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Chapter 69 of the *Nan Jing* (Classic of Difficult Issues) states: For deficiency syndromes, tonify its mother; for excess syndromes, sedate its child. One should first apply tonification, then apply sedation. (This refers to using the mother-child relationship between different meridians. The "mother" is the meridian that generates me; for example, if the Liver is deficient, one tonifies the Kidney meridian, as a strong mother qi generates more power. The "child" is the meridian generated by me; for example, if the Liver is in excess, one sedates the Heart meridian, as a weak child qi further depletes the mother.) For conditions that are neither deficient nor excessive, treat by selecting points from the affected meridian itself. This is because the primary meridians are diseased due to their own pathology, without interference from external pathogens, so one should directly select points from that meridian. Hence it is said to "treat according to the meridian" (i.e., select appropriate acupuncture points on the original meridian without needing to tonify the mother or sedate the child).

Chapter 75 of the *Nan Jing* states: When the East is in excess and the West is deficient, sedate the South and tonify the North. What does this mean? The answer is: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth must maintain mutual balance. (This means Metal controls Wood, Wood controls Earth, creating a cycle of restraint so that no single Zang organ becomes excessively dominant and causes disease.) The East corresponds to Wood, and the West to Metal. If Wood tends toward excess, Metal should regulate it; if Fire tends toward excess, Water should regulate it; if Earth tends toward excess, Wood should regulate it; if Metal tends toward excess, Fire should regulate it; if Water tends toward excess, Earth should regulate it. The East corresponds to the Liver, indicating Liver excess; the West corresponds to the Lungs, indicating Lung deficiency. Sedate the Fire of the South and tonify the Water of the North. Fire is the child of Wood, and Water is the mother of Wood. Water overcomes Fire. (Sedating Fire serves two purposes: to drain the Qi of Wood and to remove the restraining influence of Metal. Tonifying Water also serves two purposes: to benefit the Qi of Metal and to restrain the excessive brilliance of Fire. Thus, it is said that Water overcomes Fire.) The child can cause the mother to be full, and the mother can cause the child to be empty. Therefore, sedating Fire and tonifying Water aims to allow Metal to balance Wood. (The mother causing the child to be full, and the child causing the mother to be empty, represents the generative and transformative laws of the Five Elements, which aligns with the principle of "tonify the mother for deficiency, sedate the child for excess." The statement here that "the child causes the mother to be full, and the mother causes the child to be empty" refers to the application of the "sedation via the child" technique in acupuncture.) The Classic states: "If you cannot treat the deficiency, why ask about the rest?" This refers to this very principle (here, "deficiency" specifically refers to Lung deficiency).

Chapter 72 of the *Nan Jing* states: The term "Ying-Sui" (Following and Opposing) refers to understanding the circulation of Ying and Wei Qi and the flow of Qi and Blood in the meridians. Acupuncture is applied following or opposing these directions, hence the name Ying-Sui. ("Ying" [Opposing], where the needle tip opposes the direction of incoming Qi, constitutes sedation; "Sui" [Following], where the needle tip follows the direction of outgoing Qi, constitutes tonification.)