典藏书目

Treating disease is like quelling chaos or defeating an enemy; one must manage the situation without error, and employ offensive and defensive strategies appropriately. A slight loss of timing or flexibility will lead to *bian zheng* (transformed syndromes) appearing before the original pathology. Pathology within the body manifests externally; once a disease has erupted, there must be observable forms, colors, and locations to verify which *zang* (solid organs) or *fu* (hollow organs), which *jing* (meridians) or *luo* (collaterals) are affected, and whether the condition is deficient (*xu*) or excess (*shi*), severe or mild. Only then can treatment be targeted accordingly, ensuring clear management and appropriate strategy, thereby preventing transformed syndromes.

However, contemporary practitioners treating eye diseases often ignore symptoms and lesion sites, indiscriminately administering medications, frequently causing harm. Occasional lucky recoveries are often cited as precedents, leading to widespread injury among patients. This cannot be fully enumerated here; only a few examples are briefly presented as warnings for posterity.

For instance, when patients suffer from eye diseases and report that formulas such as *Juhua Xixin San* (Chrysanthemum Heart-Cleansing Powder), *Longdan Siwu Tang* (Gentiana Four-Substance Decoction), *Sanhuang Tang* (Three-Yellow Decoction), *Mingmu Liuqi Yin* (Eye-Brightening Qi-Flowing Drink), *Yanggan Wan* (Sheep Liver Pill), and *Buyin Wan* (Yin-Nourishing Pill) are ineffective, they often blame the medicines. They fail to realize that if the medicine does not match the syndrome, it is not the fault of the medicine.

Some individuals use *Huanglian Tang* (Coptis Decoction), *Bohe Tang* (Mint Decoction), mud, well water, egg white, rock crystal powder, or gold/silver foil, utilizing their cooling properties to compress and wash the eyes. While this provides momentary relief, it may cause blood stasis and increase transformed syndromes daily. These individuals do not reflect on this until the disease is established, at which point they regret it.

Others drink distilled spirits, consume spicy foods, sit near fires, or expose themselves to the sun, absurdly claiming to "use heat to attack heat." Such people are like mayflies floating over dying embers; the heat disperses them occasionally by chance, yet they treat this as normal and boast about it to others. Alas! If one encounters a disease characterized by intense heat, this is equivalent to supplying grain to the enemy or handing a blade to a thief. The logic is obvious, yet why do people fail to understand? This can be called extreme foolishness.

Some individuals lick their eyes, causing rupture of the eyeball, unaware of the harm. The tongue is the sprout of the *Xin* (Heart) and functions under *Xin Huo* (Heart Fire). It is exposed to various flavors, including fishy, pungent, dry, and roasted foods. Using it to contact the delicate and tender eye inevitably causes damage and rupture.

Some argue: "Ancients licked their eyes and regained sight; was this not due to the licking?" However, those who regained sight after licking were merely one or two individuals in history. This was purely accidental coincidence and should not be taken as a precedent.

Others believe in shamans and diviners, lighting lamps toward the sun, picking grass, and rubbing silk threads, calling this method "Jie Yan" (Robbing the Eye). There is absolutely no truth to this, nor is such a method recorded in *Waitai Miyao* (Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Gold for Emergencies). Many cases of corneal scarring and injury have resulted from this practice. Straining forcefully, gazing laboriously, and exhausting weak essence to confront the blazing sunlight inevitably causes damage. Occasionally, in cases of external pathogenic heat or epidemic diseases, or with minor nebulae (*Yinxing*) and internal fire that resolve spontaneously, patients may recover by chance. They attribute this to the efficacy of shamans, becoming more superstitious and abandoning medical treatment. They cite each other's cases as examples, and the foolish believe this, resulting in chronic diseases, too late to regret. Alas! Even scholars and officials are blinded by this deception, let alone commoners.

Some individuals apply herbal juices to the eyes and accidentally ingest toxins; some place toxic herbs on acupoints such as *Quchi* (LI11), *Hegu* (LI4), and *Taiyang* (EX-HN5), causing the eyeball to bulge and become damaged; some scrape nail clippings, gold, jade, bone, or blood dust into the eyes, abrading the cornea. Such reckless treatments bring disaster upon the foolish themselves. If a physician engages in such practices, they are extremely incompetent.

Furthermore, quack doctors seeking profit may treat diseases without clearly diagnosing the syndrome. They may force eye drops when inappropriate, force moxibustion or cutting when unnecessary, neglect necessary guidance and dredging, and misuse medications: purging when tonification is needed, tonifying when purging is required, using cold for cold patterns and heat for heat patterns, damaging deficiency while augmenting excess. All these constitute harm caused by physicians.

Therefore, if a patient trusts shamans rather than physicians, one should not forcibly treat them. This represents the most severe type of ignorance. Even if forced treatment is attempted, complete success is unlikely, and the physician may be despised.

Generally, eye diseases arise from the fundamental deficiency of the *Gan* (Liver) and *Shen* (Kidney), after which marked symptoms manifest in the eyes. There is no case where the root is solid but the branch presents disease. However, individuals differ in terms of *Qi* and *Blood*, exterior and interior, deficiency and excess, proximity and distance of pathology, gender, age, and urgency. Medications vary in cold, heat, warm, and cool properties, and in roles of sovereign, minister, assistant, and courier (*Jun Chen Zuo Shi*), as well as in tonifying, purging, counteracting, and following principles. One must verify symptoms to differentiate *Zang-Fu* and meridians, observe the duration to assess cold/heat and deficiency/excess, accurately identify the syndrome, and clarify the pathology. Only then should medication be administered. In this way, internal and external attacks, tonifications, and purgations will be appropriate. Physicians will avoid harming patients, patients will avoid damaging their eyes, and if patients maintain a pure mind and few desires, and endure long-term treatment, what eye disease would remain incurable?