典藏书目

According to the *Bing Yuan* (Source of Diseases), the "Eight Lei" (Ba Jia, abdominal masses in women) are all caused by irregularities in blood vessels and essence-qi resulting from conception, childbirth, and menstruation. The Kidney is Yin and governs opening and closing; the left side is the Bao Men (Womb Gate), and the right side is the Zi Hu (Child Chamber), which govern the regulation of menstruation and the way of procreation. The Bao Men and Zi Hu are the pathways through which a woman's spirit, essence, and qi enter and exit; they connect with the Zhong Huang Men (Central Yellow Gate) and the four sides of the Yu Men (Jade Door), governing the Guan Yuan point, and preventing the leakage of reproductive essence. Three cun below the navel is named Guan Yuan, which governs the storage of Hun and Po souls; the female womb is the residence of the San Jiao (Triple Burner), where it often resides. However, if a woman's meridians and collateral vessels are harmonious, menstruation arrives on time, enabling her to bear children without illness. If a woman's Ying and Wei (Nutritive and Defensive) meridians are severed and blocked, pathogenic qi can wander freely, entering and combining with the Zang organs. If intercourse occurs while lochia remains, it causes spasms in the woman's blood vessels, heaviness and urgency in the lower abdomen, distension and fullness in the uterine flanks, pulling pain between the waist and back, soreness and pain in the four limbs, irregular diet, retention of clotted evil blood, irregular menstruation (either before or after the expected time), leading to the formation of accumulations that resemble pregnancy. When pathogenic qi is excessive, it causes mental confusion, frequent dreaming, alternating chills and fever, reluctance to move the four limbs, generation of wind qi in the vagina, swelling with internal wind, severe difficulty in urination, pain resembling strangury, and yellow-black complexion. After many years, she will no longer be able to conceive.

Huang Jia (Yellow Mass): When a woman's menstruation first begins, if she has recently suffered a traumatic abortion, and blood and qi have not stopped, and she has not settled into bed rest, and her five Zang and six Fu organs are weak and emaciated, and her spirit is insufficient, if she then relieves herself facing a strong wind, causing the opening and closing of Yin and Yang to be disordered, and wind-dampness invades the joints, with qi rising from below into the yin region, lingering there without departing, this is called Yin deficiency, which generates Huang Jia. The accumulation of Huang Jia causes suffering from alternating cold and heat in the four limbs, heavy body with sweating, loss of appetite when lying down, a hard knot of qi under the left hypochondrium that cannot be suppressed, pulling pain between the waist and back, difficult menstruation, infertility, urgency in the lower abdomen, stabbing pain radiating to the vagina, inability to urinate, occasional chills and fever, discharge of red-yellow fluid, and infertility. One should puncture the Guan Yuan and Qi Chong points, administer toxic medicines, and the mass will descend and heal.

Qing Jia (Green/Blue Mass): After new childbirth, if the woman rises and walks within ten days, washes too early, causing Yin and Yang to be deficient, the four sides of the Yu Men to relax and scatter, and the Zi Hu to be unsettled, with pain in bones and flesh, inability to raise arms, incomplete recovery of diet, internal rattling sounds in the five internal organs, sleeping facing the wind without covering up, or lying on wet mats, allowing bitter cold to penetrate the abdomen causing stifling oppression and stagnation, retention of evil blood, and trapped heat that cannot dissipate, Qing Jia is generated. The accumulation is located in the left and right hypochondria, hidden in the dorsal spine, connecting upwards to the shoulder blades, with cramping in the lower waist, rising qi in the lower abdomen, preference for spitting, inability to eat much, reluctance to move the four limbs, swelling of hands and feet, yellow complexion, difficulty in urination and defecation, subsequent irregularity or loss of control of menstruation resembling metrorrhagia, caused by one's own negligence, leading to reduced fertility. Treatment involves puncturing the Wei Shu (Stomach-Shu) point and administering toxic medicines according to method, so the mass descends and heals.

Zao Jia (Dry Mass): When menstruation has just started and evil blood is not yet exhausted, and the person is weak and exhausted, if she walks quickly in the summer heat, lifts heavy objects, sweats profusely, and qi and blood are not yet balanced, followed suddenly by anger, causing qi to lodge in the abdomen without release, meridian spasms, internal knotting and discomfort, stifling oppression and weakness, qi rising to the chest, diaphragm, and back, urgency in the lower abdomen, obstruction of both menstruation and qi, and drinking cool drinks to soothe the heart, causing menstruation to flow transversely and overflow into other organs without leaving, heat generates the accumulation of Zao Jia, size of half a cup, located in the upper and lower abdomen, painful pain extending to both hypochondria, pulling pain affecting the heart and causing irritability, impairing appetite, desire to vomit, inability to take deep breaths in the chest and abdomen, heavy sweating on the waist and back, preference for lying down with night sweats, soreness and wasting of the feet, pain upon standing for long periods, incontinence with sudden spontaneous discharge resembling seminal emission, amenorrhea, and difficult defecation. Such patients have reduced fertility. Treatment uses long needles with an pressing-and-puncturing technique, administering toxic medicines, so the mass descends and heals.

Xue Jia (Blood Mass): When menstruation has just begun but stops before the usual number of days due to overeating, causing excessive qi from grains to overflow into other organs, or during extreme hunger and cold, with weak breathing and unregulated respiration, combined with physical labor while blood is still descending, causing blood to wander between the intestines and stomach, remaining in the collaterals without leaving, with internal cold and heat combining with menstruation to form the Xue Jia accumulation, causing lower back pain, inability to bend or straighten, accumulated qi under the Heng Gu bone, hard as stone, urgent and painful lower abdomen, back pain, deep cramping reaching the lower waist and abdomen, sensation of wind-cold in the yin region, deviation of the Zi Men, irregular menstruation coming and going intermittently. This disease causes infertility. Upon treatment, the mass descends and heals.

Zhi Jia (Fat Mass): When menstruation has just arrived, or within thirty days postpartum, if intercourse occurs, separating the collateral vessels, injuring the Bao Men, losing control of the Zi Hu, scattering the joints, causing the fluids of the five Zang and six Fu organs to circulate, movement in the vaginal channel, disintegration of the hundred vessels' pivot points, with no external change in shape, but reproductive essence meeting blood and qi, violating taboos, failing to generate sufficient essence for conception, results in the Zhi Jia accumulation. This causes fullness and urgency in the limbs, bi-syndrome pulling the lower abdomen heavily, stabbing pain in the waist and back, inability to raise the four limbs, poor taste in food, restless sleep, cutting pain wandering in the abdomen, fluctuating severity, occasional shortness of breath and dizziness, body laxity, aversion to cold and wind, bladder distension, irregular menstruation deviating from normal patterns, and continuous bleeding from urine and stool. Such patients become infertile. Treatment requires puncturing with long needles and administering toxic medicines, so the mass descends and heals.

Hu Jia (Fox Mass): When menstruation is due but the woman feels sorrowful and fearful, as if traveling far, encountering storms, rain, thunder, lightning, and fright, with heavy wet clothes, fatigue, and shortness of qi, mental confusion and instability, limb laxity and trembling chills, suffering from interrupted breathing during wakefulness and sleep, and wandering spirit, pathogenic qi enters the yin interior and does not leave, generating the Hu Jia accumulation, which eats away at the uterus, causing amenorrhea, lower abdominal stasis, chest-diaphragm-waist-back pain, vaginal swelling, difficulty urinating, rejection by the Bao Men and Zi Hu, failure to retain male essence, excessive qi causing gluttony, desire to vomit, preference for spitting, excessive thoughts, symptoms resembling pregnancy, and inability to raise the limbs. Patients with this disease are终生 infertile. If the mass has formed hands and feet, it is fatal; if unformed, it can be treated by urgently puncturing with long needles and administering toxic medicines according to method, so the mass descends and heals.

She Jia (Snake Mass): When menstruation has just stopped, the closure has not yet recovered, the Bao Men and Zi Hu are injured, Yin and Yang are not balanced, and Ying and Wei are dividing. If she contracts wind, suffers acute illness and emaciation, and diet is unregulated; if she rises and walks facing the wind, wades through mud, exposes herself to cold too early, or sits on wet ground, causing Yin-Yang disorder and abdominal emptiness; if she travels far, drinks from dirty wells, eats unclean food, or swallows snake or rat essence, which remains in the collaterals, generating the She Jia accumulation. It attacks the heart and liver, growing large like a knee, located above and below the navel, twisting around the hypochondria, preventing exhalation, causing severe pain in the thighs and shins, heat in the lower abdomen, red-yellow urine, bladder traction causing vaginal cramping, pain in the waist and eyes, difficulty moving, preference for chills and fever, and variable menstrual flow. Patients with this disease will no longer conceive. If the mass has formed hands and feet, it is fatal; if unformed, it can be treated with specific methods, administering toxic medicines, so the mass descends and heals.

Bie Jia (Turtle Mass): When menstruation has just arrived, if the person engages in strenuous labor and becomes fatigued, sweating until clothes are damp, and does not change them in time, sleeps facing the wind, steps on wet ground, wakes in a trance, stands unsteadily, complexion is uneven, sees someone desired, heart opens, soul moves, and internal organs waste away. If bathing in water and not exiting promptly, causing the spirit to lose its residence, water essence and pathogenic qi enter together, reaching the middle curtain of the San Jiao, the Yu Men closes first, fluids run wild, remain in the collaterals, generating the Bie Jia accumulation, size of a small bowl, causing sharp pain in the lower abdomen, evil qi wandering left and right, painful sensations in the upper and lower abdomen, feeling present yet absent, jumping sensation upon holding, downward traction to the yin region, waist and back pain, inability to breathe easily, amenorrhea, yellow-black complexion, loss of voice, and shortness of qi. Patients with this disease become sterile. If the mass has hands and feet and is formed, it is fatal; if unformed, it can be treated with specific methods, using long needles for pressing therapy, administering toxic medicines, so the mass descends and heals.