the treatment method involves either inducing sweating or purging, necessarily employing bitter-cold herbs to clear heat and dry dampness, assisted by blood-invigorating agents, to capture and vent the damp-heat in the blood aspect. Once the damp-heat is eliminated, the pulse vessels regain firmness, blood returns to its proper channels, and clear and turbid substances separate. Yin jaundice occurs due to internal cold in the constitution; deficient yang floats outward and stagnates, battling with dampness between muscles and interstices, still manifesting as damp-heat, rather than cold directly causing jaundice. In Yang jaundice with deep and rich color, excessive heat steams and corrupts body fluids, transforming them into yellow, viscous juices that reflect against blood, hence the deep color; in Yin jaundice with pale and dull color, rootless heat cannot steam and corrupt body fluids into viscosity, resulting in more water than blood, hence the pale color. Blood leaks sideways because it has been stagnant and coagulated by dampness, obstructing forward movement, while qi is forced by heat to squeeze laterally with strength, compounded by lax muscle texture, leading to lateral leakage of blood. Jaundice caused by retained blood follows this same principle. The *Neijing* states that dan disease develops into xiaozhong (polyphagia), which is due to damp-heat stagnating for a long time and transforming into dry fire; conversely, xiaozhong can also develop into dan disease. After dry fire is subdued by cooling, moistening, and clearing agents, its momentum is reduced but the root remains; residual flames burn internally, transforming back into damp-heat.

Hei Dan (Black Jaundice) develops from prolonged Nü Lao Dan (Jaundice due to sexual exhaustion), Gu Dan (Grain Jaundice), and Jiu Dan (Alcohol Jaundice). It is caused by Kidney deficiency with dryness and Spleen damp-heat. The Kidney dislikes dryness, and the Spleen dislikes dampness. When the Kidney is dry, it urgently needs water essence from other organs to moisten it. At this time, if there is excess Spleen dampness, it directly absorbs it, inadvertently absorbing the toxic damp-heat as well. Turbid qi from the Spleen and Kidney overflows into the meridians, disturbing the new essences derived from daily diet, preventing clear qi from nourishing, so that blood vessels throughout the body cannot eliminate the old and absorb the new, resulting in a dark black hue. A slight distinction should be made: If Kidney water is not severely deficient, but the Spleen and Stomach are self-deficient, with turbid qi flowing downward, the disease is in the Middle Jiao and is easy to treat. If the complexion is black and floating/moist, indicating severe Kidney water deficiency where absorbed Spleen turbidity penetrates deeply like oil into flour, the disease is in the Lower Jiao, with a black and stagnant complexion. For treating the Middle Jiao, clear the Stomach and soothe the Liver, nourish the Kidney and promote urination, using formulas such as Xiaochaihu Tang (Minor Bupleurum Decoction) or Yinchin Wuling San (Artemisia Capillaris and Five-Ingredient Poria Pill); for Yin jaundice, use Lizhong Tang (Regulate the Middle Decoction) variants containing Huanglian (Coptis Rhizome) and Zhishi (Immature Bitter Orange). For treating the Lower Jiao, nourish the Kidney and tonify the Lung; do not clear the Stomach or promote urination initially. Use Zishen Wan (Kidney-Nourishing Pill) or Dabu Yin Wan (Great Yin-Supplementing Pill) with Renshen (Ginseng Root). Only after Lung qi is sufficient and Kidney yin is restored should one proceed to clear the Stomach and promote urination; for Yin jaundice, use Yinchin Sini Tang (Artemisia Capillaris and Counterflow Decoction). Generally, one must combine one or two blood-transforming herbs, such as Taoren (Peach Seed), Honghua (Carthamus Flower), Qiancao (Madder Root), or Danshen (Salvia Miltiorrhiza Root). Since damaged blood cannot restore its original quality, it must be transformed so as not to hinder the circulation of new blood.