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Dai Yun said: There is phlegm asthma (Tan Chuan), there is breathlessness asthma (Qi Ji Chuan), there is stomach deficiency asthma (Wei Xu Chuan), and there is flaming fire ascending asthma (Huo Yan Shang Chuan). Phlegm asthma refers to cases where wheezing is accompanied by the sound of phlegm. Breathlessness asthma refers to rapid breathing without the sound of phlegm. Stomach deficiency asthma manifests as lifting the shoulders, drawing in the abdomen, and continuous wheezing. Flaming fire ascending asthma presents with symptoms that fluctuate in severity; it improves after eating but worsens immediately after finishing a meal. Generally, this is due to excess fire in the stomach and thick phlegm above the diaphragm. When food is swallowed, the thick phlegm goes down, and the wheezing stops. However, after some time, once the food enters the stomach, it further aids the fire, causing the phlegm to rise again, leading to more severe wheezing. Laypeople do not understand this and mistakenly treat it as stomach deficiency using drying and heating medicines, which is like adding fuel to the fire. In the past, General Ye suffered from this condition. Various physicians treated it as stomach deficiency, but he did not recover. Later, he was stabilized after taking Doshui Wan (Doshui Pill) to promote bowel movements five or six times.

For chronic asthma, when not acute, the priority is to support healthy qi (Zheng Qi); when acute, the priority is to attack pathogenic factors (Xie Qi).

There are cases of shortness of breath with wheezing due to qi deficiency, and cases of shortness of breath with wheezing due to phlegm.

There are cases of yin deficiency, where heat rises upward from the lower abdomen.

For wheezing that is urgent and accompanied by wind-phlegm, use Qianmin Tang (Thousand-Mill Cash Decoction) from *The Great Complete Formulas for Women*.

For yin deficiency with phlegm causing urgent wheezing, employ nourishing yin and descending fire methods. Use Siyu Decoction (Four Substances Decoction) with added Aurantium Fructus (Zhi Ke) and Pinelliae Rhizoma (Ban Xia).

For qi deficiency, use herbs such as Ginseng Radix (Ren Shen), Phellodendri Cortex Preparata with Honey (Mi Zhi Huang Bo), Ophiopogonis Radix (Mai Dong), and Lycii Cortex (Di Gu Pi).

Generally, for diseases of urgent wheezing, bitter and cooling medicines should strictly be avoided because the fire energy is abundant. Daotan Decoction (Expectorating Phlegm Decoction) combined with Qianmin Tang can be used.

For various types of unremitting wheezing, use "robber medicines" (Jie Yao - strong agents to arrest symptoms) for one or two doses to stop it. After using robber medicines, treat according to the cause: if due to phlegm, treat the phlegm; if due to fire, treat the fire. Grind Zanthoxyli Semen (Jiao Mu) into an extremely fine powder, take one or two qian, and mix with ginger decoction to swallow; this stops wheezing.

Another method: Steam Radish Seeds (Luo Bo Zi) to serve as the chief ingredient, burn Gleditsiae Fructus (Zao Jiao) to ash, mix them in equal proportions into powder, and form pills with ginger juice and refined honey, sized like paulownia seeds. Take fifty to seventy pills each time, holding them in the mouth to dissolve slowly. This is effective.

(Focuses primarily on phlegm; expectoration therapy is suitable.)

Treating asthma (Xiao) requires bland diet; cold medicines should not be used exclusively, but must be combined with exterior-releasing dispersants.

Formula for treating asthma: Lightly crack an egg so the shell is damaged but the inner membrane remains intact. Soak it in a urine jar for three to four days. Take it out at night, cook it thoroughly, and eat it. This is effective because eggs can eliminate wind-phlegm.