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From one month to three years of age, infants and young children cannot yet undergo pulse diagnosis. It is not that there is no pulse to diagnose, but rather that diagnosis is difficult, and it is hard to determine deficiency or excess. Children are often afraid of strangers; upon first meeting, they invariably cry and shout, causing their breathing to become chaotic and their spirit agitated. At this point, the slowness or rapidity, and the large or small nature of the pulse have already lost their original characteristics. What is the benefit of diagnosing the pulse? It is better to observe the visible patterns on the fingerprint (fingerprint diagnosis in pediatrics) and corroborate them with facial complexion and clinical manifestations. This also embodies the principle of combining inspection (Wang) and palpation (Qie) in medicine. Have someone hold the child standing facing a light source. Use your left hand to grasp the child's index finger, and use your right thumb to push along the Three Passes (San Guan) of the finger. Observe its color and shape, carefully discerning and recognizing it. Merely distinguishing between exterior and interior, cold and heat, and deficiency and excess is sufficient. People nowadays like to seek novelty and do not exert effort in practical work, regarding this as trivial talk and disdainful of paying attention to it. They do not know that being able to distinguish these six aspects during clinical practice constitutes the highest level of medical skill. If the exterior and interior are clear, one knows whether the disease is in the meridians or the fu organs, ensuring that sweating or purging methods are applied without error. If cold and heat are distinct, one knows when to use cold remedies near heat conditions, or heat remedies near cold conditions, or "treating cold with cold" (Han Yin Han Yong) and "treating heat with heat" (Re Yin Re Yong), adapting to specific circumstances so that medication is always appropriate. If deficiency and excess are distinguished, one knows that extreme deficiency may present with excessive symptoms, and extreme excess may present with emaciated symptoms, avoiding confusion by false signs. True deficiency and true excess are easy to identify, while false deficiency and false excess are difficult to differentiate. Once truth and falsehood are clarified, there will be no danger of "making deficiency more deficient and excess more excessive." At this critical juncture, if one fails to comprehend this and instead uses unverified statements to deceive the world and confuse the common people, claiming what constitutes fright from humans versus fright from animals, this not only deceives others but also self-deceives. It not only fails to aid treatment but also endangers lives. Whose fault is this?

[Image: Fingerprint Three Passes Diagram]

The location of the Three Passes itself cannot determine the severity or safety of the condition. Since ancient times there has been the theory of the Three Passes, we retain it for reference.
When wind pathogen first appears at the Wind Pass, the syndrome is not yet severe.
When the pattern emerges at the Qi Pass, urgent prevention is required.
Suddenly appearing at the Life Pass is truly critical.
Penetrating the joint and passing through indicates the disease trend is manifest.
(When the pattern appears at the Wind Pass, it is a sign of initial pathogen entry; the syndrome is still mild, and the constitution is not yet exhausted, making treatment indeed easy. When the pattern appears at the Qi Pass, the pathogenic factor is vigorous, and the illness is already serious, requiring prompt treatment. If the pattern spans all three passes and emerges at the Life Pass, the pathogenic factor is pervasive, filling the meridians and collaterals, representing an extremely severe condition. If it penetrates the joint and shoots toward the nail (She Jia), the pathogenic factor has nowhere to reside, becoming hyperactive and unable to descend, symbolizing the regret of the soaring dragon (extremes turn into their opposites). Practitioners must pay close attention and never underestimate this.)