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The faintness of the fingerprint is also alarming; it generally stems from weak congenital endowment.
The spleen and stomach are originally deficient, with weak middle qi (Middle Qi); one must strictly guard against using attacking methods that damage the fetus or infant.
(If a child has received insufficient yang qi during conception, presenting with pale skin and lips and tongue that are pale and translucent, the fingerprint will appear faint in all four seasons. Even if ill, it will only be faint red, faint green, or faint purple. Generally, faint red indicates deficiency-cold, faint green indicates deficiency-wind, and faint purple indicates deficiency-heat. Such children have unstable root qi and weak middle qi. Whether the illness is new or chronic, it always belongs to deficiency patterns. One dare not lightly use attacking or resolving methods. If mistakenly prescribed harsh draining agents, the consequences are irreversible, and regret will come too late.)

The obstruction and stagnation at the Guan position arise from specific causes: pathogenic factors obstruct the ying-nutritive level, causing stagnation of wei-defensive qi.
Food retention in the middle jiao (Middle Burner) and blazing wind-heat require pushing and purging to resolve; what else can be sought?
(When pathogenic factors obstruct and depress the ying-nutritive and wei-defensive levels, their circulation becomes sluggish and stagnant, and ascending-descending functions are delayed. Thus, pushing the fingerprint feels rough and obstructed, lacking any lively and smooth quality. This results from food retention clashing with wind-heat, constituting an excess pattern. It is urgent to employ pushing and purging methods to eliminate the accumulated pathogens, after which recovery will be easy. If the three sections of the finger show pure black color and cannot be moved by pushing, it is a death sign and untreatable.)

Abdominal pain accompanied by the fingerprint extending into the center of the palm suggests sequential invasion by wind-cold bending inward.
Fingerprints bending outward indicate phlegm-food heat; a shape resembling the character "water" implies injury to the yin of both the spleen and lungs.
(The palm center is governed by the pericardium. When the fingerprint enters the palm, it indicates pathogenic invasion of the five internal organs due to cold in the middle qi, hence abdominal pain. If the fingerprint bends like a bow, there is a distinction between interior and exterior: if both ends bend toward the middle finger, it is interior, representing a favorable syndrome of external wind-cold invasion, which is relatively easy to treat. If it bends toward the thumb, it is exterior, representing an unfavorable syndrome of internal dietary injury, which is slightly more difficult to treat. A shape resembling the character "water" indicates insufficiency of the spleen and lungs, food blocking the taiyin channel, weak middle qi, and the spleen's failure to transform and transport. One might ask: The fingerprint is merely a single line; how can it form the shape of "water"? I reply: Have you not observed that the pulse at Taiyuan (LU-9) is also a single line? Yet why do the Yang Linking Vessel, Yin Linking Vessel, Yang Heel Vessel, and Yin Heel Vessel pulse on both left and right sides like stones striking? Is this not a "water" shape? Since pulses have left and right aspects, who says fingerprints do not? As long as one can draw analogies and understand principles universally, logic applies everywhere, not just to fingerprints.)

When examining the fingerprint, use the side of your thumb to push along the three sections of the child's index finger. Never push by covering the finger downwards. Because the whorls contain fire, which controls lung metal, the fingerprint color will inevitably change. Furthermore, one should only push from the Ming Gate (Life Gate) towards the Feng Gate (Wind Gate), never from the Feng Gate outwards to the Ming Gate. Doing so forces the fingerprint to emerge further; if the fingerprint originally did not extend through the section, erroneous pushing exposes it, severely damaging lung qi. Be cautious and heed this warning.
The above distinctions regarding exterior-interior, cold-heat, and deficiency-excess are well-founded. As long as these six characters are clearly recognized during clinical practice, one will naturally have mastery over the situation. Although perfection may not always be achieved, the diagnosis will not be far off.